Blast from the Past: A Vintage Spotlight on the Gérald Genta Retro

Gérald Genta is a name that needs no introduction. It is as legendary as the watches he designed, which says quite something as he is the creative father of both the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe’s Nautilus as well as many more. While very successfully designing for others, Genta’s creative force was so strong that he needed more to express himself, and he founded his own brand in 1969 to do just that. There he went on to not only design but also build watches that themselves would earn a well-respected status in the industry. Among them are his highly complex Sonnerie models, but also the Gefica, which he innovated with bronze cases long before they became popular, and the highly regarded Retro.

The name Retro has no relation to reliving past times or the way things were. As a designer, Genta was always very forward focused and never lost himself in romantic reinterpretations of the past. For this collection, “Retro” stood for retrograde, which was, together with the jumping hour, one of its main features. From a technical point of view, a jump hour and a retrograde minute (later models even included a retrograde date as well) are quite challenging to make. This comes from the fact that both are quite volatile mechanisms in which, for an entire hour, energy has to be stored, only to be released in a split second when the minute hand jumps back to its starting position and the hour disk jumps forward. Here, it is important for the hour disk to remain perfectly aligned, as the numerals are quite large, and even the smallest deviation will be noticeable. Given Genta’s extensive expertise with these devices, the dependability of this is ensured. For that, he also opted for a reliable base movement, the ETA 2892-A2, providing plenty of power for the module that transforms this regular three-hand movement into a jump hour with retrograde minutes.

As a designer, displaying time this way gave Genta a unique freedom that he really seized. While this is most prominently shown in the Retro models that incorporated Disney figures, it is also present in a slightly more subtle way in this Retro Sport. Its more sportive nature than its sibling, the Retro Classic, resonates from a combination of details. One of the most beautiful is the way Genta sculpted the crown guards from the side of the case. It is a perfect symbiosis of form and function that also organically integrates it into the design of the rest of the watch.

The Retro Sport has a slightly larger diameter than the Retro Classic, 40 mm compared to 38 mm. The polished and domed bezel sets the stage for a very interesting dial that is not only extremely legible but also full of details. This starts with the woven carbon fiber at the dial’s center. It is subtle, even refined, yet undeniably sportive. The matte ring surrounding it features Gérald Genta’s brand name in relief at the top, flanking the polished window outline for the jump hour display. The bottom half is used for the minute indications in bold Arabic numerals. The 10-minute increments are filled with Super-LumiNova, as are the minute hand and the dots with the 5-minute increments printed in white. This makes reading the time in the dark also quite easy, as the Super-LumiNova is applied quite thickly. This is also done with the hour numerals, but as they are underneath the dial before the start of “their” hour, they don’t change themselves until then. The changing of the hour comes with a nice clicking sound, and although no bell is hit, it can function for its owner as a “sonnerie au passage.”

The dial is surrounded by a ring indicating the seconds, a function that also sets the Retro Sport apart from the Retro Classic. This ring is placed slightly higher, adding to the depth of the dial. Both the minute and the seconds hand are blued. This means that the seconds hand remains under most angles hidden above the dark colors of the dial, except its top, which is painted in red. When light hits the hands at the right angle, flashes of blue confirm that this Retro Sport is an extraordinary watch. It is also a watch that is easy to live with. The proportions are not overly generous, making it feel at home even on a more modestly sized wrist. The short lugs also help with this, securing the strap with a screw-in pin for added security. The caseback is also secured by screws, six in total, and decorated quite soberly. That is good because it makes the engraved Retro Sport logo stand out even more, while it also sits nice and flat on the wrist.

Gérald Genta made this Retro Sport in the first years of the new millennium. It was priced in those days at $5,300, making it quite an exclusive offering, yet on par with its original nature and high build quality. While Genta’s name will forever be connected with some of the most legendary watches ever designed, it was his own brand that was his home where he could do as he pleased. That makes watches such as this Retro Sport perhaps his most personal expression and an insight into a brilliant mind and skilled hand.

This article was originally published in the January / February Issue. To subscribe to the print edition of WatchTime Magazine, click here.