Gérald Genta 50th Anniversary Watch

The Gérald Genta name is part and parcel of Bulgari, which in 2000 acquired the Manufacture founded by the watch design luminary 50 years ago. The Italian brand is marking this milestone with an anniversary model that borrows many of Mr Genta's design principles, beginning with the characteristic Arena case - a perfect platinum circle distinguished by a wide, smooth, curved bezel that is polished to a high sheen. Time is displayed not by conventional hands but through the complex mechanisms of jumping hours, in an aperture at 12 o'clock, and retrograde minutes sweeping a 210° sector. A retrograde date display occupies a smaller sector at 6 o'clock. Admirable from both a technical and a design perspective, this composition sits against a lacquered blue dial. Classic, elegant, and truly different...