Meeting the Master
Daniel PintoIn the more than 100 years since the first wristwatch was launched, there has been only one watch designer known by his own name beyond the brands he worked for.
Only one can say he designed the two most iconic luxury sports watches in history. Only one can say he founded two brands with his name and successfully sold both. Only one has achieved the historic auction price for the sale of a model simply because it belonged to him.
Without a doubt, and by a long shot, the great Gérald Charles Genta is the Big Kahuna , the alpha and the omega of watchmaking design.
From his birth in 1931 (in Geneva, of course, where else?) until his death in 2012, Genta forged a legendary career in the world of design, which also encompassed art and painting, with masterpieces so perfect that, even decades after their release, they have not been altered in the slightest, and today more than ever, they enjoy explosive commercial success. Not even the perfection of a Porsche 911 or a Leica camera has been preserved as intact after so many generations of production as some of Genta's models, a testament to the fact that the man had a very special vision and the talent to bring it to life.
It could even be said that Genta was largely responsible for the survival of one moribund brand of the Holy Trinity of watchmaking, and in the case of others, he has been instrumental in their widespread popularity today. He was the first to dare to bring to the forefront of design what was normally hidden.
His beginnings as a component designer in the 1950s led him to Universal Genève, where he designed one of the first anti-magnetic watches, commissioned by SAS Scandinavian Airlines to allow it to fly over the North Pole without being affected by its magnetic fields. This beauty was aptly named the Polerouter of 1954, and its popularity to this day explains how Genta became a highly sought-after designer from that day forward.
After collaborating with Omega on their Constellation and Seamaster , already becoming the most renowned designer of the time, he launched his own brand in 1969, Gérald Genta , dedicated to the production of highly complicated and beautiful pieces. But that year was important not only for that reason, but because legend has it that Audemars Piguet commissioned him to design a new sports model that was conceived and drawn in... just one day! That's right, the Royal Oak , which was finally presented at the 1972 Basel Motor Show, only took Genta 24 hours to create, with a napkin and paper towel at a bar.
As if that weren't enough, and despite not being a best-seller, both Patek and IWC commissioned him to create their own luxury sports models. In IWC's case, it was the redesign of the robust Ingenieur , with Genta delivering impeccable work with a round case with an integrated bracelet and exposed screws. This look has been revived by the brand several times and is perceived by collectors as one of the most sought-after IWC watches, commanding rising prices on the vintage market. Of course, none of this even comes close to the true craze he unleashed with the design he delivered to Patek's Stern family. A case completely different from Patek's usual shapes, a bezel inspired by the windows of a submarine, and a sublime integrated bracelet came together to deliver the Nautilus in 1976, the first sports watch in the brand's long history, and a leap into the unknown during that very complicated time for the industry.
It's been nearly 50 years since these icons were created. After a lukewarm start, they were rediscovered by collectors and today represent the spearhead of their respective brands, commanding exorbitant values on the secondary market, with the Nautilus trading at close to $150,000 and the Royal Oak that belonged to Genta selling for over $1 million at auction this year.
After those crazy seventies would come other notable hits such as the Bvlgari Bvlgari (1977) and one of our favorites, the Pasha de Cartier, which after its creation in 1932 by Louis Cartier himself (another great watch designer) for the Pasha of Marrakech, could only be improved by a genius like Genta, updating the model in 1985 for the new millennium and in the process creating a new modern icon.
Today, Genta's legacy is visible beyond the Royal Oak and the Nautilus. His genius invented a new category of watch: the luxury sports watch with an integrated bracelet . Virtually every brand today features a variation on this theme in their catalog, often using the same details inspired by Genta's originals, proving that good design knows no age. And as the great Gérald wisely said:
“If they’re not copying you, it’s because you’re incompetent.”
