Gerald Charles announces the Maestro 8.0 Squelette in Rose Gold with a Stoned Grey vulcanised rubber strap, Ref. GC8.0-RG-06.
Press Release details with commentary in italics.
New: Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette in rose gold
At time of publishing, the Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette GC8.0-RG-06 is listed at EUR 76,500 / CHF 73,500 / GBP 66,800 / USD 77,900 for USA and USD 93,500 for the rest of the world. Currently, pre-orders are available on application with a 10% deposit for delivery in November 2023.
Commentary
Gérald Charles Genta is the legendary designer who is responsible for many of watchmaking’s greatest hits. From the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak to the Patek Philippe Nautilus, from the IWC Ingenieur to watches bearing his own name – Gerald Genta, his designs have stood the test of time and remain popular among collectors.
With the passing of Mr. Genta, his legacy remains with the brand name Gerald Charles, using his first two names, and omitting his family name. The new maison has retained Octavio Garcia (previously creative director of AP and now Gorilla), the legacy remains. The new watches feature the iconic Maestro case, which is an adaptation to the 8 sided designs that came from Mr. Genta’s drawing board in the early days. The silhouette is that of a square embedded within an octagon with a curved lower portion reminiscent of a smile, and is a blueprint taken from Mr. Genta’s drawings.
The new watch carries a skeletonised movement which carries the Qualité Fleurier hallmark. The movement is a Voucher caliber, but developed in collaboration with Gerald Charles.
This novelty is the same watch as earlier editions of the Maestro 8.0 Squelette, executed in a different case material (rose gold vs stainless steel) and carries the precious metal premium. The steel versions retail at USD 76,600 while the new rose gold model retails for USD 93,500. Both prices are as listed in USD for the rest of the world. The USA price is USD 77,900 and this is presumably before taxes, while the global prices are inclusive of tax.
Release details
Maison Gerald Charles is delighted to announce the Maestro 8.0 Squelette in Rose Gold with a Stoned Grey vulcanised rubber strap, Ref. GC8.0-RG-06.
Following the great success of the first skeleton watch launched in 2022, the Maestro 8.0 Squelette in Rose Gold has been designed by the Maison’s Creative Director Octavio Garcia and features the iconic Maestro case and signature vulcanised rubber strap, both of which are from 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. The watch case is composed by 35 components, it has an overall fit of 40mm and a thickness of just 8.35mm. While the vulcanised rubber strap features a double-face decoration with Clous de Paris motif on one side and the GC logo tapisserie on the other one.
The Art of the mechanical watch
In keeping with the Maison’s values of “Artistic Creativity and Technical Mastery”, the GC8.0-RG-06 is an automatic skeleton timepiece, which celebrates the art of the mechanical watch. It took two years of research and development to combine design and technical performance to produce the first Gerald Charles bespoke open-work caliber.
After an in-depth chromatic study, for the first time ever Gerald Charles introduces the rubber strap in a Stoned Grey colour, which perfectly matches the 18K Rose Gold 4N Maestro case, offering an architectural fusion of different materials, space and light at first glance.
The sandblasted bridges are polished with anglage and anthracite-NAC finishes. The watch also has a galvanic treatment which prevents the movement from oxidising and rusting. Thanks to the intensive teamwork between engineers, technical team and R&D department, the result is an elegant yet highly technical timepiece, which meets the uncompromising technical and aesthetic criteria of the Qualité Fleurier standard for accuracy and precision.
The decentred micro-rotor as a beating heart
The bespoke caliber GCA 5482, developed in collaboration with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, is powered by a decentred micro-rotor in 22K Rose Gold 4N with a double-face finishing featuring colimaçon on one side, and our “honeycomb” motif on the other.
This new oscillating weight design has been drawn by Mr. Octavio Garcia for the first Squelette in 2022 and then introduced in all of the Maestro Collection timepieces. It has been enclosed in a star-shaped space whose rays spread across the bridges. It took hundreds of iterations to reach the final design of the watch, to ensure a balance between the decentralised micro-rotor and keeping the shooting star shape among the bridges. Moreover, the movement is retained by 9 star-shaped screws, designed by Mr. Octavio Garcia and developed by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier.
In addition, the micro-rotor oscillates on ceramic ball bearings that have a longer resistance than the most common steel systems. It remains visible on both side as well as the balance wheel.
Thanks to the insertion of the micro-rotor, the movement thickness has been reduced to just 2.6mm, making the Maestro 8.0 Squelette the thinnest timepiece in Gerald Charles collection, with an overall thickness of 8.35mm. Despite the movement slimness, it offers a 50-hour power reserve thanks to the single barrel, visible between 1 and 2 o’clock, and has a 5G shock-resistance measured on 5 different axis thanks to the robotic arm test.
Water-resistance, ergonomics and readability
As for the case, this timepiece features a top and bottom flat sapphire crystal, with multi-layer antireflection treatment on the top side. The Maestro 8.0 Squelette has been engineered with a bespoke gasket to seal the sapphire crystal and a screw-down crown decorated with a Clous de Paris motif, ensuring a 10 ATM water-resistance. The case, the bezel, the lugs and the pin buckle are all polished, in contrast to the case-back and the applied plate with the GC logo engraved on the pin buckle, all brushed.
The ergonomics of the watch is another key feature of all Gerald Charles timepieces, since it sits flat on the wrist, as the case-back, the lugs and the strap are on the same straight line. Hence, the adhering surface on the wrist is maximised to well distribute the timepiece weight, enabling to wear it every time and everywhere. This elegant and sporty timepiece can be worn on both the field of play and at a gala dinner.
Finally, to ensure the legibility of the open-worked movement, the 4N Gold coloured and polished baton shaped hands are more squared and larger than the other Maestro Core Collection watches, while the minute-track is in poudré Rose Gold 4N.
Having worked with Mr. Genta earlier in his career, Mr. Octavio Garcia uses Super-LumiNova on the top of these, as Gerald Charles’s founder used to do, to improve the legibility in low light conditions.
So many classical references that in the design and manufacture process enhance the contemporary and original look of the timepiece.
Embodying Gerald Charles’s philosophy, the Maestro 8.0 Squelette continues the heritage of the Maison: an elegant and audacious aesthetic – immediately recognisable thanks to the iconic Maestro case and the vulcanised rubber strap – skilfully combining colours and materials for a sporty style that is also comfortable to wear on the wrist.
Gerald Charles Maestro 8.0 Squelette Specifications
| Watch name: | Maestro 8.0 Squelette |
| Reference: | GC8.0-RG-06 |
| Case: | 18K Rose Gold 4N with polished finish |
| Right-hand screw-down crown in Rose Gold with Clous de Paris finish | |
| Embossed logo | |
| Dimensions: | 39mm x 41mm |
| Movement: | Automatic, ultra-thin Ref. GCA 5482 |
| With a decentered micro-rotor in 22K Rose Gold 4N, developed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier | |
| Thickness: | 2.6mm |
| 160 components | |
| 29 rubies | |
| Frequency: | 3 Hz |
| Incabloc® anti-shock system, stop-second system, uni-directional rotor | |
| Power Reserve: | 50 hours |
| Crystal: | Sapphire crystal with internal and external multi-layer anti-reflection treatment |
| Dial: | Sandblasted bridges with polished anglage, NAC Antracite grey color, bespoke screws |
| Poudré Rose Gold minute track | |
| 4N colored baton shaped hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® | |
| Case back: | Brushed, flat sapphire crystal |
| Strap: | Stoned Grey vulcanised rubber |
| Clous de Paris finish to top side, Gerald Charles logo tapisserie to rear | |
| Polished 18K Rose Gold 4N pin buckle with GC logo engraved | |
| Water resistance: | 10 ATM/100 m |
Total weight: | 104 grams |
Total thickness: | 8.35mm |
Warranty: | 5 years (following ‘Smart Warranty’ system registration) |
