Ready For Horo-Gucci?

THE watchmaking world marches to a different beat compared to the seasonal displays of the fashion universe. Even so, one cannot help but draw comparisons between Gucci’s new Fall/Winter 2023 roll-outs with that of its latest high-watchmaking creations.

Gucci’s latest runway collections have a bit of everything from sharp suits recalling the Tom Ford-era of the 1990s, to the exuberant styles favoured by its previous creative director, Alessandro Michele. Likewise, the watches run a gamut of design and technical attributes, while collectively expressing a spirit of flamboyance that make them Gucci thoroughbreds.

Though it isn’t a watchmaking enterprise, Gucci embarked on its high-end watchmaking journey two years ago, when it launched its first such collection. Kering, its parent company, has been vital in helping to lay Gucci’s watchmaking foundations. The French luxury conglomerate, which also owns Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, provides manufacturing muscle and horological expertise via its La Chaux-de-Fonds production facility in Switzerland. 

Hitting the ground running with its debut high-watchmaking collection, Gucci introduced 33 new models then, exhibiting admirable levels of technical competencies. This year, the fashion house returns with more iterations and more choice to make its unique horological statement. 

The G-Timeless Planetarium collection, for instance, is driven by the GGC.1976.DS Calibre, a hand-wound movement with flying tourbillon. For connoisseurs, procuring a tourbillon, the best of which is usually crafted from watchmaking houses with centuries-old legacies, is regarded as a major highlight in one’s watch collecting journey. 

Gucci boldly throws its hat into the ring with an elevated version of the complication that is mechanically sophisticated and unabashedly loud. The “flying” prefix refers to the way the tourbillon cage appears to rotate without support from a fixed bridge. Instead, a hidden cantilevered construction does the job by holding the mechanism from one side, giving the illusion of the tourbillon turning freely on its own.

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Mastery of the flying tourbillon is only part of the G-Timeless Planetarium’s allure. Anchored by the said complication, the watches heighten their visual drama with astronomically-themed baubles. Twelve precious stones frame the flying tourbillon and, depending on your preferred shade, there are different pairings of coloured stones to suit your fancy. One version features dreamy Ethiopian opals, while another rocks a wildly-coloured assortment comprising topaz, peridot, amethyst, and Ethiopian opals. There is also a fiery hued option with rubies, pink tourmaline and mandarin garnet, as well as an ultra-lavish model with diamond-set gold stars.

An obvious favourite with Gucci, the tourbillon also appears on the G-Timeless Dancing Bees and Gucci 25H collections, each showcasing unique artistry to enliven the vaunted complication. On the former, the tourbillon is positioned at 12 o’clock, surrounded by miniature sculpted bees on stone marquetry dials. A wonderfully capricious collection, the G-Timeless Dancing Bees literally come alive at the slightest flick of the wrist, causing the tiny, bejewelled bees to vibrate on their mounted pinions.

The Gucci 25H, although a tad more serious, is no less exuberant. It features two skeletonised tourbillon models: one whimsically modern with coloured bridges, and the other, loud and extravagant, set with diamonds on the floating bridges and the bezel.

Alongside the tourbillon models, the Gucci 25H collection welcomes a perpetual calendar into its fold. Driven by the GG727.25.PC Calibre, the watch automatically computes and displays the day, date, month, years and moonphase, and doesn’t require adjustment up to the year 2100. Slim and regal (the Gucci 25H Perpetual Calendar measures a mere 9.7mm in height in spite of its heavy-duty complication), this rose gold-clad beauty is the most boardroom-appropriate of the trio.

Gucci also seeks to articulate its horological perspectives through design. The retro-inspired Grip collection, launched in 2019, continues to command attention with its jumping-hour display. The wonderfully minimalist dial features two gold-framed windows, one to show the hour and, the other, the minutes in five-minute increments. Based on a mechanism invented in the 1920s, the jumping-hour disc switches instantaneously at the end of every 59-minute cycle.

This year, the watches’ throwback chic is charged up by a gorgeous combination of pink gold and hard stones. Whether it is the option with a brick-red jasper dial, or the mint green chrysoprase version, complemented by matching alligator straps, the Grip lives up to its cool 1970s spirit.

Last but not least, the G-Timeless Moonlight, a stupendous line-up of moonphase watches, is now available with made-to-order options. The watches can be crafted to depict their owners’ specific birth details with gemstones that reflect the astral map, zodiac sign links and their birthday planets’ position. As endowed as the watches are with technical muscle, thanks to their in-house GGV838.MP movement with moonphase display that needs only one adjustment every 360 years, they also offer a rudimentary draw of any Gucci creation: the freedom to express personal style.