Apr 5, 2023

GENEVA — “The more people talk about watchmaking, the better,” Watches and Wonders Geneva Foundation chief executive officer Matthieu Humair once told WWD, and the industry certainly seems to agree with that sentiment. Beyond the boundaries of the Palexpo convention center, there was plenty to keep conversations going, including the revival of the hallowed Gerald Genta brand, the launch of a new house by two watch-loving generations of the Biver family and Philipp Plein being loud and proud for his high-watchmaking debut. Biver Former watchmaking executive Jean-Claude Biver may have stepped down from a stellar 50-year career in the industry but he never stepped away from watchmaking, a personal passion. Related Galleries G.Maillot/Courtesy of Biver That much was clear when months into his apparent retirement, he revealed that he would be launching an eponymous brand and later showcased a carillon repeater with a tourbillon prototype watch that was sold by auction house Philipps in association with Bacs and Russo. The Sunday before Watches and Wonders, press, fellow watchmakers and collectors convened to a picturesque 18th-century farmhouse now home to Biver, the brand founded by the watch industry veteran and his 22-year-old son Pierre Biver, who cut his teeth at Phillips before working with his father. A 42-mm minute repeater with a tourbillon and a microrotor, the Carillon Tourbillon Biver is meant as “a contemporary watch, inspired by tradition and representative of both my father and me,” stated cofounder Pierre Biver, noting their intention to make the minute repeater into a brand signature. Each aspect — from the minute constituting parts of the movement to the wafer-thin sodalite dial and the five-link metal bracelet developed specially for the brand — was intended to bring soul to the watchmaking world, according to the elder Biver. This near-spiritual approach is further highlighted by the silver obsidian and sodalite chosen for the watch faces, which symbolize rebirth and protection, respectively. They are paired with rose gold and titanium, respectively. There is also a bicolor version. The Carillon Tourbillon Biver in titanium with a sodalite dial. Courtesy of Biver Built into this watch and the brand is the idea that the interoperation of skilled hands is required to bring such timepieces to life. “We want to show that we can do great things thanks to a collective of subcontractors, partners and skills that we bring together,” said Jean-Claude Biver. To follow up on these $550,000 timepieces, Pierre Biver said subsequent launches would be a perpetual calendar and a chronograph, in keeping with their vision of “love, memory and evolution” as pillars of the Biver brand. Gérald Genta “We miss Gérald Genta,” proclaimed a T-shirt spotted in Geneva. Although the renowned watch designer died in 2011, his heritage continues to be writ large in the industry, with a number of flagship designs still bearing his mark. This year there is another reason for his name to be on all lips throughout the week: the Gérald Genta brand is being revived under the auspices of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, with the blessing and cooperation of Evelyne Genta, his business partner and widow. After studying jewelry-making, Genta is said to have found the field unappealing, to the point of throwing his tools in the Rhone River and going for watchmaking. Among his early clients were Universal Geneve and Omega and in the ‘70s he created his best-known designs, including the original Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, and the IWC Schaffhausen Ingenieur SL Référence 1832 that was reinterpreted in the Ingenieur Automatic 40 shown at Watches and Wonders. The Gérald Genta brand was founded around that time and by the early ‘80s, his most striking designs were done under his own name and cemented his position as one of the forerunners of high-complication watchmaking after the so-called quartz crisis in Swiss watchmaking. Gérald Genta’s 1994 Grande Sonnerie watch, one of the most complicated watches of its time. Courtesy of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton Among famous examples are Mickey Mouse watches for Disney that drew the ire of Geneva’s watchmaking circles, but also a Grande Sonnerie that took five years of research and development. That’s also the period when La Fabrique Du Temps founders Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini started working together for Genta during the ‘80s and ‘90s, overseeing the minute repeater, tourbillon and high complications workshops. After the 1996 purchase of a majority stake in the brand by Singapore-based retailer The Hour Glass, it was acquired by Bulgari in 2000 in a deal meant to bolster the Roman jeweler’s high watchmaking division, which saw it also purchase Daniel Roth. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton subsequently took control of  Bulgari in 2011 . There’s no word yet on new designs but the company said it would concentrate production on high complications made in small quantities. And with Evelyn Genta giving access to the designer’s archives, said to include hundreds of yet-unproduced designs, there’s no doubt these new watches will be as striking as their late designer intended. “I’m too poor not to be loud,” Philipp Plein told WWD in a suite at the Fairmont Hotel as he unveiled his first high watchmaking collection, dubbed Timemachine and entirely made in Switzerland. To be sure, his timepieces are chunky, bold and flamboyant, embellished with Plein’s signature skull. They cater to a niche audience he’s been carving throughout his career in fashion, too. “I wanted to have a watch which is out of competition somehow…we have a lot of watches and a lot of value for an affordable price, that’s our gamble here. I always approach the consumer first, not the retailer. The consumer has power,” Plein offered. Philipp Plein’s high watchmaking timepieces come in a box with a screen showcasing NFTs. Courtesy of Philipp Plein The collection comprises nine men’s “Crypto King” and five women’s “Crypto Queen” timepieces. Each watch, manufactured in a limited run of around 200 pieces, comes with an NFT designed by Antonio Tudisco — Plein having found his sweet spot in all things Web3. “I don’t have a name in the watch industry, I come from the other side, I have a product which you might want to buy just because you like it. You don’t need to know Philipp Plein [as a brand],” he said. One year in the making, the men’s barrel-shaped timepieces feature a hexagonal-patterned polycarbonate case, double layer see-through dial revealing Plein’s signature skull and a double dome sapphire crystal. They come with interchangeable silicon and alligator straps. Philipp Plein’s Crypto King timepiece. Courtesy of Philipp Plein Crafted from ceramic, the Crypto Queens watches also feature a see-through dial, here embellished with a hexagon, 12 or 38 diamonds depending on the model, and enamels throughout. They come with a silicone strap in pastel hues. Retailing between 2,700 and 20,000 euros, the timepieces will hit retail in early fall at Philipp Plein’s flagship stores, priced below entry-price models of brands Plein sees as competitors. He said he’s also in advanced talks with some luxury watch retailers to have a broader distribution. The designer is taking the collection, which is licensed to Timex, on a roadshow. It will touch down in Monaco during the Formula 1 Grand Prix in May, before Singapore, London, Paris, New York and Las Vegas, also during the Grand Prix weekend in November.