Remembering Gérald Genta: The Husband, Colleague and Designer Extraordinaire
What does it take to be a partner in life as well as business to the most influential watch designer of the 20th century? Evelyne Genta reflects on the delightful years spent with her obstinate yet genius husband
A fortnight before his 39th birthday, Gérald Genta received a phone call that would change his life forever. Audemars Piguet’s top boss, Georges Golay, wanted Genta to design a steel watch that would cost much more than most of the gold timepieces, which the brand was then famous for. Inspired by a vintage diving helmet, Genta designed the Royal Oak overnight, and the rest as they say, is history.
Although Genta is best known for designing some of the most legendary watches from the 20th century, his actual work was far more extensive. “I don’t like wearing watches, I do really like creating them,” he had once said in an interview. Besides designing nearly a hundred thousand watches, he also created splendid objects like vases, forks, spoons, sunglasses and brand logos for various companies.
Intense and fiercely independent, Genta was never a great diplomat but his wife, Evelyne, was always around to strike that much-needed balance. In a recent interview with Wristcheck, Evelyne Genta gave us a peek into her life as the wife of a genius artist, who refused to play by the rules.
Evelyne Genta in her office with a painting done by Gerald Genta seen in the backdrop ©Gerald Genta Heritage Association
It’s been a decade since Mr. Genta’s passing. How has life changed over the last few years, especially since the foundation of the Gerald Genta Heritage Association?
Life has obviously changed but not in a sad way. I don't want to live in the past. I want to tell the story of this legend but it doesn’t have to be nostalgic. I want to move forward, so that’s why we have the Gerald Genta Heritage Association. It's about both, looking back – as there is so much that Gerald brought to the watch industry that is historically important – and also about looking forward by helping new designers.
There are so many designs from Gerald that have never been known or produced; there are also some unknown prototypes that I would like people to discover, so it’s going to be a long and interesting journey for me. The watch culture is very sophisticated these days and what really encourages me is the interest of so many youngsters in Gerald’s legacy. These 30-year-olds know more about Gerald than I do, so it can get a bit difficult at times!
The octagonal shape was an integral part of Gerald Genta’s personal and professional life. It was seen in his most successful watch designs, his wedding ring and even in some pieces of furniture at home. What was his obsession with it?
I used to joke about this, if Gerald ever sent me to a cosmetic surgeon, I would probably have an octagonal face! He loved that shape so much!
Gerald always felt that an octagon was the perfect shape for a watch dial. It was better than a circle because he thought one could display the hour indexes in an optimal way within an octagon. Later when he found that ‘eight’ was considered to be a lucky number in Asia, he was absolutely reassured it was the best shape for a watch. He always worked with an octagon but none of his octagons looked similar. If you take the octagon of Royal Oak, it's quite sharp in its angles but by the time he started designing for his own brand, it got more anatomical, as he felt that watches should never have any sharp angles. He did work with other shapes but the octagon always had a huge presence in our lives – I have octagonal side tables at home and even our wedding rings were designed (by Gerald) with the octagon in mind.
Talking of octagonal dials, the Royal Oak is one of Gerald Genta’s most iconic designs. Do you recall what he went through when the original Royal Oak was panned by critics in 1972?
Gerald and I had a 23-year age gap between us, so I wasn’t around when the Royal Oak was launched at the Basel fair. However, I can tell you what he shared with me; people were shocked to see those screws on the top of the bezel. In those days, the screws had to be hidden underneath the dial but Gerald used them prominently, probably to enhance the idea of the watch’s waterproof nature. However, a lot of people found it very tacky.
The only market with a positive feedback was Italy but then it was always a very forward-thinking market. The first two years were a struggle. There were too many new things on the same watch – visible screws, an integrated bracelet and also a really high price tag. People could buy a gold watch for the same amount in those days. But the design was so strong that it eventually overcame all the issues and here we are today, celebrating 50 years of that watch.
Mr. Genta preferred working independently with unrestricted creative freedom. Do you think his obstinacy often worked in his favor?
I think it did work in his favor. He didn’t make many compromises and that is why all his designs are so incredible. Like most artists, he wasn’t the easiest person to work with and was quite temperamental at times. When he was asked to do a watch by a particular brand, he would put himself within that framework and understand the brand’s DNA but when he was doing his own watches, God forbid you disagreed with him! I can tell you that nobody, including me, could tell him to do a watch differently. As he was such a genius anyway, he had a very, very strong character.
He wasn't a great diplomat, so he did fall out with quite a few people but then that's expected. If you wanted his watches, you had to understand them. He wouldn't change the watch for you, so you could either take it as it is or leave it.
Was it this strong need for independence that led to the birth of the Gerald Genta brand?
Yes, you're absolutely right. He felt he had to go his own way and it was much more difficult to start a watch brand from nothing, especially when your clients were not very happy to see you do your own thing. So with very little support, we started with a small workshop and then moved into a factory. It was a very dark period, I know it because I was with him. You have to be a bit mad and ready to struggle and take risks.
You were the pragmatic half of the Gerald Genta brand. How challenging was it to make the company commercially successful?
Manufacturing was a huge challenge in itself. When you manufacture a watch, there are so many components to line-up and I'm not even talking of everything you have inside the timepiece. You have to be really organized to make sure everything is ordered at the same time, otherwise, the stock just keeps lying around. And because Gerald was creating something new every day, it was like creating a prototype every time. So we had to have a very, very strict look at the ordering process. I had to oversee all that, so that we didn’t end up delaying deliveries.
Then the other part was the dialogue with the clients. My husband and I traveled to different parts of the world every month. I had to see how to target the market we were traveling to and also ensure that we got paid for the orders on time, which is not easy but it’s important if you're running a business. I don't think I could have asked Gerald to look after all of this because he was working so hard in the creative field, so I took charge of the rest of it.
Mr. Genta never took a formal course in watch design or watchmaking, he was a trained jewelry designer though. So what attracted him to watches in particular?
I think if he had his way, he would have just pursued painting but we couldn't have lived on that. Gerald was half Italian and half Swiss and he would always say that if he was born in Italy, he would have been the Pininfarina of cars. He was obsessed with cars. Watches, on the other hand, presented this perfect combination of mechanics and jewelry, so he settled for the same.
His watches are not just about beautiful designs, they are hugely complicated too. He was making perpetual calendars at a time when not many people were doing it. By the time everybody got onto the perpetual calendar, we were making minute repeaters and grand sonneries. As the world caught up with us, we moved on to retrograde watches. So you don’t have to be duly trained in watchmaking. If you like mechanics, you could still pursue it. Plus it makes more sense, if you're in Switzerland.
He did design a lot of things besides watches…
Yes, a lot. Right from forks and knives to vases and belt buckles, he designed a lot of incredible objects.He also designed a series of eyeglasses…it was just endless.
What did he design exclusively for you?
I love these two watches he made for me – one of them is full of these intertwined hearts and the other one is what he called the Urchin watch. Both were made at the Gerald Genta manufacture and they are amazing!
Who were his favorite artists?
He loved Battista Farina’s automobile designs. Gerald's absolute dream was to own the Daytona Ferrari but what’s interesting here is that he didn't ever want to drive that car. He just wanted to put it up on a rotating pedestal in our living room, so he could admire its shape and design all day. He appreciated sculptures by Constantin Brâncuși and also enjoyed the works of Damien Hirst. When they created the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, he thought it was a brilliant and iconic building. He also liked Norman Foster’s architecture very much.
So yes, anything that had style, caught his eye. He was always very progressive in his thinking and taught me to never look back.
Do you feel all this recognition for his extraordinary contribution to the industry came in a little late in the day?
When Gerald started working, the Swiss Watch industry was in a real panic. The Japanese were killing it with their quartz technology. The industry should recognize Gerald’s contribution during this crisis to help the Swiss companies. I think he got his recognition a bit too late, he would have enjoyed all this while he was still around. But that's life, I think it happens to a lot of artists.
Of the complications that we've seen in the Gerald Genta watches, do you think the perpetual calendar was his most favorite?
Absolutely right! He loved the perpetual calendar complication. In fact, he insisted that the sky and the moon on the Gerald Genta Perpetual Calendar watch was made out of precious metals like lapis lazuli and gold. The only other brand, which does the same is Cartier (for its Pasha watch) and of course this is so because we manufacture the Pasha.
What kind of work are you doing with the Gerald Genta Heritage Association this year?
What we are finally doing this year was supposed to be done two years ago but the pandemic stalled all our plans. We are going to promote young talent in the watchmaking industry with the help of a design competition that would encourage innovation within the industry. The prize winner will be decided by the members of our Honorary Committee.
We're not looking for mechanical innovation, as we believe, the Swiss Watch industry is hugely sophisticated as far as movement manufacturing is concerned. We want to find young, new designers who are good at applied art. This is going to be purely about design.
Besides the 100 original sketches that are being auctioned off at Sotheby’s “Gérald Genta: Icon of Time" sale this year, which are the ones with the potential to be actually manufactured by a brand?
I chose those 100 sketches out of the 3,200 designs I have had with me all these years. We could use some of those to make actual watches, as I know the ones that Gerald believed would be best-sellers. It’s a journey into the future. My children are passionate about watches, especially my daughter, who is very creative. So, we will see what happens.
