Treasures of Tradition

Parmigiani Fleurier extends its prowess in calendar complications and timepieces of understated elegance with the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar and two stunning annual calendar watches

- Annabel Tan

On February 10 this year, many around the world will celebrate Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year. Unlike New Year's Day, which always falls on January 1 of the most widely used Gregorian calendar, the date for Chinese New Year is determined by the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar, which indicates the moon phase and the time of the solar year the position of the sun in the Earth's sky. These are calculated separately and then synchronised. The year 2024 is also the Year of the Dragon, as every year in the Chinese calendar is associated with one of the 12 zodiac animals.

Reading a specific date in the Chinese calendar is combined with the zodiac sign, element, yin or yang energy, as well as other factors to provide a more detailed understanding of that particular date's significance. More than just a tool for marking dates, the Chinese calendar is also a cultural compass that guides various aspects of life and traditions in Chinese culture.

It is certainly a complex system, which explains why no one had accomplished a complete Chinese calendar on a wristwatch up until a year ago, when Parmigiani Fleurier unveiled its groundbreaking technical masterpiece, the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar.

While there are other watches with elements of the Chinese calendar, the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar is the world's first complete traditional Chinese calendar wristwatch. It is no mean feat but, at the same time, unsurprising coming from the brand, given its expertise in calendar complications. The Swiss luxury watch manufacture's founder, Michel Parmigiani, has long held a fascination with calendars and expressed this through the art of watchmaking.

Over the years, Parmigiani Fleurier has produced some notable annual calendar watches as well as the first Hijri Perpetual Calendar watch, which won the Innovation Prize at the Grand Prix D'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) in 2020.