A solid eighteen carat yellow gold calendar watch from the "Success" line, by Gerald Genta. Genta is THE name in watch design. It is not possible to look at any major watch brand and not see his fingerprint on some element of design on watch case, or dial design. This superb and instantly recognisable watch is a prime example of that. Made in eighteen carat yellow gold, the octagonal case, soft and elegant bracelet drapes beautlfully from the  bar connected to the edge of the case.

The Gérald Genta Success line emerged during the late 1980s and early 1990s, at a time when the designer’s own brand was moving beyond traditional watchmaking and into something far more expressive. While many remember Genta for the Royal Oak or Nautilus, the Success collection showed a very different side of his work. These were watches designed with a softer, more decorative hand, often combining gold cases, integrated bracelets, diamonds and hardstone dials into something that felt closer to jewellery than sport watch.

One of the defining features of the Success line was its bracelet. Rather than the sharp, angular forms of many earlier Genta designs, the Success models often featured rounded multi-link bracelets that draped fluidly across the wrist. Cases were typically stepped and octagonal, a shape that would later influence the Octo, while dials ranged from classic white and black to lapis lazuli, carbon fibre and mother of pearl. Many examples also incorporated moonphases, perpetual calendars and other complications, often presented in a highly decorative way.

Today, the Success collection remains one of the more overlooked chapters in Gérald Genta’s history. Yet it perfectly captures his willingness to design without limitation. These are watches that sit somewhere between fine watchmaking and high jewellery, with all the boldness, individuality and flair that defined Gérald Genta at his very best.

Founded in 1969, the eponymous brand of Gérald Genta was one of the earliest true independent watchmakers. At a time when most of the industry still revolved around large manufactures and traditional dress watches, Genta created a house that reflected his own ideas without compromise. This was years before he designed the Royal Oak or Nautilus for other brands. Under his own name, he had complete freedom to explore bold shapes, unusual complications and highly individual aesthetics.

The Gérald Genta brand became known for pairing technical innovation with theatrical design. During the 1980s and 1990s, the company produced some of the most inventive complicated wristwatches of the period, including jumping hours, retrograde displays, minute repeaters and grande sonnerie wristwatches. In 1994, the house introduced the Grande Sonnerie Retro, widely regarded as one of the most complicated wristwatches ever made at the time. Genta’s own watches often felt more personal and more daring than the work he produced for other brands. They could be architectural, extravagant and occasionally playful, particularly in his Disney character watches, which transformed Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy into serious pieces of haute horlogerie.

By the late 1990s, Gérald Genta sold the brand, which was later acquired by Bulgari in 2000. The acquisition brought some of Genta’s most important ideas into the Bulgari universe, most notably the Octo case, which would later become one of the brand’s defining designs. Although the Gérald Genta name disappeared for a period, its influence never did. Today, the brand remains one of the clearest expressions of Genta’s imagination: part watchmaker, part artist, and entirely unconcerned with convention. LVMH acquired the brand in 2011 as part of its takeover of Bulgari, and so begins a new chapter in this iconic gentleman's journey of watch making lore. 

The watch is powered by a quartz caliber movement which, rather than having a classic date window, it features a rotating disc, much like a mystery dial hand set, that supports a frame holding a magnifying lens that sits over the current date. An ingenouous approach, and very inline with his whimsy met with intrigue. 

This is an example from the early 1990's. The condition is superb throughout,  unpolished with all the original case marking still clear on the back. All edges are sharp, which is how these watches must be maintained. Polishing them ruins all the original, intricate case angles. The dial is perfect along with the yellow gold hands.

This is a great watch to wear. Rare in itself, very few examples being produced by Genta. Although a smaller size, it wear very well, and is perfect for those looking for a unique conversational piece. The bracelet is a comfortable size, measuring 7.5" in total. The solid eighteen carat gold, Italian made bracelet also has one ladder in the clasp to slightly adjust the size. The case size measures 26mm across, not including the crown.

So few of these watches were made when they were launched in the 1980's. They rarely surface in this all gold combination on the original bracelet. As the Genta brand moves back into the spotlight, these original pieces made by the man himself will only increase in desirability.