With the dawn of the new millennium, the year 2000 also marked the beginning of a new adventure for the world’s most famous watch designer. In that year, a symbol of renewal and progress, Gerald Genta decided to start his own brand, Gerald Charles, combining his name and his unmistakable creative genius.

This year, to mark the 25th year since its founding, the Maison has just launched two new watches to pay tribute to the flair and ingenuity of its founder, who died 14 years ago. The newly presented models are two totally different and innovative versions of the brand’s flagship model, the Maestro, first introduced in 2006. Let us now discover them together.

Gerald Charles Maestro 9.0 Roman Tourbillon in White Gold

The Maestro collection was born from the pencil of Gerald Genta, drawing inspiration from the Baroque style that adorns the streets of Rome, with its own extravagant style characterized by curved lines and sinuous gaits. These stylistic concepts are fully replicated in the Maestro case, distinguished by the iconic “smile” at 6 o’clock.

This new model, the Maestro 9.0 Roman Tourbillon in White Gold limited to 50 pieces, is made of steel with a grade 5 titanium bezel with a blue coloring, achieved through the use of the Colormix Blue technique that gives it greater resistance and the characteristic blue hue. What is most fascinating about this watch is definitely the white gold dial with Roman numerals, on which the Métier d’Art of the maison have created something exceptional.

The technique used by artisans to create the texture of the dial is called hammering , and it involves creating inlays on the workpiece through the use of a hammer and ronde (tool in the upper image), making it take up to 23 hours to make each dial. This increases the limitedness and exclusivity of the timepiece, as only 2 pieces are produced per month. It is through workmanship such as this that the beauty of watchmaking and the craftsmanship of its artisans springs forth, where experience and patience, allow for the creation of unique and unrepeatable pieces.

Still looking at the dial, at 6 o’clock you can see the king of complications, a 60-second rotating flying tourbillon set above a white gold bridge and contained within a skeletonized titanium cage in the shape of the house’s logo, the founder’s initials. In order to keep track of the seconds, a blue indicator applied to the cage at the letter “G” was included.

Through the sapphire crystal case back it is possible to observe the in-house automatic caliber 9.0, with 22K rose gold winding rotor with honeycomb pattern, finished entirely by hand by the Maison’s artisans with top-notch finishes such as Cotes de Geneve, perlage, colimaçon and anglage;

Finally, to emphasize the dial, and to match the bezel, we find a handmade blue alligator leather strap.

Gerald Charles Maestro 2.0 Ultra-Thin Lapis Lazuli

The second model introduced is the Maestro 2.0 Ultra-Thin Lapis Lazuli, a watch that embodies all the essence and elegance of Gerald Charles in just 9 mm thickness.

Also made of steel with a Colormix Blue bezel, this watch features the use of Gerald Genta’s favorite mineral, lapis lazuli, for the dial. This vibrant, glowing blue acts as a magnet for the eye, creating different reflections and hues at every point. To make this wafer-thin slab of just 0.55mm, it takes 24 hours starting with the rough stone, which is carefully cut into 5mm-thick discs.

Each disc is then sanded by hand to follow the shape of the case, as its brittleness prevents it from being cut; but what is gratifying about the whole process is the beauty of the material as it is hand-sanded by craftsmen, revealing its unique veins and color tones for each dial. The challenge at this stage is the brittleness of the material because of its thickness; think that at least 150 discs are needed to obtain 50 dials, as the slightest fracture or defect renders the component unusable.

Under the dial we find an in-house automatic caliber 2.0, which also includes a grand date function as shown by the window at 6 o’clock. The peculiarity of this movement lies in the care with which it was made. We are in fact dealing with a hand-finished and FQF-certified caliber, a certification even more restrictive than the COSC that also measures the degree of finishing of the bridges. In this case we find, in fact, finishes such as Cotes de Geneve, perlage and colimaçon, ending with a rose gold rotor commemorating 25 years: a triumph of refinement and elegance.

Supporting the watch case is a rubber strap with a Clou de Paris pattern, just as on the winding crown.

Conclusions

Gerald Charles has decided to celebrate these 25 years of history in style with two models that showcase the brand’s strong know-how, in which the choice of materials and the craftsmanship of its Métier d’Art are the masters. Thanks to these two new variants of the Maestro we see the legacy left by Gerald Genta, made of creativity and technical skill in making unique and inimitable pieces.

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