The emerald green Maestro 3.0 Chronograph from Gerald Charles delivers time and date functions, high accuracy, high-level vibration and shock resistance, and a twin-barrelled 50-hour power reserve.
The reinvigorated Maison Gerald Charles looks to the future.
Maison Gerald Charles (geraldcharles.com) was founded in 2000 by the legendary Gérald Charles Genta, the 20th century’s foremost watch designer. During his career, Genta, oft en referred to simply as “Maestro,” was a hugely productive artist and watch designer, imagining many fine watches that have become icons of the genre.
Genta was passionate about the marriage between design and engineering. In 2000, half a century into his remarkable career, he founded Gerald Charles. He gave his name to the maison to create a unique bond between himself and the production of his own watch designs. After selling the company in 2003, Genta stayed as its designer-in-chief until his death in 2011, leaving a treasure trove of watch designs.
Since the company’s foundation, Gerald Charles watches have been produced in limited quantities for collectors and some of the biggest names in sports, art and entertainment. Today, the maison is opening up the story to a new generation of enthusiasts. Under the management of Federico Ziviani, production has risen to around 2,000 pieces a year. The brand is now represented in 45 retailers, mainly in Europe and the Middle East, and online via its website.
Every watch created by the maison is based on one of Genta’s original designs and carries his legacy of “artistic creativity, technical mastery” forward into the future. First revealed in 2006, the Maestro was one of Genta’s last designs. For this innovative watch, he took inspiration from 17th century Baroque architecture by the Swiss-born Italian architect Francesco Borromini. The “smile” at 6 o’clock is a signature feature inspired by the concave facade of one of Borromini’s buildings.
The Maestro 8.0 Squelette
Today, Gerald Charles works closely with high-skilled professionals and talented artisans to continue the traditions laid down by the great designer. The brand’s expert watchmakers and engineers create timepieces with unique technical and aesthetic features. Gerald Charles watches marry the finest traditions and most up-to-date technologies of Swiss mechanical watchmaking to deliver superior precision and performance and exceptional water and shock resistance.
A Gerald Genta sketched rendering
In keeping with Genta’s vision of sporty-elegant timepieces, in 2021, the house launched the Maestro Collection in stainless steel, which marked the beginning of a new chapter in the story of Maestro. The Maestro 2.0 Ultra-Thin and the Maestro 3.0 Chronograph are available with either a black or emerald green palette and have been pressure tested at depths of 100 meters.
The chic Maestro 2.0 Ultra-Thin in black.
Since late 2020, the Maestro Collection has housed highly sophisticated manufacture movements, customized exclusively for the maison and developed in collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, a specialist in high-end mechanical movements.
As part of the core collection, at the beginning of this year, the house released the GC Sport, an elegant, high-performance sports watch based on the inimitable Maestro 2.0. The innovative GC Sport features a screw-down crown on the left side of the case, and it’s been designed to be ergonomic and supremely comfortable on the wrist.
