It bears repeating: a Gerald Charles watch must be worn. On the wrist, its design speaks for itself, combining watchmaking excellence with perfectly mastered geometry, striking a balance between necessary tradition and audacity. It's painfully obvious that only an Italian designer could have birthed such a shape – a conviction echoed by those who have embraced the Bulgari Octo Finissimo, another timepiece born of a dual transalpine blessing.
Holy trinity
Gerald Charles, a modest brand in full growth producing 1,500 pieces per year, combines the spiritual heritage of its late founder Gérald Genta, the watchmaking excellence of Vaucher movements, and a design by the same Italian team that manages it today. This team is overseen by CEO Federico Ziviani and creative director Octavio Garcia, formerly of Audemars Piguet. This formidable holy trinity's effectiveness is evidenced by the Masterlink, unveiled at Watches and Wonders.
Bull’s eye
Anyone waiting for a perpetual calendar with a quadruple tourbillon can look elsewhere. The Masterlink is a piece for aesthetes, people who value perfection over technique and ostentation. It’s like a skilled marksman shooting at a target. He doesn’t waste his bullets; he fires a single shot, and it hits the bullseye.
The Masterlink can therefore be defined by two core ideas: a new case and a new bracelet.
Similarly, the watch can be summed up in two core ideas: new case, new bracelet. The challenge was to create an integrated bracelet that retained the Maestro's iconic asymmetrical case, highlighting the smile at 6 o'clock while maintaining a harmonious design and exceptional comfort on the wrist. However, the translation from case to bracelet was by no means simple. The Maestro is designed around a rectangle, while the Masterlink is based on a square, resulting in denser, more contained proportions. The Masterlink also features its own dial graphics, with new indexes, hands, and minute track.
First asymmetrical bracelet
The bracelet is asymmetrical, which means that the geometry of the links at 12 o'clock differs from those at 6 o'clock – an extremely rare, if not unique, feature in the watch world. The lower portion follows the curve of the "smile" at 6 o'clock, while the upper links at 12 o'clock do not. The clasp and its pushers are seamlessly integrated into the bracelet, with no visible screws, preserving the watch's subtle and refined discretion.
For 0.01 mm less
Tech enthusiasts will appreciate the screw-down crown, an interesting choice for ensuring water resistance that typically increases the case thickness (because the crown has to screw into a threaded mount). However, Gerald Charles has managed to incorporate this feature without adding a single millimetre to the case thickness thanks to an ingenious, closely guarded system. The result is a case that is water-resistant to 100 metres and luxuriously slim at just 7.99 mm, thanks in part to its micro-rotor. Every tenth of a millimetre is hard-earned.
The Masterlink is now available in two versions, with either a blue or a silver dial, priced at CHF 20,100 (EUR 19,500).
