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.

The post Maestro 8.0 GC Sport Squelette in Grade 5 Titanium appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

• A committed American artist, explorer and witness to changing landscapes, whose spirit of
discovery and openness to the world personifies the Overseas collection.
• A one-of-a-kind artwork, Fellsfjara, Iceland no.3, created for Vacheron Constantin following the
campaign shoot.
Through her majestic and grandiose pastel works based on some of the world’s most remote
places, American artist Zaria Forman testifies to the impact of changing landscapes. A committed and
uncompromising explorer, she has become the new face of Vacheron Constantin’s “One of Not
Many” campaign and embodies the Overseas collection alongside Cory Richards.
Since 2018, the “One of not Many” campaign has brought together personalities whose way of being in
the world reflects the values dear to Vacheron Constantin. Values that have made Vacheron Constantin
a recognised and respected brand within the exclusive circle of Haute Horlogerie connoisseurs. Alongside
musician Benjamin Clementine, designer Ora Ito, photographer and explorer Cory Richards and Haute
Couture designer Yiqing Yin, artist Zaria Forman now joins the Maison’s circle of talents.
“The quest for excellence and a taste for adventure, passion and innovation, elegance and tradition, art
and culture in all their forms have characterised the spirit of our Maison since its founding in 1755. This
visionary, sensitive and demanding outlook is reflected in Zaria Forman’s artistic approach and territory
of expression. She is a socially committed artist keenly aware that art conveys emotions and eager to
share Beauty with the public”, said Louis Ferla, CEO Vacheron Constantin.

As Zaria Forman points out:“I knew nothing about High Watchmaking and discovered this incredible world
through Vacheron Constantin’s lens. I was amazed by the craftspeople who ply their trade within the
Manufacture, by their passion and vocation, and, above all, their handcrafted work, which reminds me of
my own: modelling with my fingertips; enjoying a tactile and sensual relationship with matter in a process
of creation and transmission; making a personal imprint on time and giving it a voice. The landscapes I love
and depict in my work illustrate the passage of time, and its impact on the world and on humankind.”

An artist open to the world
Born in 1982 in the state of Massachussets, Zaria Forman is based in New York, yet her art is rooted in the
most remote regions of the globe. With her camera slung over her shoulder, she has been travelling
the planet for over 15 years documenting changing landscapes by collecting images and memories
that she then reproduces in pastel on large-format paper, exhibited in museums and galleries around
the world. During her expeditions, Zaria Forman takes thousands of photos and videos of these
landscapes in transition. Back in her New York studio, she then combines these images with the
memory of her experience on the ground to create strikingly beautiful large-scale compositions. The intricate details of a snow dusted glacier, the blue-tinged reflections of ice in water, and foam-crested
waves are all elements that the artist renders by smudging soft pastel pigments on paper, without tools,
using only her fingertips or the palm of her hand. A meditative approach giving life to sensitive works that
are realistic in every sense of the word.
Zaria Forman’s work is shown in museums and galleries around the world. Among her major exhibitions,
the artist took part in Banksy’s Dismaland, a gloomy funfair about the decadent excesses of our society.
She was an artist-in-residence aboard the National Geographic Explorer in Antarctica and was responsible
for the very first permanent exhibitions of polar art on Lindblad Expedition’s National Geographic
Endurance and National Geographic Resolution ships.

A socially committed artist, Zaria Forman is also an uncompromising explorer. Starting in 2016, she
has flown several times with NASA’s Operation IceBridge, airborne scientific missions over Antarctica,
Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, which have helped to map changes in earth’s ice over the last decade.
Zaria Forman has drawn unique material from these various flights over both poles to create majestic
works depicting the beauty and fragility of our planet.

Interview with Zaria Forman
How would you define your work?
My aim as an artist is to offer viewers an opportunity to experience isolated places that they might not
otherwise have the chance to visit. I work on a large scale, in order to envelop the viewer, and transport
them to that place and time. We take action and make decisions based on our emotions, more than
anything else. Art has a special ability to tap into our emotions. I show the beauty of what we stand to
lose in my drawings in order to inspire people. When you fall in love with something, you want to protect
it.
Vacheron Constantin is particularly committed to transmitting values and know-how. Does this
philosophy echo your own sensibility and artistic approach?
Definitely. Stirring emotions, bearing witness to the natural world, attention to detail and beauty: these
are the things about Vacheron Constantin that I admire. We share the same passion for the world around
us and the same interest in the passage of time, and all that entails. Time is the key element in both
Vacheron Constantin’s work and my own. The immense time it takes for a glacier to grow, the moment in
time that I experience sunlight glistening on the side of an iceberg, the split second I capture it in a photo,
the many weeks or months I spend exploring that moment in all its details to complete a drawing, the
time it takes for the ice to melt. I want viewers to consider the future by looking through the prism of
history that lives inside glacial remains. I want to play a part in helping to preserve beauty, as
Vacheron Constantin does with its artisans, their expertise, the heritage and culture of watchmaking.
We are both in a process of creation and preservation.
The Overseas collection that you represent in the “One of Not Many” campaign evokes exploration and
openness to the world. What did you try to express during the shoot?
I am pretty much in a state of constant awe when traversing landscapes. I wanted to express that, in all
its authenticity. The fragility of ice contrasts the reliability of an Overseas watch. Both tell time, and
their intricacies, excellence and beauty run parallel.

Interview with Zaria Forman
On the occasion of this shoot, you drew material for a new series of unique works of art – Fellsfjara, Iceland
– one of which is destined for Vacheron Constantin. What was your approach?
My goal as an artist is to give viewers an experience of remote places they might not have the chance
to visit. I believe that feeling awe for a place leads to a desire to protect it. But after experiencing
that emotional surge, how, as artists, can we inspire commitment? I draw calving glaciers in frigid bays
and the eroding beaches of fragile coastlines. I am one of many artists whose work is fuelled by
fascination with polar regions. I’ve become increasingly fascinated by the details of melting ice and how
they may help us understand how glaciers form, shift, melt, and affect us all. The ice at Fellsfjara,
Iceland, that I visited in September 2021, tells the story of the past and our future.
I was captivated by a phenomena I saw there, through the ice. Chunks of recently calved,
compressed glacier ice were washed up onto a black sand beach. White capped waves splashed
against the shoreline, and when viewed through the ice, the white ocean foam transformed into a light
dance, distorted by the ice. The light moved through frozen layers, and around air bubbles perhaps
ancient ones, that were locked inside when the ice was firt formed. I’ve made sound recordings of
these bubbles popping open as glacial ice melts and releases them, and the familiar, satisfying crackle
no doubt played a part in mesmerizing me in Fellsfjara, Iceland. This new body of work, including the
drawing for Vacheron Constantin, will explore this phenomena in great detail, magnifying textures and
surfaces in the ice that I have never before attempted in my work. It is an up close and personal view of
melting glacier ice.

Sum-up
American artist Zaria Forman has joined Vacheron Constantin’s “One of Not Many” talent circle
alongside Benjamin Clementine, Ora Ito, Cory Richards and Yiqing Yin. She is becoming the new face
of the Overseas collection, for which the advertising campaign was produced in Iceland. During the
shoot, Zaria Forman once again collected her own images and memories, constituting the raw material
for a series of drawings, video work, and sculpture, entitled Fellsfjara, Iceland, of which work no. 3 was
created for Vacheron Constantin.

The post VACHERON CONSTANTIN ANNOUNCES ZARIA FORMAN AS THE NEW FACE OF THE OVERSEAS COLLECTION appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

To celebrate this milestone, many brands decided to create special editions in a very limited quantity for the UAE market.

Richemont Group had its fair share of the special editions this year with brands such as Cartier, Panerai, Montblanc and Roger Dubuis, each releasing a very unique model to celebrate this Jubilee.

Cartier released a 100 pieces limited edition Santos Dumont in Platinum with Indian numerals as well as a Panthere in Rose Gold with Mother of Pearl dial for ladies leading the way in terms of localising its offering to the region and catering for both men and women.

The group that has really put all its efforts into creating something unique for their country and celebrating with over 26 special editions released until today from brands spanning from Victorinox to Debethune and many other brands is of course the Seddiqi Group.

They have literally collaborated with every brand they own the distribution rights for to create special editions that could be as small as 5 pieces and as large as 200 pieces. Let’s have a look at all the watches released and we will tell you our top 5 among them

https://seddiqi.com/curators-journal/50-years-crafting-future-uae/

As far as we know, there are a still more editions that are being released as we speak, but for now let us pick the top 5 watches that we admired the most.

1. Furlan Marri Havana green

The watch has been unveiled during the Dubai Watch Week in a closed event with the founders of the brand.  There are only 100 watches made from this model and all sold out already. The color combination of the watch was so catching that the demand was tremendous – a kind of turquoise green dial with havana brown subdials on a steel case.Very lively colors combined with a matching leather strap – same Mecca quartz movement as before.

https://furlanmarri.com/collections/all-wristwatches

2. Debthune UAE HAWK

One of the most desirable watches today and a very strong independent brand carving its way into the collector’s hearts and wrists. The “UAE Hawk” settled on the colour that are directly inspired by national shades including a distinctive “50” in italic on the dial. The timepiece is completed with an engraved “Year of the Fiftieth” logo in the case back a tribute to the Spirit of the Union. Limited to only 10 pieces and selectively allocated to local watch collectors.

3. Ressence Type 1 DX2

This is the second time Ressence released a special edition for the UAE and this time they chose the Type 1  model with a beautiful Mashrabya pattern on the full dial. It is only limited to 25 pieces – CHF 22,500 all sold out. The design of the geometric patterns has a mesmerising effect with the light and shades as the dial completes its 360 degrees turn.

4. Greubel Forsey  UAE Jubilee

The Balancier S – the Ether released in a very limited edition of 5 pieces only for the UAE 50th anniversary. The watch comes in carbon with a large titanium bridge suspending the gear train high above the movement. The blue colors chosen are the typical shade of blue that we have witnessed in previous Seddiqi Editions from Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet and others – a unique shade that they used to call Yas Marina Blue referring back to the first time the color was chosen in an Richard Mille Special Edition for Yas Marina F1.

5. Frederique Constant PC 50th anniversary

Frederique Constant have been upping their game lately with the introduction of several inhouse movements with complications and innovations. For the 50th anniversary they chose to use the perpetual calendar in 41mm titatnium case , bold numerals and the Yas marina blue dial.  The open case back comes engraved with the Year of the Fiftieth logo  – Limited to 50 pieces only.

Now that we have chosen our top 5, how about you do the same! which watches did you fancy the most and what made you like them more than other?

The post Our top 5 favourite picks for UAE 50th Anniversary Special Editions appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

The Lundis Bleus 1100-LE AWG Green Aventurine is a very special piece that is the fruit of several elements brought together to create an Hommage to time and to our region.

About Lundis Bleus

Lundis Bleus is a brand in 2015 founded by two swiss watchmakers from Valle de Joux:

Johan worked for renowned houses such as Renaud & Papi (Audemars Piguet) and La Joux-Perret, and since 2008 has been working for Richard Mille in the development of watch movements and mechanisms.

Bastien started his professional life by working in the design studio Etude de Style in Neuchâtel, and he stayed there from 2004 to 2007. He later went on to working as a watch designer and product design manager for Corum Watches for 6 years, and as of 2014 he became a product manager for the private-label company Roventa-Henex where he is in charge of managing watchmaking development projects for many confidential clients

The Blue Mondays  “Lundis-Bleus”

Until the end of the 19^th century, many workers in the watch industry took part of what was known as “Blue Mondays” (Lundis Bleus in French), a self-granted form of freedom where the most skilled and well-paid workers would not go to work on Mondays, sometimes Tuesdays as well, and in some cases pushing all the way to Wednesdays. Historical traces prove the tradition’s existence as early as the 16^th century in Switzerland.

Looking for rest and entertainment to compensate their efforts in 15 to 16 hour-long workdays, Sundays excluded, the workers found themselves choosing to have the alcohol flowing in their local pub rather than being in their workshops. They would organize their work as freelance professionals do today, working whenever they wanted and following their own set of rules. With the arrival of industrialisation and the reduction of working hours in the early 20^th century, the workers gradually lost their independence and freedom, becoming employees with shorter, rationalised and structured workdays – the end of Blue Mondays had arrived

The Calligraphy

Starting with the central part of the dial; the central medallion is made of brass, with arabic calligraphy by acid etching, snail finish and rhodium plating –  nothing printed. But what does it say?  “هذا الوقت سيمضي”

A long long time ago, a King called on his advisor asking him to create a ring for him with a special engraving that will make him Happy whenever he is feeling down and will making him sad whenever he is happy… The sentence was ” This Time shall pass”

We got our inspiration about the power and essence of time from this story and we wanted to keep it visible to the eye of the wearer at all times. It’s always important to know the value of  moments in life and to cherish both the good and bad as they all are an integral part of our existence.

We commissioned a young calligrapher in Saudi to come up with a unique writing of the sentence that would fit a medallion and stay visible and readable as well. Ther result is as shown on the central piece of our dials.

Green Aventurine

The second element of our dial is the outer green aventurine glass. Green is a very respected and loved color in our region – it is visible in most of our flags and is associated with Paradise in Islam.

The Green aventurine is rarely used in watches compared to its blue counterpart and for that we decided it is the perfect fit for our special edition.

The glow that green aventurine produces is very unique because of its composition of chronium salts, crystallised inside green glass.

Watch Description

Our watches comes in stainless ateel 316L, 40mm case with basin shaped profile. Water resistant to 3 bar with a thickness of 11mm, crystal included.

Box type sapphire crystal with double sided anti-reflective coating. Case back in stainless steel with lugs, stamped logo and sapphire crystal.

For the movement, as with most of Lundis Bleus watches, we used the Japanese automatic movement Miyota 9015 know for its reliability and precision with hours, minutes and central seconds function.

Finally our rotor has a special mention ” 1 out of 15″ by pad printing.

There are only 15 watches made from this model to be offered worldwide on our website with a retail value of AED 12,000.

The post Introducing the Lundis Bleus AWG Green Aventurine -2nd Shop Edition appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

In 2018, during Baselworld, strolling around the majestic booths of the big brands, I encounter one of my good friends from Zurich wearing a K Chaykin original Joker however with a special case back engraved for him and a piece unique written on its case back.. I asked him, does the brand custom make special orders to collectors – and the answer was Yes.

The idea stuck to my head and a few months later I contacted the company asking them for a piece unique for myself – however  I wanted to change the face of the Joker and his expressions. When I received the first render, I decided to share it with some of the collectors of the club – not really knowing whether this is something that would interest them or not – I just wanted their opinion about my piece unique – the reaction was very unexpected as they all decided they wanted to be part of this project.

I got back to Chaykin, this time  asking for 5 watches and a totally different facelift of the Joker with the colors Green. Purple and black dominating the look – since these are the colors of the Real Joker after all.

One thing was bothering me; the fact that most of Chaykin Joker at that time were either in Steel or Titanium; I wanted the case to look different and not been produced before. So I asked him to propose something different to us; this is when we came up with the black coating on the steel case that supports the newly designed black dial and complements the full colors of the joker.

From there, the special edition started to shape up – we were 5 at the time and decided to share the entire project with the rest of the team; little did we know, we will reach 20 in the next hour.

As a final design tweak, we asked Chaykin to engrave our logo at the case back with everyone’s initials, or name. This is as personalized as it gets.

Only one issue – our contract stated that we will need to wait for a full year to receive the watches! that was like giving a candy to a kid and then taking it right away!! but since we were very excited with the project, we decided to get on with it and hope the excitement remains the same until 2019.

A year later, May 2019, we started receiving pictures and videos of the final work in progress of our watches; the project was shaping up and we seemed very close to the end.

However, we have faced one major hik up that we didn’t expect at all!!! Our watches were hostages in Moscow and there was no way to get them back home without us flying there in person to collect the watches – seems there was some difficulties with shipping abroad as we were advised by the brand.

Would you imagine we had to spend almost 2 months coordinating the pick ups of our 20 watches and finding the time for several collectors to travel to Moscow and have their watches collected. It was the most difficult project logistically for the club since inception.

But eventually we received the watches and started enjoying them after the excitement around them was almost going to fade away from all the hassle and struggles to have them on our wrists.

With this final release, we close our Special Editions for 2019 .. however, we will soon have a mega announcement of the most exciting and unique project ever made to date from any watch club worldwide, with one of the most prestigious brands in the industry today!!

Stay tune, this is going to be big!!!

The post The Real Joker – Arab Watch Club 12th Special edition appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.