Discover the finer details of the fine Swiss watchmaker’s Maestro 4.0 Ducati 30° Anniversario 916.
Despite having passed away in 2011, Gérald Genta remains the most famous designer in the watch industry thanks to the prolific work revealed during his lifetime. Lesser known is that Gerald Charles was the final brand established by Genta: the Swiss-Italian goldsmith and designer founded the brand, combining his first and middle names, in 2000 right after selling his other eponymous firm, Gérald Genta, which now belongs to LVMH. Genta sold Gerald Charles to the Ziviani family in 2003 but continued to serve as its head designer until he passed away at the age of 80.
Until recent years, Gerald Charles has focused on low-volume, high-end, bespoke timepieces. Today, Gerald Charles produces serial timepieces housed in the Maestro case shape that Genta created in 2005, which has since been reworked by the brand’s head designer Octavio Garcia who, coincidentally, has also worked as the chief artistic officer at Audemars Piguet. Genta, of course, was famous for being the designer of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, which was introduced in 1972.
The jump hour display, which sees the digital hour numeral leap right to the next at the top of every hour, is perhaps most famously associated with Gérald Genta and was found on many of the watches he created. It is therefore no surprise that the fun display should turn up at Gerald Charles. What is surprising is that it now launches on a limited edition celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Ducati 916 motorcycle: the Gerald Charles Maestro 4.0 Ducati 30° Anniversario 916 captures the bike’s spirit in its meticulous details.
“It’s something different than the regular Gerald Charles watches because it’s 50 percent Gerald Charles DNA and 50 percent Ducati DNA,” said Federico Ziviani, CEO of Gerald Charles. “It’s not for everybody; it’s a very polarising piece. It’s strong.”
Aside from its magnificently unique and shiny look thanks to prominent superlight materials like the matte black ceramic bezel, forged carbon fibre case, and titanium crown, this watch races toward the eye with slanted bright red numerals on a central motorcycle wheel that nods to the design of the original three spoke bronze alloy Ducati 916 rim. Through the “rim” that is really the gold-coloured disk moving the jump hours, one sees Gerald Charles’ new automatic calibre with proprietary jump hour function. A red Super-LumiNova window around the current hour makes it even more legible as darkness falls, simultaneously adding another layer of coolness. All 12 of the numerals are filled with the same luminous red substance.
The Gerald Charles Maestro 4.0 Ducati 30° Anniversario 916 is available in a limited edition of 250 pieces. If you happen to have purchased the Ducati Panigale V4 SP2 30° Anniversario 916 motorcycle, you may request that your bike’s serial number be engraved on the case back. Each of the 250 watches also comes with a dedicated lithograph of Octavio Garcia’s sketched design.
