Gerald Genta Royal Oak and Nautilus

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Gerald Genta designed Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Phillipe Nautilus. How did that happen? Start with this: we tend to define people like we put our clothes in drawers. We put the socks in one, the undies in another, the shirts in a third. Watch enthusiasts think of the man behind the Royal Oak and Nautilus as a famous watch designer. They tend to forget that Gerald Genta was first and foremost a watchmaker . . .

Gerald Genta

Genta began his career as an apprentice watchmaker at Switzerland’s Universal Genève. Universal recognized the Swiss/Italian’s skill, then his engineering talent. To their credit, they put Genta’s mechanical genius to work. Genta invented the off-center micro-rotor, an advance that enabled thinner automatic watches. Universal went for it in a big way.

Universal Polerouter

The device first appeared in the Polerouter – a huge hit for his employer. Their 1965 Golden Shadow and White Shadow models were the thinnest automatic watch movements in the world, at just 2.3mm. A record that remained until 1978.

Universal Geneve Ad

Genta’s move from the technical side to the design side was relatively easy – there was no design side. Before Genta, very few watchmakers had a styling department or an in-house designer. A watch’s look – its overall shape and details – was born from utilitarian principles. A watch was like this or that simply to fulfill a purpose.

In an interview later in life, Genta claimed he’d “almost single-handedly” invented the profession of watch designer. That’s not completely true – there were some full-time designers before him. But it’s certainly true that Genta catapulted a watch’s design element from a secondary consideration to a primary focus.

Gerald Genta designed 1959 OMEGA Constellation

By the late ’50’s Genta had made a name for himself balancing technical innovation and aesthetic aspiration. He spread his wings and began designing watches on a freelance basis (e.g., Omega’s 1959 Constellation, above). In 1970, Audemars Piguet hired Genta to create an entirely new model line. They produced the now iconic Royal Oak, generally considered to be the world’s first luxury sports watch.

Patek Philippe Nautilus

Released in 1972 in the middle of the quartz crisis, the Royal Oak’s diving helmet-inspired design and integrated bracelet were AP’s savior. A trick Genta repeated for Patek Philippe with the 1976 Royal Oak-inspired Nautilus (above). Both watches are considered masterpieces. Both watches are still in production and command sky-high pre-owned premiums.

Gerald Genta was an extremely competent watchmaker and experienced designer. He was in the right place in the right time to create the Royal Oak and Nautilus. A time when Swiss watchmakers’ deeply uncertain future inspired them to take risks. A time when artists – writers, singers, filmmakers, etc. – had a desire to go against “the system.” To challenge existing norms.

Patek Philippe Ellipse

Even so, the key to understanding the ongoing appeal of Genta’s Royal Oak and Nautilus is to know they’re as much a result of evolution as revolution.

Look closely at Genta’s 1968 Patek Philippe Golden Ellipse. You can see the design elements that inform the Royal Oak and Nautilus: fluid shapes for the case, a huge reduction of the lug size, only two hands. The Ellipse is a luxury watch pared down, a timepiece that’s eternal in its [then radical] shape, materials and details. According to Patek’s website, there’s a reason for that.

Patek Philippe Golden Elipse in blue

Its design was inspired by the principle of the “golden section” discovered by the ancient greek mathematicians. This “divine” proportion, expressed as a ratio of 1 / 1.6181, forms the basis of some of history’s greatest works of art and architecture.

It’s more than math. Genta created the Ellipse and his more famous duo by tuning-into the right “vibes” and combining encyclopedic knowledge, technical savvy and masterful minimalism, resulting in an object with a singular identity. The Ellipse also still in production. (Recent unsuccessful attempts to copy Genta’s signature watches show us the full extent of his talent.)

Gerald Genta (courtesy dreamchrono.com)

Ideas are always in the air – it’s the execution that makes the difference. Few objects have the comprehesive quality of design and execution that give an object a character of its own. Fewer still reach an iconic status. The Royal Oak and Nautilus do. We have Gerald Genta to thank for it.

Check out Franz Rivoira’s horological analysis on Facebook or Instagram (#watchonomicon). Please support his writing via Patreon.

20 COMMENTS

  1. Gérald Genta; Royal Oak, Nautilus and… Octo!
    Since reading this article I have learnt that he also designed and released several Octo under his own eponymous brand which is has now morphed into the best selling Bulgari Octo. I like the Octo case architecture a lot and you can also see his hand moving from Royal Oak to Nautilus and across to Octo. What a guy.

  2. […] Gerald Genta’s original Royal Oak was an understated masterpiece that invented the Swiss steel sports watch genre. The new Royal Oak Offshore Diver pisses on Genta’s legacy, from its oversized “mega tapisserie” dial texture (in grey, navy blue or olive green), to the undersized dial size (relative to the case), to the oversized crowns (one of which rotates the inner bezel). The Oak’s trademark move, the integrated bracelet? Gone! Aside from the “diver’s helmet” bezel, the Diver has about as much “Oak” to it as a potted plant. […]

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