Gerald Genta

Mr. Gérald Genta is considered one of the most important modern watch designers and actually the inventor of the profession. During his career, he worked with many famous Swiss watch manufacturers such as Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Universal Genève, Omega, Bulgari, Cartier, Seiko and others. However, he achieved his greatest fame and popularity posthumously as the creator of the Nautilus and Royal Oak designs, and these works overshadowed many of his other designs, which also deserved admiration. This also applies to his own brand, Gérald Genta, which he founded in 1969. The brand is known for its outstanding, bold, sometimes provocative designs, its fine craftsmanship and its unusually complicated models, including the Grande Sonnerie with Westminster chimes, minute repeater and tourbillon. The Gérald Genta brand is now part of LVMH, having been acquired by Bulgari in 2000. The production of collections under the Gérald Genta brand was discontinued in 2010, but recently resumed in 2020, albeit on a very small scale. Currently, we see that LVMH intends to separate Gérald Genta from Bulgari, but this process is not yet finalized. However, there is a growing market interest in all aspects of Mr. Genta’s creation, including Gérald Genta brand watches, especially the most complex ones. The watch was given a 35 mm case in the design of the Octagonal collection, with the soft contours of an octagonal case without the angularity and sharpness typical of modern Octo watches, produced under the Bulgari umbrella. This magnificent timepiece features an in-house movement and an openworked dial that provides a glimpse into the inner workings of a perpetual calendar. The sapphire caseback reveals the caliber from the reverse side, with the mainplate, bridges and self-winding rotor gilded and engraved with floral rococo motifs. Such finishing of the movement is typical of the elaborate Gérald Genta models up to the early 2000s. The spectacular black polishing of the steel parts of the tourbillon, the tourbillon bridge in the classic shape of the initials GG and the repeater hammers is also remarkable.

The design of the watch is both luxurious and classic, with a yellow gold Octagonal case, Vendôme-style strap attachments, an openworked dial, luminous sword-style hands, a moonphase display on a lapis lazuli sub-dial and a round moon aperture. Also worth mentioning are the embossed crocodile strap that matches the design of the attachments, the golden strap loops and the folding clasp - all in the same style. The watch invites you to enjoy the wonderful sounds of the minute repeater gongs, which were probably fine-tuned by Pierre-Michel Golay himself, who has an absolute ear and made a career as an opera singer at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. This is a true masterpiece of Haute Horlogerie, destined to be the centerpiece of a precious watch collection.