Maestro GC2.0 Black

The Maestro story continues

Four new Gerald Charles Maestro references enter the family-owned company’s continuous collection Lugano, 27th May 2021 Following the successful release of the Maestro Premier 2021 Editions earlier this spring, Gerald Charles is pleased to introduce four new references of the Gérald Genta-designed ultra-thin and chronograph sports watch into its continuous collection.

The Maestro Premier 2021 Editions were both limited-edition watches, created to signpost the future direction of Gerald Charles’s continuous collection. These pieces are now here.

The new Gerald Charles Maestro GC2.0-A Automatic and Maestro GC3.0-A Chronograph watches have stainless steel cases, and will both be available with either a black or emerald green palette. While neither will be a limited-edition, they will be limited in annual production in keeping with the company’s watch creation philosophy.

‘The Maestro is the Gerald Charles signature design and a perpetual tribute to the legacy of the company’s great founder, Monsieur Gérald Charles Genta,’ said Federico Ziviani, the company’s general manager. ‘The hugely popular Premier 2021 Editions were a preview of what was to come and sold faster than expected. Now, these new models in steel continue the story and open up Gerald Charles to new generations of watch lovers.’
As well as being an ultra-thin, lightweight watch that both men and women can wear elegantly on the wrist across codes and styles, the 39mm Maestro is designed to be a high-performing sports watch. The GC2.0-A Automatic weighs just 85 grams, and the GC3.0-A Chronograph 110 grams, and yet both are water-resistant to 100 metres andhave advanced levels of shock resistance, too.

Performance-tested in a record-breaking pool by a record-breaking champion

To test the performance of the new Maestro references, Gerald Charles friend of the brand and record-breaking Italian Olympic swimming champion Luca Dotto took them to Y-40® The Deep Joy, the 42.15-metre deep pool in Italy’s Padua that in 2014 became the world’s deepest indoor pool.

This dynamic test answered a number of questions that would have remained unanswered in static conditions. For example, how would the watch fare on the wrist at depths of more than 40 metres? While the watch has an official 100-metre rating, the conditions required to achieve that status are less demanding than those at 40 metres underwater. And would the Maestro deliver on the maison’s promise to customers of a watch that is at once sporty, ultra-thin, elegant and versatile?

‘It wasn’t just that the watch was totally unaffected by the pressures deep under water,’ said Luca. ‘It was that the watch is so light and so ergonomic that I almost forgot I was wearing it. What a pleasure to have a watch I can wear freediving and when I go out for dinner.’

Luca’s experience demonstrated that to swim or freedive at amateur level, you don’t need a diver's watch – or a second watch for dressier occasions. The Gerald Charles Maestro delivers on both counts.

To deliver this seamless balance between performance and wearability, Gerald Charles’ engineers brought forward the advanced geometries of the Maestro Premier Edition 2021 case. The new models share the bespoke gasket design first seen in those references. This gasket seals the irregular-shaped case and sapphire crystal, ensuring the watch can withstand the pressures experienced at depth.

It may be invisible to the naked eye, but to make an ultra-thin case of this shape water resistant to 100 metres required years of research and development (the original 2006 model was only water-resistant to 30 metres). The resulting innovation is an achievement symbolic of Gerald Charles’s passion for the finest Swiss watchmaking traditions, as well as of the unstinting quality standards applied to every watch the company creates: without compromise.

Artistic creativity, technical mastery, exclusive movements – continuing Monsieur Genta’s legacy

The four new references continue the story of the next-generation Maestro, first signalled by the Premier 2021 Editions, and become Gerald Charles’s continuous collection pieces.

But most of all, they continue the story of the greatest watch designer of the 20th century, Monsieur Genta, whose designs combined artistic creativity with the technical mastery of fine Swiss watchmaking. Gerald Charles takes great pride in paying tribute to his genius and unparalleled creative vision, and to the majesty of the Maestro design, created at Monsieur Genta’s hand in 2006.

Compared to previous generations, the GC3.0-A Chronograph has raised flanks that give the watch its squarer, more octagonal appearance, and extended, rounded lugs that deliver improved ergonomics. As before, it integrates irregular-shaped pushers that follow the contours of the case flank, protecting and even enhancing the Maestro’s signature silhouette. The GC2.0-A Automatic shares similar geometry, only with a rounder feel.

Whether in timeless black or sparkling emerald green, the steel GC2.0-A Automatic and GC3.0-A Chronograph watches convey casual charm and sophistication in keeping with the artistic vision set out by Monsieur Genta. The sunburst-finished dials dance in the light, while the Clous de Paris-motif vulcanised rubber straps cast enigmatic shadows across the wrist.

The two new models are powered by specially enhanced, hand-finished Vaucher movements that have been customised exclusively for Gerald Charles and that were first used in the Maestro Premier 2021 Editions. Each of the new watches has a sapphire crystal case back showcasing these beautiful mechanical movements.

The GC2.0-A Automatic houses the highly sophisticated Calibre Ref. GCA3002, a 3.7mm thick automatic that delivers time and date functions, elevated levels of accuracy and vibration and shock resistance, and a twin-barrelled 50-hour power reserve. It has a highgrade bi-directional rotating rotor set on a low-friction ceramic ball bearing system. For the GC3.0-A Chronograph, Gerald Charles returned to the Calibre Ref. GCA3022/12, an automatic chronograph movement based on the GCA3002. It too offers remarkable thinness, measuring just 6.07mm in height, including its bi-directional rotating oscillating weight, and also offers a twin-barrelled 50-hour power reserve.

Four new watches, two exclusive calibres and an enduring legacy. This is the story of the new Gerald Charles Maestro.

Technical information

Gerald Charles Maestro GC2.0-A Automatic

Reference 

• GC2.0-A 00

DIAL:

• Base material - Brass
• Colour & Finishing - Timeless Black, sunburst
• Indexes - Applied “baton” shaped and dots at 3h, 6h, 9h and 12h filled with white Super-LumiNova® with green C7 SPL light at night
• Decalque and minute-track - Printed white
• Date disk - Black disk with white numbers

HANDS:

• Material - Brass
• Shape - Baton shaped, flat
• Finishing - Silver colour, polished, hours and minutes hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® with green C7 SPL light at night
  

STRAP:

• Material - HNBR Vulcanized Rubber with vanilla scent
• Description - Clou de Paris on one side and the GC logo’s tapisserie on the back. One fixed loop and one free. Original design by Mr. Gérald Charles Genta
• Colour - Timeless Black
• Size - Total lenght: S: 175mm, M: 190mm, L: 212mm; width: 22-20mm; thickness: 5-3mm

BUCKLE:

• Material - Medical-grade stainless steel 316L
• Description - Pin buckle, asymmetric polygon with smooth edges that remind to the Maestro case “smile”
• Finishing - Polished, brushed applied plate with GC logo engraved

CASE

• Dimension - Width: 39.00mm, lenght: 41.70mm, thickness: 8.70mm, entrecorne: 22.00mm
• Material - Medical-grade stainless steel 316L
• Crown - Screw-down crown with Clous de Paris finish and embossed logo
• Construction - Carved with CNC numeric control machinery. Asymmetric polygon with smooth edges (“Maestro” original design by Mr. Gérald Charles Genta). See-through case back
• Water resistance - 10 ATM/100m
• Parts - 35 Pieces
• Finishing - Hand-polished case, vertical brushed case back

MOVEMENT

• Caliber - Manufacture caliber, GCA 3002
• Type - Automatic 3 hands, 50-hour power reserve with double barrels system
• Functions - Central hour, minute and seconds hands, date window at 6h
• Dimensions - 25.60mm diameter, 3.70mm total thickness
• Oscillating weight - Golden unidirectional central oscillating weight. Two layers of finishings: sandblasted base, colimaçon and soleil brushed top with the Gerald Charles “honeycomb” motif
• Escapement - Ball bearings in ceramics
• Frequency - 28’800 A/h - 4Hz
• Shock resistance - 5G shock resistance, tested with 5 axes robotic arm.
• Incabloc® anti-shock system
• Jewels - 28 rubies
• Total components - 189 pieces
• Finishing - Bridges finely decorated with colimaçon, côtes de Genève and perlage finishes, and yellow gold colour engravings

WEIGHT

• Watch head - 64.60 grams
• Total - 85.60 grams

WARRANTY

• Five years (following ‘Smart Warranty’ system registration)

About Gerald Charles

Gerald Charles is an independent, family-owned watch company based in Switzerland. It was founded in 2000 by the great Mr. Gérald Charles Genta, the 20th century’s foremost watch designer.

Monsieur Genta, often referred to simply as ‘Maestro’, was a prolific artist and watch designer. After selling the company in 2003, he stayed on as its designer-in-chief until his death in 2011, leaving a treasure trove of watch designs in the company’s care. Every watch created by Gerald Charles is based on one of his original designs and carries his legacy of ‘artistic creativity, technical mastery’ forward into the future.

Gerald Charles watches are at the cutting edge of ergonomics and designed and manufactured to sit comfortably and elegantly on the wrist. Gerald Charles watches are produced without compromise and marry the finest traditions and most up-to-date technologies of Swiss mechanical watchmaking to deliver superior precision and performance, as well as exceptional water and shock resistant. Every piece is an elegant sport watch, the signature of the company's founder and eternal inspiration, Monsieur Genta.

MR. G.C. GENTA

Monsieur Gerald Charles Genta (1931-2011), born in Geneva, is deemed the most acclaimed watch designer in the world. In the early 2000s Monsieur Gerald Charles Genta – at the height of his success and willing to continue his creative production – founded the most modern of his brands: Gerald Charles.

He designed some of the most modern of his watches for the Maison Gerald Charles: amongst them the Maestro is one of his highest achievements. Its asymmetric watch case, one of its kind, has never been seen before and represents an exclusive innovation.

Timeline

2000 
Foundation of the Maison
Mr. Gérald Charles Genta founded Gerald Charles, giving the Maison his first two names. 

2001
Gerald Charles Renaissance
Renaissance is the first Gerald Charles collection, whose name perfectly describes Mr. Genta’s artistic revival. The collection is a bolder expression of the soft line which Mr. Genta was always particularly fond of. 

2003
Mr. Genta as Designer in Chief
Mr. Gérald Charles Genta sold the company to a group of investors, led by the Ziviani family, and remained Designer in Chief until 2011, with Mr. Giampaolo Ziviani as General Manager. Nowadays, Mr. Genta’s legacy lives on through his many watch designs and the Maison Gerald Charles. Every watch created by Maison Gerald Charles today is based on one of his original designs. 

2005
Gerald Charles Maestro
Mr. Gérald Charles Genta introduced the Maestro case, an iconic case made to last for future generations, whose shape lies between a square and an octagon. He took inspiration from the 17th century baroque architecture, realised by the Swiss-born Italian architect Francesco Borromini. The ‘smile’ at 6 o’clock is a subtle reflection of the concavity on the monuments’ façades. 

2011
Production of bespoke timepieces
Between 2011 and 2018, the Maison produced bespoke timepieces for a niche of collectors. Some of Mr. Genta's early creations had the designer's signature engraved on the case back, as an artwork of an artist. 

2019
Federico Ziviani as CEO
A new management took part in the Maison with a Board of Director and Federico Ziviani as CEO. The common mission has been opening up the story of Gerald Charles to a wider audience of collectors, increasing the production from a few dedicated pieces to 1.500 pieces a year. 

2021
The Maestro Anniversary and the Maestro premier 2021
In 2020, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the company, Gerald Charles released the Maestro Anniversary: a limited edition of 252 pieces marking the number of months since the company was founded. A year later, the Maestro 2.0 Ultra-Thin and Maestro 3.0 Chronograph Premier 2021 were launched. 

2024
Retail’s expansion
In 2022, the company was immediately appreciated among watch collectors worldwide. The brand supported by the best retailers in Europe, in particular Italy and the Middle East. In 2023, Gerald Charles continued its distribution in North Europe and the USA. In 2024. Gerald Charles officially began distribution on the Japanese market and inaugurated a new hub in Geneva, the Atelier.