Gérald Charles Genta (1 May 1931 – 17 August 2011) was a Swiss watch designer and artist. He is known for his eponymous line of timepieces as well as his design work with other high-end watch manufacturers, including IWC,
Omega SA
Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...
,
Universal Genève
Universal Genève SA is a Swiss Made, Swiss Luxury goods, luxury watch company, founded in 1894 as Universal Watch. Since its beginnings, the company has produced complete watches with in-house movements, and throughout the 20th century, distribut ...
,
Patek Philippe
Patek Philippe SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer, located in the Canton of Geneva and the Vallée de Joux. Established in 1839, it is named after two of its founders, Antoni Patek and Adrien Philippe. Since 1932, the company ha ...
and
Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet Holding SA () is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches and clocks, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring th ...
.
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...
auction house of New York has called Genta's work ''"the Fabergé of watches"'', while ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' has called them the ''"world's most complicated and pricey watches"''.
Early life
Genta was born in Geneva to a Swiss mother and father of
(Northern Italian) descent. At age 20, Genta finished jewellery and
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
training in his native Switzerland, earning a Swiss federal diploma.
Starting career with Universal Genève
Subsequently, Genta was recruited by
Universal Genève
Universal Genève SA is a Swiss Made, Swiss Luxury goods, luxury watch company, founded in 1894 as Universal Watch. Since its beginnings, the company has produced complete watches with in-house movements, and throughout the 20th century, distribut ...
SA, at the time one of the most recognized manufactures in both the U.S. and Europe for its chronograph models. After Universal Genève settled a patent dispute involving the micro-rotor caliber, Genta designed Universal's Polerouter Microtors in the 1950s, as well as the Golden and White Shadows during the mid-1960s. The Shadows contained a micro-rotor, unisonic and
accutron
Bulova is an American timepiece manufacturing company that was founded in 1875 and has been owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. since 2008. The company makes watches, clocks and accessories, and it is based in New York ...
movement, the latter two a result of the
quartz crisis
The quartz crisis was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world.
starting in the late 1960s.
Notable watch designs
Genta's work with Universal would be a precursor to future collaborations with other brands in Switzerland and throughout Europe, including Omega's ''Constellation'' (1959);
Patek Philippe
Patek Philippe SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer, located in the Canton of Geneva and the Vallée de Joux. Established in 1839, it is named after two of its founders, Antoni Patek and Adrien Philippe. Since 1932, the company ha ...
's ''Golden Ellipse'' (1968).
Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet Holding SA () is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches and clocks, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring th ...
's ''Royal Oak'' (1970), IWC's ''Ingenieur'' (1976); Patek Philippe's ''Nautilus'' (1976); and
Cartier Cartier may refer to:
People
* Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
* Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player
Places
* Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...
's ''Pasha de Cartier'' (1985).
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak
One of Genta's most recognisable designs was that of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, which was considered to be the first luxury sports watch in the world. The watch was inspired by traditional
diving helmet
A diving helmet is a rigid head enclosure with a breathing gas supply used in underwater diving. They are worn mainly by professional divers engaged in surface-supplied diving, though some models can be used with scuba equipment. The upper part ...
s and therefore featured exposed screw heads as well as a unique case design. The watch also featured an integrated bracelet.
Patek Philippe Nautilus
In 1976, Patek Philippe introduced the Nautilus collection, designed by Genta, after deciding it was time to produce an exclusive sport watch with finishes of the highest quality. The first model was Ref. 3700 and was made of steel. The Nautilus was released by Patek Philippe during the
quartz crisis
The quartz crisis was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world.
in the hope that it would help re-attract people's attention to high-end Swiss mechanical watches.
The Nautilus collection played a key role in Patek Philippe's overall marketing strategy as it had to refresh the brand image while perpetuating tradition. The target was represented by dynamic business managers of the new generations. The Nautilus wristwatch has become one of the most popular collections from Patek Philippe, and the Ref. 5711 & 5712 models, which the company introduced in 2006 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the collection, are among the most popular models. Today the model Ref - 5711 has become a true icon of success and style as it is adorned by various famous celebrities and sports stars.
Eponymous brand & Designs
After starting his own brand in 1969, Genta would create the
sonnerie Sonnerie is French for "making sound" or " ring". The term generally applies to bell towers or bells in mechanical clocks or wristwatches (see for example grande sonnerie), but can equally be used, for example, for the sound produced by a telephon ...
s, among them the Gérald Genta ''Octo Granda Sonnerie Tourbillion'', which contained four
gong
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
s and an emulated
Westminster Quarters
The Westminster Quarters, from its use at the Palace of Westminster, is a melody used by a set of four quarter bells to mark each quarter-hour. It is also known as the Westminster Chimes, Cambridge Quarters or Cambridge Chimes from its place of ...
bell ring at each quarter and on the hour, "the same melody rung out by London's Big Ben", and priced at $810,200. In 1994, he designed the ''Grande Sonnerie Retro'', the world's most complicated wristwatch, and priced at approximately $2 million. For private requests, Genta hand-designed the movements, dials and cases of his timepieces and employed limited or no external assistance, outsourcing or mechanization during the process; it was not unusual for a single watch to take up to 5 years to complete.
During the 1980s, Genta obtained special licensing with
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and distributed a limited edition of Disney character watches to the public; previously, they had been an unofficial private request by one of Genta's repeat customers. The dials consisted of illustrations of
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
, Minnie Mouse,
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...
, Scrooge and Goofy, with cases made of 18 carat gold. Designed in
Hassan II of Morocco
Hassan II ( ar, الحسن الثاني, translit=al-Ḥasan aṯ-ṯhānī;), with the prefix "Mulay" before his enthronement 9 July 1929 – 23 July 1999) was the King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999.
He was a member of the 'Ala ...
, King
Juan Carlos
Juan Carlos I (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
and Queen
Sofia of Spain
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and has ...
, King
Fahd of Saudi Arabia
Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فهد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Fahd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', ; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was a Saudi Arabian politician who was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia fro ...
and
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...
of England.
Acquisition by Bulgari
After his eponymous company, trade marks, patents and designs were acquired by Bulgari in 2000, Genta resigned and created a new venture called Gerald Charles. As of 2010, Gerald Genta watches were marketed solely under the Bulgari brand. In 2019, Bulgari celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Gerald Genta mark.
Family and posterity
With his wife and business partner Évelyne, Gérald had two children: Frédéric Genta and Alexia Genta.
During his life, Gerald Genta drew over 100 000 watch designs. When he died, he left Évelyne Genta over 3200 of his designs. This huge selection of drawings is made up of his most famous designs but mostly of unseen pieces. One hundred of them are being auction by Sotheby's in Spring 2022, each with a corresponding
NFT
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
.
After Gérald died on 17 August 2011 at the age of 80, Evelyne Genta founded in 2019 the ''Gerald Genta Heritage'' association in order to honor his unrivalled contribution to the watch industry as well as encourage and nurture young talent in the industry. The association created the yearly Gérald Genta Prize in order to reward "''the young talented designers and the high potentials of watchmaking''".Un prix Gérald Genta pour le meilleur jeune designer horloger
Le Point
''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris.
History and profile
''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...