At LVMH Watch Week 2025, Gérald Genta introduced its fourth piece to affix the Gentissima Oursin, the gathering named after and impressed by sea urchins. Spiky in look, intricate in execution, and above all else, unconventional in method, the Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Hearth Opal watch brings collectively yellow gold, fireplace opal gems, and orange carnelian stone in a design that’s unmistakably Genta.
The Gentissima Oursin traces its origins to 1994 when Gérald Genta discovered inspiration in sea urchins throughout a household trip in Corsica “Oursin” is the French phrase for “sea urchin” and the designer translated the marine creature’s spherical form and prickly exterior into watch kind. Evelyn Genta asserts that the Oursin remains to be one in every of her favourite designs from her late husband: “The Oursin was amongst Gérald’s few creations that he was proudest of; he really nearly didn’t need to promote them and produced solely only a few for very shut mates and purchasers.”
Three a long time later, the Gentissama Ourisin was reimagined as a brand new assortment beneath Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps. The preliminary three fashions of the newest technology included titanium circumstances and gold spine-like particulars. This time round, the new-for-2025 Gentissima Oursin options an 18k yellow gold 36mm case with a glass-blasted end, embellished with 137 fireplace opals individually screwed into the case with a yellow gold pin. The hearth opals had been sourced from the depths of Mexican volcanoes, the place water trapped in lava yields the gems’ putting crimson, yellow, and orange hues.
On the brand new iteration, Ms. Genta stated, “Seeing the brand new Oursin Hearth Opal jogs my memory a lot of Gérald, how a lot he beloved adorning stones on his watches and them by numerous mild sources. The a number of methods a stone catches mild was for him an limitless supply of fascination and its personal definition of magnificence.”
Following the same colorway to the case’s fireplace opals is the orange carnelian stone used for the dial, punctuated with yellow gold dots across the periphery to mark out hours. The hour and minute palms on the middle are additionally long-established from yellow gold. Would this really be a reimagining of a Genta design with out an eight-sided factor? I believe not. Zoom in on the sapphire crystal shielding the dial and also you’ll spot that its faceted end creates an octagon proper on the middle.
The again of the watch, additionally furnished with a sapphire crystal, affords a view of the Caliber GG-005, a 126-component Zenith Elite motion with a redesigned oscillating mass and 50-hour energy reserve. Describing the motion, Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, La Fabrique du Temps Grasp Watchmakers and Founders, acknowledged, “To enrich the design, we targeted on producing this piece utilizing nothing however the highest consideration to element. We designed a particular oscillating mass in 18-karat yellow gold for the automated Zenith Elite motion.”
The style designer Amy Smilovic coined the time period “the nice ick,” which, amongst different issues, describes (and I’m paraphrasing right here) including a component to an outfit that will typically be thought of a “no-no” when you observe standard vogue guidelines to deliberately create friction. For example, including one thing in a bizarre texture (even higher if it’s in a vivid shade too) to an in any other case basic ensemble provides friction and, thus visible curiosity. After I first noticed the photographs of the Gentissima Oursin Hearth Opal watch, “the nice ick” was the quick thought that got here to my thoughts because of its exaggerated texture, vibrant colorway, and admittedly, bizarre and wacky type. This unconventional watch will definitely not attraction to a mass viewers, and that’s okay since that isn’t its objective.
Although the particular amount hasn’t been talked about, it is a restricted version piece. Gérald Genta has additionally chosen to not share the worth of the Gentissima Oursin Hearth Opal on the time of publishing leaving it “upon request”; for context, the earlier titanium/gold variations ranged in value from CHF 22,000 to CHF 32,000, so anticipate this yellow gold model to be much more costly. For extra details about the Gentissima Oursin Hearth Opal watch, please go to the model’s web site.
