THE ART OF TIME

Gucci celebrates 50 years of watchmaking with high complication novelties

The famed fashion house pairs unparalleled Swiss technical know­-how with the best in Italian design for its 2022 haute horlogerie collection

    • Despite the Gucci 25H Skeleton Tourbillon's heavyweight complication, the slim case measures just 8 millimetres wide.
    • Despite the Gucci 25H Skeleton Tourbillon's heavyweight complication, the slim case measures just 8 millimetres wide. PHOTO: GUCCI
    Published Fri, Oct 28, 2022 · 05:50 AM

    GUCCI may be popularly known for its ready-to-wear couture and designer bags, but it has also been in the watch business since 1972. To commemorate and celebrate the iconic Italian fashion brand’s watchmaking golden anniversary, Gucci continues to move into the higher scale of luxury watches with a second collection of visually stunning high complication timepieces, adorned with brilliant gemstones. 

    Pairing “unparalleled Swiss technical know-how with the best in Italian design”, its debut haute horlogerie collection last year showcased the heights of high watchmaking and decorative artistry. At the Gucci Wonderland event in Geneva early this year, it continued to display its ambition by rolling out three advanced technology and dazzling horological creations.

    The watches also came with three new Gucci-designed movements – a mark of serious watchmaking. Below is a closer look at the new Gucci timepieces unveiled this year; as well as expansions to the G-Timeless Dancing Bees tourbillons and signature Grip Sapphire mechanical collections:

    Gucci 25H Skeleton Tourbillon For a heavyweight complication, this gravity-defying watch sports an impossibly sleek, slim case measured just 8 millimetres wide. A see-through dial offers a glimpse of a new flying tourbillon movement. The mechanism appears to be floating above the brushed and polished titanium bridges, striding the base of the dial. It’s an image created by the watch being designed around the movement. With skeleton hands adding a subtle layering effect, Gucci says the Gucci 25H Skeleton Tourbillon “is a feat of craft, style and extraordinary skill, announced by a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock”. While the complication mechanism regulates timekeeping and ward off the destablishing effects of gravity, its sparse technical design provides a contemporary, decorative touch. The watch comes in 100 per cent recycled gold with white and yellow bracelet variations, as well as in slate-grey titanium, with a rubber strap.

    The G-Timeless Planetarium is "a pioneering addition to the high watchmaking genre", says Gucci. PHOTO: GUCCI

    G-Timeless Planetarium At the touch of a button, the 12 princess-set gemstones circling the face of this innovative timepiece are transformed into a gem-set wheel spinning around the dial in a burst of light. When they are still, the gemstones “shine a precious light on time’s ever-changing view”, Gucci says. It’s “a pioneering addition to the high watchmaking genre”. The on-off control is made possible by a groundbreaking Dancing Hours Flying Tourbillon, a new Gucci exclusive movement with a hypnotic diamond star at the heart of the mechanism. The arrow-shaped watch hands are a nod to high watchmaking’s heritage of fine technical detail, with each rotation of the dial a playful reminder of Gucci’s dynamic fusion of new technology and timeless Italian design. The G-Timeless Planetarium is available in white, rose or yellow gold variations with its circling wheel of green tsavorite, blue tanzanite, or yellow beryl gemstones. 

    The G-Timeless Moonlight's Calibre GGV 838.MP movement is so technologically precise that the watch can dictate its own time, following the 29.5-day lunar month. PHOTO: GUCCI

    G-Timeless Moonlight Seldom is there a watch like the G-Timeless Moonlight, which is created around Gucci Calibre GGV 838.MP – a new movement so technologically precise that the watch can dictate its own time, following the 29.5-day lunar month. Characterised by a delicate Gucci pattern finishing and stars, the movement is visible through the sapphire crystal on the case-back. A feat of high watchmaking excellence, the G-Timeless Moonlight watch only needs to be adjusted every 360 years. A beautifully decorated moon on the dial waxes from gleaming silver crescent to pearlescent whole, before embarking on its celestial journey all over again. G-Timeless Moonlight is offered in pink or white gold, with a natural meteorite dial, “where fairground planets spin and stellar diamonds shine”. As the dial is meteorite, with one rock or metal different from another, each watch is unique.

    When the G-Timeless Dancing Bees Tourbillon is strapped on, it sets in motion 12 bees shimmering around the diamond-set bezel as the wrist moves. PHOTO: GUCCI

    G-Timeless Dancing Bees Tourbillon A new diamond-set model has joined the line-up, paying tribute to historical en tremblant jewellery designs where jewels were exquisitely made to rattle in sync with the wearer. When strapped on, the new watch sets in motion 12 bees shimmering around the diamond-set bezel as the wrist moves. The mother-of-pearl dial displays a miniature chevron pattern created by rectangular “bricks”, which are formed by a rare green and pink opal whose natural, glossy sheen reflects an extra shine, the work of master craftsmen. The natural markings of the opals make each dial design unique, while the wearer may also add her own personal touch by engraving a message on the mirrored case-back. The new G-Timeless Dancing Bees watches come in white or yellow gold with matching bracelets, or alligator straps.

    The Grip Sapphire features a cushion-shaped case expertly carved from a cylinder of pure sapphire crystal, using a specialist machine. PHOTO: GUCCI

    Grip Sapphire Two new clear mint green variations are added to this collection. The watches, with a sapphire winding crown, feature a cushion-shaped case expertly carved from a cylinder of pure sapphire crystal, using a specialist machine. The case is then polished to pristine transparency. Powering each of the timepieces is a Swiss automatic jumping hour movement. Two windows on the dial display the hours and minutes which “jump” playfully. The timepieces have a transparent case-back. One of the two models sports two laser-cut turquoise hours and minutes discs for tone-on-tone modernity; the other showcases mauve-pink discs. Each watch is fitted with a transparent mint-green rubber strap.

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