Gerald Charles Puts a Lot of Topspin into the Maestro GC Sport Tennis Turquoise Edition

Gérald Genta (1931-2011), the legendary watch designer, worked with so many watch brands and designed so many iconic pieces that it is easy to forget that he also created two watch brands bearing his name. Genta’s last personal brand, composed of his first and middle name, Gerald Charles, was founded in 2000 and sold to the Ziviani family in 2003. Following his death, Federico Ziviani took over as CEO and refocused the brand’s identity on Genta’s signature asymmetric Maestro case. While few brands can survive on a single case alone, Gerald Charles has defied the odds. The latest release, presented during Geneva Watch Days, belongs to the performance-driven yet surprisingly slim GC Sport family, now revisited in an eye-catching light turquoise colour scheme.

It’s surprising how Genta’s radically asymmetric Maestro case, inspired by Roman Baroque architecture, has been adapted to so many different styles. There’s the ultra-thin Maestro dress watch family, the chronograph, complications like jumping hours, tourbillons and perpetual calendars, the Masterlink luxury sporty watch with an integrated bracelet and the Maestro GC Sport, a sub-family of lightweight, shock-resistant watches designed for high-intensity sports, such as tennis.

The GC Sport resulted from input from a trio of ATP Tour tennis players, who defined the requirements for a casual, sports-compliant watch. Instead of steel, the Maestro case is crafted from lightweight Darkblast grade 5 titanium with the screw-down crown on the left side of the case. The compact 39mm x 41mm case has a slim height of just 9mm, and while it respects Genta’s asymmetric curves, it is built to take a thrashing. Tested by professional tennis players, the robust construction can withstand shocks of up to 5G and depths of up to 100 metres, while weighing just 64 grams.

Following the tennis-ready edition with a yellow fumé dial, the brand returns with a light turquoise model. The grained turquoise dial has a pronounced gradient effect, a white railway-style minutes track, applied Arabic numerals at 3, 9 and 12 o’clock, baton indices and a framed date aperture at 6 o’clock. The indices and baton hour and minute hands are filled with white Super-LumiNova that glows green in the dark.

The watch features an ultra-thin automatic movement (calibre GCA2001) with a 50-hour power reserve by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier. Adapted for the GC Sport Series with a 40% increase in shock resistance and a re-engineered rotor to prevent overwinding during intense physical activity, the resilient movement retains its ultra-thin 3.7mm profile. The customised golden rotor features the brand’s signature honeycomb design.

Paired with a turquoise textured Velcro strap and a Darkblast titanium buckle, the watch is limited to 100 pieces and retails for CHF 20,000 or EUR 20,000 (excl. VAT). More information at geraldcharles.com.