June 6, 2005 Gerald Charles Genta creates beautiful watches. An artist turned watchmaker, he is responsible for such heurological masterpieces, such as Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet, the Da Vinci and the Ingenieur by IWC, the Nautilus by Patek Phillippe, the Pasha by Cartier, the Constellation by Omega and the Bulgari-Bulgari, by errr ... Bulgari. In 1969, M. Gérald Genta founded his own brand and his own watch works. This triggered a series of unique creations, from the "Répétition Minutes" with automatic movement in a case just 2.72 mm thick [1981] to the stunning million dollar model, the "Grande Sonnerie" [1994], renowned as the most complicated watch in the world, at that time. After 20 years, he sold the brand and the company and the factories and went back to painting but … well, once a watchmaker. Now the legendary "maitre horloger" has returned to his second art with a new brand, Gerald Charles, and once again, the results are exquisite.
In 1969, M. Gérald Genta founded his own brand and his own watch works. This triggered a series of unique creations, from the "Répétition Minutes" with automatic movement in a case just 2.72 mm thick [1981] to the stunning million dollar model, the "Grande Sonnerie" [1994], renowned as the most complicated watch in the world, at that time. And while more than 120 persons were employed in the Gérald Genta factories in Geneva and Le Brassus, the one and only creative force was always one man – the company's founder.
In a little over 20 years, M. Gérald Genta has given life to about one hundred different time pieces models, among which many true masterpieces, created with a handcrafted spirit, far from the logic of great numbers and indifferent to the strategies of "great concentration" that has denoted the world of watchmaking in recent years.
But because of his skills in "hand crafted" objects, M. Gérald Genta felt unable to keep up with the pace of the aloof logic of the market. He sold his brand name to a Asiatic corporation that was later taken over by Bulgari.
M. Gérald Genta soon returned to his first love, painting. But his interest in watchmaking did not wane and in 2001, he returned to this world, founding a new brand, Gérald Charles Designs.
The first collection of the new brand bore an emblematic name, "Renaissance" and included the unmistakeable sign of the master: impeccable taste and an amazing selection that makes the difference.
In the subsequent collections, the now legendary "maitre horloger" continued to surprise and marvel with his original and creative ideas, to offer to true enthusiasts of haute watchmaking the one of a kind, elegant, graceful, surprising and eloquent timepieces of a truly great artist: Monsieur Gérald Charles Genta.