Paul Gerber

Paul Gerber began his career as an independent watchmaker in Zurich in 1976 and became a member of the prestigious AHCI (Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants) in 1988. At the beginning of his career, he devoted himself primarily to the manufacture of clocks, especially miniature wall clocks. His smallest clock made of boxwood in the Black Forest style with a movement height of just 22 mm was entered in the Guinness Book of Records in 1989. in 1993, Gerber decided to concentrate on the development of wristwatches, perhaps inspired by his work on the super-complex Caliber 92 wristwatch, which was then presented by the Swiss company Franck Muller in 1992. The movement of this watch is a modified version of the compact, complex pocket or pendant watch caliber produced by Swiss watchmaker Louis-Elysée Piguet exactly one hundred years earlier, in 1892. While the original movement had the functions of a grande sonnerie, a minute repeater and a split-seconds chronograph, Paul Gerber equipped it with a modified perpetual calendar module from the Swiss manufacturer Dubois Dépraz and also incorporated a bimetallic thermometer and a day/night display into the movement. Three years later, Paul Gerber added a tourbillon, a 30-minute instantaneous chronograph counter and power reserve and striking mechanism indicators into the movement at the request of the watch owner, and the watch was renamed Superbia Humanitati. In 2005, it was entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the most complicated wristwatch of all time.

In the second half of the 1990s, Paul Gerber devoted himself to the development of the Retrograd, his first wristwatch, which was marketed under his own brand name. According to reports, Gerber introduced the Retrograd Ref. 150 (as the watch was originally called, but the names Retrograde Seconds and Retro Second are also used) in 1996 with the caliber 15, which he had developed based on the Eta/Peseux 7001 caliber, and presented it in Basel a year later, in 1997. He fitted the watch with a retrograde seconds complication, which became his flagship for a time. The Ref. 150 with a 33 mm case in 18k yellow, rose or white gold and a solid caseback was followed by the Retrograd in sterling silver (Ref. 151), also with a solid caseback. The demand for watches with an exhibition caseback led to the creation of the Ref. 152 in three colors of 18k gold, which has an enlarged 35 mm case. The next iteration was the Ref. 153, also in 18k gold, but with a slightly larger case – up to 36 mm - an exhibition caseback and a new dial. The Ref. 153 had a dial with a CNC-engraved relief decoration, a version of the traditional Vieux Panier guilloché pattern. This decoration would later become the hallmark of the Paul Gerber collection, while the Ref. 150 and 151 had white lacquered dials without relief decoration. The Ref. 153 was the last reference with a hand-wound caliber 15, as in 2001 the watchmaker introduced a new development, the Retro Twin, with an improved movement. Gerber incorporated an ingenious self-winding system he had developed into the movement with two synchronously rotating platinum rotors (hence the name Twin) – making his retrograde seconds watch automatic. The 35 mm case was available in three versions in 18k yellow gold (Ref. 155), 18k rose gold (Ref. 156) 18k white gold (Ref. 157); Gerber also offered versions with two diamond-set rotors. The last version of his retrograde seconds watch was probably the Ref. 158 with the so-called dynamic power reserve indicator (limited edition of 20 pieces in 18k white or rose gold, introduced around 2005). He continued to use the Eta/Peseux 7001 as the base movement for the Ref. 158. Gerber’s unique double rotor winding system can be admired through the sapphire caseback of a watch. 

This Retrograde Seconds Ref. 150 No.02 looks like a very attractive addition to a collection dedicated to the art of independent watchmaking - a theme that is becoming increasingly popular. Paul Gerber is one of the pioneering independent watchmakers who are members of the AHCI. In this respect, the Retrograde Seconds watch will always have a special significance, as it is the first wristwatch designed and launched by this independent and probably one of the first wristwatches ever with a retrograde seconds complication. This Ref. 150 No.02 also has the advantage of being one of the earliest examples, which definitely makes it even more attractive.