Watches and Wonders 2024: Parmigiani reinvents the design ethos of the dress watch to create a modern classic

Gloria Fung finds the perfect dress watch in Parmigiani’s latest watches

As casual wear replaces suits and ties in boardrooms and athleisure looks, dominate both the streets and runway, what design ethos defines a dress watch become increasingly blurred. It’s understood that it should include a number of elements such as a relatively slim fit, a leather strap, or a satin one in the case of some women’s watches, and general feature functions less associated with athletic pursuits.

For a long time, colours were noticeably reserved to the shades of black, white and maybe grey to pair with the aesthetic of formal dressing. However, with a new, younger generation of watch CEOs and CEOs in boardrooms and the world in general, the notion of self-expression rather than conformity reigns.

A classic watchmaking house through and through, Parmigiani, at this year’s Watches and Wonders, proves that no specific detail should define a dress watch. Instead, it should be categorised to convey an aura of elegance that speaks to the refinement of watchmaking and design.

The watchmaker approaches the classic dress watch in a way that departs from the conventional aesthetics of the genre. A first look at the colourful albeit demure colourways of the new pieces from the Toric collection confirms this.

This year, the maison launches two new references as part of the Toric collection, a Petite Seconde and a Chronograph Rattrapante.

The Toric Petite Second features an elegant guilloche dial inside a rose gold case with a dial in the shade described by the watchmaker as sand gold and paired with a green strap; a second iteration in platinum houses a soft green dial paired with a sandy beige strap.

Where it retains some of the classic elements of a dress watch is its sleek dial. The small seconds are displayed across a sundial at the six o’clock position; together, the central hour and minute hands are powered by a manual movement with 60 hours of power reserved.

For those looking for a bit more visual stimulation, the Toric Chronograph Rattrapante features 30-minute, 60-minute and 12-hour sub counters at three, six and nine o’clock, respectively. The watch’s manual movement also powers the rattrapante, or split-second hand, which shares the main dial with the central hour, minute and second hands.

The 42.5 mm watch features the same knurled bezel as its small second counterpart and is in rose gold paired with a coffee brown dial.

Also see: Watches and Wonders 2024: Tudor brings new movement and precious iteration to its Black Bay lineup