FHH | The Quirky Backstory Of The Van Cleef & Arpels Designed By Gerald Genta

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Van Cleef & Arpels Designed By Gerald Genta. Van Cleef & Arpels Designed By Gerald Genta. Van Cleef & Arpels Designed By Gerald Genta. Van Cleef & Arpels Designed By Gerald Genta

21 November 2025

The Quirky Backstory Of The Van Cleef & Arpels Designed By Gerald Genta

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by @watches_and_culture

No need to present Gerald Genta again; his prolific design work can be seen throughout the industry from the early 1950s to the late 2000s, and his legacy is still vibrant today in many collections.

Gerald Genta collaborated with many watchmaking Maisons, but also with brands focusing on jewellery. Van Cleef & Arpels is one of the most prestigious Maisons out there, mixing high jewellery and high watchmaking at the ultimate level of craftsmanship.

Van Cleef & Arpels and watchmaking have a long history together. Since the 1920s, VCA has always had an original and personal take on watch design. An especially interesting and prolific period for the brand is the last three decades of the 20th century.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, Gerald Genta was commissioned to design and create various watches for the French Maison. From wood watches to bold stone dials and funky gold cases, these creations are unique in many ways.

Here, we’ve picked, in our opinion, some of the most interesting creations. You can spot the Gerald Genta aesthetic codes in all of them. Some of these codes even became VCA design cues to this day, most notably differentiating attachments on the lugs or ultra-thin hands.

FUN FACT:
Gerald Genta also designed wood watches for Bulgari.

@watches_and_culture

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