Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette

Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette

Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette in Grade 5 Titanium with the screw-down crown on the left Sporty elegance constantly evolving

Geneva, 11th of September 2023 - Maison Gerald Charles is delighted to announce the Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette in Grade 5 Titanium with the screw-down crown on the left and Royal Blue vulcanised rubber strap, Ref. GC8.0 TX TN 01.

Sporty and elegant, this watch perfectly embodies Maison’s Gerald Charles values, while reaching a new level of technical mastery, offering all the essential features of a timepiece of the Maison, combining design and singular architecture, precision, and craftsmanship. This new model is designed by the Maison's Creative Director Octavio Garcia and manufactured in collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier in Swiss, always taking inspiration from Mr. Genta’s original drawings.

The Maison’s first automatic skeleton watch with the screw-down crown on the left

Beneath its deceptive outward simplicity, the uniqueness and innovation of its movement and its left-hand screw-down crown have been technically conceived in a different way.

In keeping with the values of "Artistic Creativity and Technical Mastery", the GCA 5482 caliber has been rotated by 180° to allow the crown to be placed on the left of the Maestro Case. As a result, the balance wheel is now located at 1 o'clock, capturing all the power, while the train wheel follows the movement downwards consequently. Completely redesigned by Octavio Garcia, based on his previous original design of the Maestro 8.0 Squelette, this new skeletonised movement fits perfectly within the asymmetrical shape of the Maestro case.

It is all about levels, reliefs, and lights which create a contrast of shadows and reflections. Crafted in Grade 5 Titanium, the watch reveals an architectural fusion of space, time, and light at first glance.

With the Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette, the ambition of a contemporary sporty and elegant watch, adapted to an active lifestyle with also the practice of sports activities, has gradually become a reality - and today, Octavio Garcia sees his many years of experience brought together in a magnificent watch that combines everything he wants to represent.

When you hear him talk about this watch, you realise that he has found a perfect balance between the case, the components, the skeletonised movement, the use of materials, and the finishes, all of which are in perfect harmony, with a sense of simplicity and great elegance. Everything about this watch allows you to discover the spirit of Maison Gerald Charles and its vision of contemporary watchmaking.

Thinness as a matter of fact

While being a highly performing and extremely technical timepiece, the Maestro GC Sport Squelette reveals an elegance that expresses purity in its most absolute form. With its open-worked movement of just 2.6 mm thickness, and a total of only 8.35 mm, it is one of the slimmest watches of the Maestro Collection.

The Maestro 8.0 Squelette is not just the thinnest timepiece in the Core Collection, it is also extremely comfortable and light, with a total weight of only 59.5 grams.

Tested and developed with some of ATP professional tennis players

To strengthen the relationship with tennis and after the success of the three GC Sport models, Gerald Charles decided to introduce a new skeletonised version of this watch, tested and developed with some of ATP professional tennis players. The GC8.0-TX-TN-01is indeed perfect to be worn during sport activities due to its left-side crown, which prevents rubbing during playing, and its lightness, which is ensured by its open-worked movement and the material of the case in Grade 5 Titanium. With a watch head weight of only 40 grams, this timepiece is perfect to be worn on every occasion, on both on and off the court.

5G shock resistance

If Gerald Charles succeeds in creating a technical, thin, light and ergonomic watch - since it sits flat on the wrist, as the case-back, the lugs and the strap are on the same straight line - it also features a 5G shock-resistance.

"The creation of this technical watch has been a complex journey for our R&D team in our Swiss manufacture. We asked our partners, designers and engineers to exceed and achieve something never done before. It was a challenge to come up with a lefty open-worked automatic caliber for the GC Sport collection. It is always extremely important to keep surprising our collectors by improving our technical and creative limits. The new GC Sport reference perfectly embodies the company’s vision: to manufacture watches which continue the legacy of our founder, Mr. Gérald Charles Genta, while adding our contemporary vision of watchmaking. We craft hand-made and high-technical timepieces, while preserving the most sophisticated elegance," commented Federico Ziviani, CEO of Gerald Charles.

A new sandblasting finish and bluie subtle details

With this model, Gerald Charles introduces a new sandblasting finish for the Grade 5 Titanium case. It results in a special shade of grey, which is darker than the sandblasted bridges in Rhodium plating colour with a shiny hand polished anglage.

To enhance the chromatic contrast, the decentred micro-rotor is in 22K Rose Gold 4N, decorated with the Gerald Charles ”honeycomb” motif, and the train wheel is yellow gold coloured.
Also, a very unique detail is the “bleuissage” treatment for the screws: once over-heated by hand, they acquire the shade called "bleuie", which comes from the resulting protective finish.

On the dial side, this process makes the watch extremely readable thanks to the colours used and the screws positioned close to the hours.

In order to perfect the aesthetics of the whole, the “bleuie” matches with the baton shaped hands, the minute track and the strap, all in blue.

Mr. Gérald Charles Genta’s design heritage

The Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette in Grade 5 Titanium, Ref. GC8.0-TX-TN-01, features the iconic Gerald Charles Maestro case and Royal Blue vulcanized rubber strap, both Mr. Gérald Charles Genta’s original drawings.

For the Maestro case, Mr. Genta took inspiration from a 17th century Roman monument designed by Francesco Borromini, whose shape is the result of a square and an octagon with the “smile” at 6 o’clock; with an overall fit of 40mm and a thickness of just 8.35mm. While the vulcanised rubber strap features a double-face decoration with Clou de Paris motif on one side and the GC logo tapisserie on the other one.

The timepiece, like all Gerald Charles watches, is 10 ATM water-resistant, or about 100 meters, thanks to a bespoke gasket that seals the sapphire crystal – and the movement offers a power reserve of about 50 hours, although the thickness of the movement is just 2.6 mm. These features show the uncompromising approach to craftsmanship and values of Swiss Haute Horlogerie.

So many classical references that in the design and manufacture process enhance the contemporary and original look of the timepiece. Embodying Gerald Charles values, the timepiece continues the heritage of the Maison: an audacious aesthetic, immediately recognisable with exceptional mechanics.

Technical information

GERALD CHARLES MAESTRO 8.0 SQUELETTE, Ref. GC8.0-SQ-A-00

Designer

• Octavio Garcia
  

Reference

• GC8.0-TX-TN-01
  

Movement

• GCA 5482, manufactured exclusively for Gerald Charles by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier
  

Caliber

• Automatic

Functions

• Hours and minutes

Water resistance

• 100 M / 10 ATM

Total weight

• 59,5 grams 
  

Watch Head

• Case size of 39x41mm
• Case thickness. 8.35mm
• Asymmetric polygon with smooth edges (“Maestro” original design by Mr. Gerald Charles Genta)
• Grade 5 Titanium case with sandblasted finish
• Left screw-down crown in Titanium Grade 5 with Clous de Paris finish
• Crystal: sapphire crystal with internal and external multi-layer anti-reflection
• Sandblasted bridges with polished anglage, Rhodium plating silver color
• Bleuie bespoke screws, star-shaped
• Blue minute track
• Baton shaped hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® with blue light at night
• Case back: brushed, flat sapphire crystal

Dial

• Sandblasted bridges with polished anglage, Rhodium plating silver color, bleuie bespoke screws 
  
• Blue minute track 
  
• Baton shaped hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® with blue light at night
  

Movement

• Developer: Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier S.A.
• Caliber: Ref. GCA 5482
• Diameter: 13" ½ (30.00 mm)
• Thickness: 2.6 mm
• Number of components: 160
• Number of jewels: 29
• Power reserve: 50 hours
• Winding micro-rotor: single direction, in the anti-clockwise sense of the weight, viewing from the dial side
• Micro-rotor: 22K rose gold 4N, decentred.
• Balance: variable inertia with gold inertia blocks
• Frequency: 21,600 semi-oscillations/hour (3 Hz)

Finishing

• Bevels and apertures diamond-polished
• Ceramic ball-bearing
• Wheels circular-grained on two faces
• Flat-head screws, locked
• Pivots and flanges rolled
• Micro-rotor cage: star-shaped

Features

• Manufacture movement
  
• Strap: Royal blue vulcanised rubber with Clous de Paris finish to top side and Gerald Charles logo tapisserie to rear and sandblasted Grade 5 Titanium buckle with GC logo engraved
  

Warranty

• 5 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.