Founded in 2019, Genus took the watch world by storm with its inaugural timepiece, the GNS 1, featuring a totally new way of reading the time. Instead of traditional hour and minute hands, the hours are displayed via an arrow at 9 o’clock, while the minutes – or tens of minutes to be precise – are indicated by the head of a mechanical snake-like creature that slithers around the dial in a figure of eight. The lead segment of this creature, called the Genus, is followed by 11 other segments (the genera) that make a full rotation in an hour. For anyone running for a train, the exact minutes are shown in a small sub-dial at 3 o’clock.
This ingenious mechanical construction didn’t have to wait long for industry recognition, bagging the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève’s prestigious Mechanical Exception prize the very same year and setting the independent brand on a course for success.
Over the last five years, Genus has created a myriad of editions in different materials and colours. From the GMS 1 Rainbow Green with its colourful gem-set genera to the 8-Track edition that it made for Only Watch with a racing car indicating the tens of minutes.
There Be Dragons
In 2021, the brand explored its orbital mechanics even further with the release of its first Genus dragon with a hand-sculpted guardian dragon in rose gold, becoming the world’s first and only articulated dragon timepiece.
Working from this initial design, Genus is now unveiling a family of dragons in celebration of the Chinese New Year 2024. Versions in rose gold, white gold, Damascus steel, and gemstones are available to ring in the new year. There is also the possibility to personalize your own dragon with a bespoke engraving, personalized gem-setting, or unique colour palette, for a truly unique creature on your wrist.
Each piece is entirely developed and crafted in-house and features a hand-engraved gold Asian dragon which is recognizable thanks to its dorsal crest that moves like a fluid wave, indicating the time as it moves. Its wingless body is elongated and slender, while its head, which is made up of six individual components, stands out with its beard and whiskers. This realistic creature rules its kingdom under each domed sapphire crystal dial, which has been modified for this series so that the dragon has more room to roam.
Making Dragons
The dragon isn’t only a feat of hand engraving, but also of micro-engineering as each segment of the dragon’s body is carved and engraved separately to achieve the perfect blend of lightness and expressiveness. They all vary in size and weight, adding to the complexity of the ensemble. The complete dragon is assembled, disassembled, and reassembled – not just once but three times – with surfaces and textures refined at each stage.
This new series is powered by the Calibre 160W 1.2 and includes two separate but complementary systems. The first groups the essential functions and the single barrel, while the second takes care of the complication module and manages the display of the hours, tens-of-minutes, and single minutes. The additional weight of the gold dragon posed new challenges in terms of energy consumption and friction, but solutions were found to offer the utmost reliability and precision.
The dragon is the only mythological creature in the Chinese zodiac, and it represents positive qualities such as power, strength, fortune, and wisdom. It is considered an auspicious symbol in Chinese culture, so what better way to have it keep guard over your success than to put it in charge of your own personal timekeeping?
