Gérald Genta Introduces The New Gentissima Oursin, A ‘Sea Urchin’ For The Wrist
A classic Genta design from the 1990s is now being released as a full production model.
Gèrald Genta is famous for having designed some of the most recognizable and important wristwatches in the history of watchmaking – the Royal Oak, Nautilus, Polerouter, and IWC Ingenieur are probably the best known. However, Genta was also unbelievably prolific. He designed, not dozens or even hundreds, but thousands of watches over the course of his lifetime and, including the watches he designed for his own brand, they constitute one of the most diverse bodies of work in watch design (probably in design in general).
Genta founded his own brand in 1969, and it was revived as an independent brand at LVMH early last year. The first watch released by the revived brand was one I think Genta himself would have approved of enthusiastically – the Gérald Genta Only Watch 2023, which is a new take on Genta’s Retro Disney models – this one has Mickey Mouse, pointing to the minutes track with a retrograde hand, a fired enamel dial, and it’s also a minute repeater. Today, the next new watches from Gérald Genta have been announced, and they’re also part of a new family of watches – the three new Oursin models are the first watches in the Gentissima collection, which is described by Gérald Genta as an “experimental design lab.”
“Oursin” is French for “sea urchin,” which are animals with round, rigid outer shells studded with spines, which inhabit the seafloor (the word “urchin” is from from the Old Northern French word “yrichon,” which originated in the 13th century, and both that word and the English “urchin,” refer to the spiny hedgehog). Genta’s wife, Evelyn Genta says that the original design for the Oursin watch came about from Genta’s encounters with the animal while on a family vacation in Corsica, and in 1994, Genta produced some prototypes from that design – one of which became Evelyn Genta’s favorite watch. The modern version of the Oursin was inspired both by the spines of the animal, and by its shape, which is a sort of oblate, or flattened, sphere. The watches are automatic – powered by a customized version of the Zenith El Primero.
All three models have cases in titanium, and all three have beads of different shapes and materials attached to the cases; every bead is individually threaded and screwed into place. There are 223 beads on each case, which I think makes the Oursin case one of the most complicated ever created, at least by parts count. There are a lot of subtle nods to Genta’s other watch designs, and favorite elements of his design vocabulary.
The use of bead-like elements on the case is reminiscent of another Gérald Genta model created by Genta after founding his own brand – the bronze-cased Gefica Safari. Genta would also use a bead-studded crown in some of his other complicated watches, including his grand sonneries, and he also used such crowns on the Retro Fantasy character watches. The lug design is another signature Genta design element; the baton hands are familiar from a number of Genta’s best known watches, and there is a very subtle nod to his fascination with the octagon, in the faceted underside of the domed sapphire crystal.
Of the three versions, the most geometrically pure is the model with white gold beads, although the rich surface detail of the case is anything but plain – the beads glisten against the titanium background like extra large beads of beluga caviar, and the fact that the beads are slightly different sizes in different rows gives what might otherwise seem like an exercise in abstraction, a much more biomorphic feel and appeal, with the faceted crystal providing a slight but not excessive geometric counterpoint.
The diamond-set model has a dial of guilloché-decorated pink mother-of-pearl and of the three, it’s the one most closely connected to the natural world and the world of marine organisms. It’s also the model which most strongly reminds me of something Genta would have released in his lifetime, had he decided to release the Oursin as a production model – there is something about its overt opulence and slightly baroque presence that is very reminiscent of the some of the models released during Gérald Genta’s first go-around, and it’s a reminder, too, that Genta had originally trained as a goldsmith.
And then there’s the third, almost punk rock version, which does away with the guilloché dial decoration of the other two models. This is the dare-to-be-different version – the case is black DLC (diamond-like carbon) coated titanium, and the beads aren’t beads – they’re yellow gold spines, making this, of the three models, the one that most literally embodies the spiky appeal of the sea urchin. Once again, the size gradient of the beads has a lot to do with how this model goes down – it gives the whole watch a softer and more harmonious feel than you might think at first glance, and if you look closely, you’ll see that unlike the spike-laden collars and cuffs of punk rock street style, these spikes are actually very slightly rounded at the tips – same for the spikes on the crown of the watch, which otherwise might require the owner to have a masochistic streak to handle. The gold cone motif is even carried over to the hour markers on the dial.
The designs are deceptively simple. There is a lot of subtlety to how these watches have been executed and although they all obviously come from the same product family, each one of them has a very carefully thought-out take on the basic design brief – given the brief, I might have come up with one or both of the first two, but that last model with its rings of gold spines is something I’m pretty sure I never would have imagined. They’re full of subtle details – including the crystal, faceted on its underside and domed on top, with the radius flowing seamlessly into the shape of the case – and the fineness of execution overall is impressive; tapping the case to receive the screw threads of the beads is a lot of added labor (and added value).
Gérald Genta is not calling these limited editions, but they will be a limited production “project” as GG is calling it. Evelyn Genta says of these new models, “The Oursin was among Gérald’s few creations that he was the proudest of; he would have loved those new versions! They are perfect evolutions of Gérald’s original design, retaining yet furthering the Oursin’s inimitable style.”
The Gerald Genta Gentissima Oursin watches – cases, all 36.5mm x 9.6mm, 30M water resistant. Movements, all caliber GG-005, based on the Zenith Elite caliber, with 50 hour power reserve, running at 4Hz in 27 jewels. 3 versions: Grade 5 titanium, anthracite guilloché dial with white gold beads; Grade 5 titanium with pink mother-of-pearl guilloché dial and diamond set pink gold beads; Grade 5 DLC coated titanium with yellow gold “spines.” Prices, CHF 19,000, CHF 29,000, and CHF 22,000 respectively.