Comments:
Genta
Gerald Genta. I don't get it. All his 'classic' designs for AP, PP, IWC, etc, look the same. And yet you lot rave about them day and night. And then there's the Disney watches...
Surely I'm not the only one who sees this?
They are classic not "classic"
Look the same so they are not same
Aren't they?
They may be "similar" but similarity is sometimes flexible term
One will found many things similar while the other one will consider it
subtile differences
Famous designers have their signatures
same is with Mr. Genta
His AP RO and PP Nautilus are classics of watch design
and they sure not look neither bad neither same
they have same designers signature behind them...number of
sold watches speak enough about that.
Cheers
D
Genta's merits are more basic ...
.... since he was practically the first industrial designers focussing on watches as an object of aesthetic, complete design. Let me quote some lines from Paul Guillfoyle's 2009 script on Genta's role with Omega:
( users.tpg.com.au )
I think this offers a good glimpse on Genta's real importance for the industry and why his designs are considered classics. Aside from that, if you compare The Royal Oak, the Pasha by Cartier, the Riviera by Baume & Mercier, you see a lot of differences, while his "signature" is still present.
Marcus
"Before Gérald Genta, watch design was a relatively unsophisticated
and ad hoc affair. Customarily, the design of cases, bracelets and
dials was the preserve of those who manufactured them. The watch
companies would ask their contract ors for ideas, say, for case and
dial options for a new calibre of movement they planned to produce,
and through a type of committee process components would be mixed
and matched to create the desired aesthetics.
This in no small way explains the rather austere and uninspired nature
of most of the watch styles to have emerged after Art Deco and
modernist design was extinguished by World War Two. It wasn’t until
the mid 1950s that watch design (if one could call it that) began to
move away from the utilitarianism of the previous two decades and
become more of a fusion of function and aesthetics. Gérald Genta
was in no small way responsible for this trend."
( users.tpg.com.au )
I think this offers a good glimpse on Genta's real importance for the industry and why his designs are considered classics. Aside from that, if you compare The Royal Oak, the Pasha by Cartier, the Riviera by Baume & Mercier, you see a lot of differences, while his "signature" is still present.
Marcus
Each of the 'classic' Genta designs tells the story of 'its' brand ...
which I think is the secret of Genta's excellence:
The AP Royal:
Omega Constellation:
Cheers,
The AP Royal:
For me the ultimate sophistication of the concept. Extremely flat, perfectly combining round elements with sharply tailored edges. The mystery screws on the bezel are iconic.
The IWC Ingenieur Jumbo:
The other extreme: Robustness clothed in a riggest case with a matching movement. Bold and tool-like in each of its elements, but still, a luxurious package.
The Patek Philippe Aquanaut:
In my view the most idiosyncratic (in a positive sense), or maybe better eclectic, of all versions. It combines the boldness of the IWC with the sophistication of the AP in a timepiece that has the most eccentric exterior. A watch that only could be produced by Patek (not in terms of technical capabilities, but PP I think is the only brand which could afford such an unusual piece). A real feat since Genta did not opt of the middle ground between the others, but took their respective qualities and transformed them into something quite outstanding.
Gerald Genta was also the father of the following two which further develop on this theme:
Pasha de Cartier:
Omega Constellation:
Cheers,
Magnus
Nautilus of course, my bad - I was still mesmerised by...
the Aquanaut of my neighbour I admired a few days ago... ;-)
Cheers,
Magnus
Several years ago, pplater . . .
. . . started a thread along the same lines; limited to the AP and PP, but essentially the same query. My reply then was that Genta's sense of aesthetics is fundamentally unnatural: his designs 'circle the square', rather than 'square the circle'.
Eliciting a round form from a derived shape amounts to a reversal of natural aesthetics. Genta's designs feel odd . . . to some of us. Others are better attuned to his subtle sense of aesthetics.
I tend to agree with you on most counts (the IWC being the exception), but prefer to believe the reason is due to a limitation of my own imagination. Those with expanded sensibilities might well find Genta's perspective pleasing.
Cordially,
Art
Eliciting a round form from a derived shape amounts to a reversal of natural aesthetics. Genta's designs feel odd . . . to some of us. Others are better attuned to his subtle sense of aesthetics.
I tend to agree with you on most counts (the IWC being the exception), but prefer to believe the reason is due to a limitation of my own imagination. Those with expanded sensibilities might well find Genta's perspective pleasing.
Cordially,
Art
Have you had the opportunity to see them side by side?
Looking at the Nautilus and Royal Oak together in person their differences are quite apparent.
If you see it, you see it; and if you don't, you don't
The solution is to simply wear what you like; or better yet, love! (",)
If you have already tired of the "classics", click on the "ACHI and independent haute horlogerie" link above and I think you will find what you're looking for...
All the best on your journey!!
If you have already tired of the "classics", click on the "ACHI and independent haute horlogerie" link above and I think you will find what you're looking for...
All the best on your journey!!