Baselworld 2010 Sneak Peak - Bvlgari for Gerald Genta

The wait is finally over, at last we get a sneak peak at the new Bvlgari/ Gerald Genta combination. Up until January 2010, Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth have been independent brands operating beneath the Bulgari group; however, times have become tougher and Bulgari has been struggling financially, thus Bulgari decided to merge Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth to make them a Bvlgari brand. The Bvlgari brand name will appear on any future watches.
Our first sneak peak of this fusion is the Bvlgari for Gerald Genta Jump Hour Biretrograde Watch. Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta no longer have their original watch designers and all the marketing, sales, design, distribution and manufacture are all unified with Bvlgari.

The Bvlgari For Gerald Genta (should be Gerald Genta for Bvlgari) Jump Hour Biretrograde Watch is a handsome timepiece, but the name Bvlgari on a clearly Gerald Genta Octo timepiece renders me a tad uncomfortable. Name aside, the 43mm case sports jumping hours, retrograde minute indication and a retrograde calender. What's interesting about the watch is the bezel, which is comprised of satin-finished black ceramic and accentuated with seven bezel studs forming an arc over the retrograde minute display. The onyx-capped beaded winding crown serves as a nice touch. The watch is powered by a GG7722 caliber, self winding mechanical movement capable of a 45 hour power reserve and a balance frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour. The jumping hour and retrograde minute time display renders the timepiece extremely easy to read with a lovely retro design dial. Bvlgari's name is below the jumping hour towards the center of the dial, and Gerald Genta's logo together with "Cal 7722" is below the retrograde date.

I have a feeling in a couple years, Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth will be completely phased out, with just the distinctive case shapes and jumping hour/ retrograde displays remaining.

Feast your eyes on the Gérald Genta Octo Place de l’Etoile

The curtains part to unveil a glittering Gerald Genta timepiece in tribute to the Place de l'Etoile also known as Place Charles de Gaulle in Paris. An area surrounding the Arc de Triomphe (an arc which honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. Inscribed on the inside and on the top of the arc are all of the names of generals and wars fought. Beneath the arc is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I) From the Place de l'Etoile twelve avenues fan out. Gerald Genta has reproduced a slice of these avenues displaying the prominent Avenue des Champs-Elysees as its focal point.












Gerald Genta has adopted a distinct three dimensional perspective of distance for its dial as Gerald Genta's jeweled Avenues become progressively smaller like a traveler driving down the avenues. Gerald Genta could have chosen a static birds eye view of the avenues, but this stance brings the entire scene to life. Gerald Genta has utilized the jumping hour time display which is placed at the 11 o'clock position to further enhance the feeling of depth. The retrograde minutes are indicated by a single black minute hand which is vivid and easy to read against the alternating background. The retrograde minutes are inscribed on the bezel in an 180 degree arc in lettering similar to lettering found on signs displaying street names. The diamond avenues consisting of 199 gems and its purple enameled motif extend from the dial and onto the bezel elongating the entire perspective.Gerald Genta has chosen a deep royal purple for its color contrast.
The entire case is crafted in warm rose gold and measures 39mm in diameter. The cobbled stones of streets embedded with history are reminiscent in the unique Aquilino texture of the watches strap. Aquilino is a water snake leather with a curious skin like paving stones.
This watch is indeed royalty and fit to honor Paris and the Place de l'Etoile.

Jumping Hours and Retrograde Luxury Watch Time Displays.

Gerald Genta is the master of Retrograde watches. Retrograde readouts display time in an arc usually 180 degrees. When the hand reaches the end of the arc, the hand jumps back to the beginning and starts tracking the time.

Gerald Genta Retro Fantasy Unisex Watch Automatic 18K Yellow Gold Mickey Mother-of-Pearl



This Retro Fantasy is an enjoyable time piece. Mickey's pointed finger displays the retrograde minutes and beside his other hand is the finely gold framed aperture displaying the jumping hours. Gerald Genta utilizes this time display method in many of its collections . This time display is exceptionally easy to read especially for those who have difficulty reading the hands on a traditional watch. The hour is instantaneously bold & visible.

This power driven timepiece looks like a speedometer coupled with a coke can opener, but the entire look is a work of art. This watch is bi-retro as the minutes and the date is retrograde whilst the hours are jumping.
The jumping hour watch is so named as the hour digit jumps into view at a one or two window aperture. Some watches have a hand for the minutes and the jumping hours, some watches have both jumping minutes and jumping hours and many watches have jumping dates.

The jumping hours system works with a rotating disc and has become a popular alternative to time display.
The video below is an excellent example of a jumping hour timepiece with retrograde minute.

Audemar Piguet Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore

Audemars Piguet's three main virtues that fuel the company forward, "tradition, daring and excellence" and a whole lot of creativity. Instead of baffling the watch enthusiasts with a zillion different collections, Audemars Piguet sticks to the ones that work such as the Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore. Audemars reinvents the hugely successful Royal Oak collection and Royal Oak Offshore time after time and often times produces watches with names of celebrities and sport heroes or sporting events. Audemars Piguet watches exude a sense of careful abandonment where the watch is pulling at the far reaches of design while still deeply embedded in tradition, and unlike most watch manufacturers today that have been overpowered by large watch groups, Audemars Piguet still stands alone as a Watch Manufacturer. Audemars Piguet is still, after 130 years, in the capable and innovative hands of the founding family. Audemars Piguet embraces the passage of time and marks time's relentless running with its Luxury Watches.

The Royal Oak was unveiled at Basel World 1972 as a high-end steel sports watch with the Octagon shape and became an immediate success. Designed by Gerald Genta, the flexibility of this case design is endless whether in movements (either quartz or mechanical), complications, colors or materials. Riding high on the success of the Royal Oak, Audemars Piguet released an extreme sports version, in 1992, called the Royal Oak offshore. Audemars Piguet has experimented with cutting edge materials such as applying forging technology to machining carbon which resulted in forged carbon.
One watch to use the high tech forged carbon technology is the Royal Oak Offshore Singapore Grand Prix Chronograph. commemorating Formula One's first night race, the timepiece commissioned by Singapore Grand Prix. Self-winding, forged carbon with steel bezel, case back engraved with the inscription Royal Oak offshore Limited edition- Singapore GP 2008. Water resistant to 100 m. This pretty in pink watch may give the impression of cotton candy but this Ladycat self-winding chronograph watch commorates one of the meanest extreme sports out there: Yacht racing. A sport that requires stamina, agility, precision and coordination — all qualities brilliantly demonstrated by women. Audemars Piguet is partnering with first-class yachtswoman Dona Bertarelli SpÄth, the person who put together the all-women Ladycat crew. To commemorate this partnership Audemars Piguet released the Royal Oak Offshore Ladycat, a limited series of 150 watches, combining diamonds and rubber. The Ladycat comes in a 37mm stainless steel case, black dial with pink applied hour markers, a fuchsia rubber strap, and the back is engraved with the inscription ‘Royal Oak Offshore Ladycat’. This watch also sends the message about the cardiovascular disease in woman which has highly prevalence in women with little public awareness.


Of course there is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon

The Royal Oak and Royal Oak offshore has a 8 distinctive edges which emits power and a sense of energetic passion that spurs life on. To own this watch is to own a spark of energy that is Audemars Piguet. Every timepiece is crafted with attention to detail and quality. 

The Genius of Gerald Genta: The man and the Company.

Gerald Genta -the man- founded Gerald Genta-the company- in the the late 1980's however, his profound influence on the World of Horology was felt long before that time. Known as one of the most creative watch designers of our time, Gerald Genta is responsible for the exceptional timeless creation of the extremely sought after Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, The Nautillus for Patek Phillip, the IWC Ingenieur, the Omega Constellation & Seamaster and Bulgari Bulgari. Gerald Genta played a major role in the late 1980's by reintroducing the watch world to the magnificence of Mechanical Luxury Watches.

The Luxury Watch magazines of today are thick with glossy watches and hundred of different designs, but when Gerald Genta was working on his visionary Mechanical Watches in the late 1980's the Swiss Watch Companies had just bounced back from what seemed like an inevitable free fall into oblivion. Swiss Watchmakers can still recall the dark days of 1982 when Swiss banks lent more than $400 million to keep the industry afloat. Swiss Watchmakers needed to reclaim their industry from Japan in order to continue their watchmaking legacy. If you remember Japan had flooded the market with their cheap yet accurate quartz watches. Fast Forward to those whimsical colorful plastic Swatch Watches manufactured by SMH Ltd, the worlds largest watchmaker. I had one. It was a notebook watch. We all had one ... and the Swatch Watch got Switzerland factories back on their feet and producing again.

The focus was now back to watchmaking in Switzerland and Swiss Watch Makers were breathing a sigh of relief. They had survived. They had suffered a hard knock. In 1970 there were 1,620 Swiss Watch companies employing 89,000 people; in 1985, the number was down to 600 employing only 32,500. But the little Quartz miracles had lost the novelty and people were looking for a something different, something luxurious, mechanical and with complications.

In 1990 Gerald Genta handcrafted a Timepiece with a perpetual calender, push-button minute repeater and a skeleton tourbillon that sold for $250,000. Gerald Genta help shape the Luxury Mechanical Watch Industry with staggering complications and awe-inspiring creations.


Today Gerald Genta is owned by Bulgari Group. Its creations are galactic and so utterly different. A spectacular and slightly outrageous collection is the deliciously dizzying Octo Jewellery Collection. Entirely hand painted, jumping hours and retrograde minutes; glittering with 177 diamonds or the Gerald Genta Gefica displayed above, hand decorated as well as two rows of titanium beads along the caseband giving the watch a dangerous studded "rough around the edges look" .
Gerald Genta does not mail order bits and pieces for its complications, Gerald Genta is one of the rare watch manufactorers capable of designing and crafting complications like its pulsating Tourbillons, Minute Repeaters and the all alusive yet alluring Grande Sonneries within the confines of its workshop.
The Company ,Gerald Genta, has incorporated the energy and creativity of Gerald Genta -the
man.



By: R Van Halem

Gerald Genta Ladies Tourbillon

Gerald Genta's luxury watches have always intrigued me. They seem originate from a completely different dimension: retrograde displays, windows with jumping numerals, dials made from unusual materials, dial piercings, bold colors, cleverly printed crystals and "out there" case shapes. Gerald Genta spins its magic. A relatively new blip on the Horology radar, Gerald Genta was only founded in the early 1990's' however Genta (the companies founder, a Genevan with Italian ancestry) had a wealth of experience. He was the creative designer behind many noble brands such as Audemars Piguet, Patek Phillipe, Bulgari and Omega. The current owners of the Watch Company has followed Genta's dynamic and unique style. So it comes as no surprise that it is Gerald Genta who has created a Tourbillon Watch for Women.



Tourbillon's are available for Men's Wrist Watches; however, when it comes to the ladies, a Tourbillon is rare. If there is a Tourbillon for women I have yet to see it ... that is until now. Gerald Genta's Arena Tourbillon Snow White is a watch seeming to appear straight out a fairy tale. The Watches Retrograde numerals shimmer in a sea of pure white complimenting the sparkling diamond bezel and pure white band. To me, the Tourbillon has a certain angelic quality turning this watch into a mesmerizing masterpiece of perfection. In addition this watch has a definite retro look to it. A second counter is located at the 6 o' clock position above the beating tourbillon. The Tourbillon is self-wind and the watch entire has 64 hour power reserve. The case is platinum and the pure snowy strap is crocodile leather.

This watch in all its splendor is available soon... for a price.