Gerald Genta Octo Place de l’Etoile
This stunning Gerald Genta Octo timepiece pays a glowing tribute to Paris and its famous Place de l’Etoile surrounding the Arc de Triomphe, from which twelve prestigious avenues radiate in a rigorously symmetrical pattern. Among them is the Champs Elysées, which one can easily imagine at the centre of this perspective symbolised by Gérald Genta.
Octo Place de l’Etoile is a brilliantly daring jewellery watch blending shapes, colours and materials in the brand’s distinctively avant-garde spirit. The avenues fan out in a vanishing perspective towards the jumping hour aperture, deliberately placed at 11 o’clock in this model.
They alternate between diamond-set (totalling 199 gems in all) and enamel-coated motifs that extend over onto the bezel. The construction evokes the historical cobbled streets of Paris. The unexpected use of the colour mauve imbues this creation with a strange sense of solemnity.
The design offers an unusual twist on the celebrated self-winding movement in the Gérald Genta collection. In addition to the jumping hour display set at an unprecedented angle, the retrograde minutes are inscribed over a 180° arc on the bezel. A clever way of endowing the design with exceptional amplitude.
The Gerald Genta Octo Place de l’Etoile watch combines jewellery and watchmaking innovations within a generously sized octagonal case (measuring 39 mm in diameter) crafted in red gold.
Meanwhile, the bracelet lends an original touch not only because of its mauve colour matching the dial, but also through the texture of Aqualino, a water-snake leather graced with scales reminiscent of paving stones.
Some may nonetheless prefer the all black-and-white version – white gold case, white diamond and black enamel motif, black crocodile leather strap – which was the first to honour Paris. That was back in 2007 when Gérald Genta inaugurated its flagship boutique in the French capital’s Rue de la Paix.
