Geneva, 11th of September 2023 – Maison Gerald Charles is delighted to announce the Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette in Grade 5 Titanium with the screw-down crown on the left and Royal Blue vulcanised rubber strap, Ref. GC8.0 TX TN 01.
Sporty elegance constantly evolving
Sporty and elegant, this watch perfectly embodies Maison’s Gerald Charles values, while reaching a new level of technical mastery, offering all the essential features of a timepiece of the Maison, combining design and singular architecture, precision, and craftsmanship. This new model is designed by the Maison’s Creative Director Octavio Garcia and manufactured in collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier in Swiss, always taking inspiration from Mr. Genta’s original drawings.
The Maison’s first automatic skeleton watch with the screw-down crown on the left
Beneath its deceptive outward simplicity, the uniqueness and innovation of its movement and its left-hand screw-down crown have been technically conceived in a different way.
In keeping with the values of “Artistic Creativity and Technical Mastery”, the GCA 5482 calibre has been rotated by 180° to allow the crown to be placed on the left of the Maestro Case. As a result, the balance wheel is now located at 1 o’clock, capturing all the power, while the train wheel follows the movement downwards consequently. Completely redesigned by Octavio Garcia, based on his previous original design of the Maestro 8.0 Squelette, this new skeletonised movement fits perfectly within the asymmetrical shape of the Maestro case.
It is all about levels, reliefs, and lights which create a contrast of shadows and reflections. Crafted in Grade 5 Titanium, the watch reveals an architectural fusion of space, time, and light at first glance.
With the Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette, the ambition of a contemporary sporty and elegant watch, adapted to an active lifestyle with also the practice of sports activities, has gradually become a reality – and today, Octavio Garcia sees his many years of experience brought together in a magnificent watch that combines everything he wants to represent.
When you hear him talk about this watch, you realise that he has found a perfect balance between the case, the components, the skeletonised movement, the use of materials, and the finishes, all of which are in perfect harmony, with a sense of simplicity and great elegance. Everything about this watch allows you to discover the spirit of Maison Gerald Charles and its vision of contemporary watchmaking.
Thinness as a matter of fact
While being a highly performing and extremely technical timepiece, the Maestro GC Sport Squelette reveals an elegance that expresses purity in its most absolute form. With its open-worked movement of just 2.6 mm thickness, and a total of only 8.35 mm, it is one of the slimmest watches of the Maestro Collection.
The Maestro 8.0 Squelette is not just the thinnest timepiece in the Core Collection, it is also extremely comfortable and light, with a total weight of only 59.5 grams.
Tested and developed with some of ATP professional tennis players
To strengthen the relationship with tennis and after the success of the three GC Sport models, Gerald Charles decided to introduce a new skeletonised version of this watch, tested and developed with some of ATP professional tennis players. The GC8.0-TX-TN-01is indeed perfect to be worn during sport activities due to its left-side crown, which prevents rubbing during playing, and its lightness, which is ensured by its open-worked movement and the material of the case in Grade 5 Titanium. With a watch head weight of only 40 grams, this timepiece is perfect to be worn on every occasion, on both on and off the court.
5G shock resistance
If Gerald Charles succeeds in creating a technical, thin, light and ergonomic watch – since it sits flat on the wrist, as the case-back, the lugs and the strap are on the same straight line – it also features a 5G shock-resistance.
“The creation of this technical watch has been a complex journey for our R&D team in our Swiss manufacture. We asked our partners, designers and engineers to exceed and achieve something never done before. It was a challenge to come up with a lefty open-worked automatic caliber for the GC Sport collection. It is always extremely important to keep surprising our collectors by improving our technical and creative limits. The new GC Sport reference perfectly embodies the company’s vision: to manufacture watches which continue the legacy of our founder, Mr. Gérald Charles Genta, while adding our contemporary vision of watchmaking. We craft hand-made and high-technical timepieces, while preserving the most sophisticated elegance,” commented Federico Ziviani, General Manager of Gerald Charles.
A new sandblasting finish and bluie subtle details
With this model, Gerald Charles introduces a new sandblasting finish for the Grade 5 Titanium case. It results in a special shade of grey, which is darker than the sandblasted bridges in Rhodium plating colour with a shiny hand polished anglage.
To enhance the chromatic contrast, the decentred micro-rotor is in 22K Rose Gold 4N, decorated with the Gerald Charles ”honeycomb” motif, and the train wheel is yellow gold coloured.
Also, a very unique detail is the “bleuissage” treatment for the screws: once over-heated by hand, they acquire the shade called “bleuie”, which comes from the resulting protective finish.
On the dial side, this process makes the watch extremely readable thanks to the colours used and the screws positioned close to the hours.
In order to perfect the aesthetics of the whole, the “bleuie” matches with the baton shaped hands, the minute track and the strap, all in blue.
Mr. Gérald Charles Genta’s design heritage
The Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette in Grade 5 Titanium, Ref. GC8.0-TX-TN-01, features the iconic Gerald Charles Maestro case and Royal Blue vulcanized rubber strap, both Mr. Gérald Charles Genta’s original drawings.
For the Maestro case, Mr. Genta took inspiration from a 17th century Roman monument designed by Francesco Borromini, whose shape is the result of a square and an octagon with the “smile” at 6 o’clock; with an overall fit of 40mm and a thickness of just 8.35mm. While the vulcanised rubber strap features a double-face decoration with Clou de Paris motif on one side and the GC logo tapisserie on the other one.
The timepiece, like all Gerald Charles watches, is 10 ATM water-resistant, or about 100 meters, thanks to a bespoke gasket that seals the sapphire crystal – and the movement offers a power reserve of about 50 hours, although the thickness of the movement is just 2.6 mm. These features show the uncompromising approach to craftsmanship and values of Swiss Haute Horlogerie.
So many classical references that in the design and manufacture process enhance the contemporary and original look of the timepiece. Embodying Gerald Charles values, the timepiece continues the heritage of the Maison: an audacious aesthetic, immediately recognisable with exceptional mechanics.
