Maestro Ref GC2.0-A and GC3.0-A
The Maestro story continues

Four new Gerald Charles Maestro references enter the family-owned company’s continuous collection.

Lugano, 27th May 2021.- Following the successful release of the Maestro Premier 2021 Editions earlier this spring, Gerald Charles is pleased to introduce four new references of the Gérald Genta-designed ultra-thin and chronograph sports watch into its continuous collection.

The Maestro Premier 2021 Editions were both limited-edition watches, created to signpost the future direction of Gerald Charles’s continuous collection. These pieces are now here.

The new Gerald Charles Maestro GC2.0-A Automatic and Maestro GC3.0-A Chronograph watches have stainless steel cases, and will both be available with either a black or emerald green palette. While neither will be a limited-edition, they will be limited in annual production in keeping with the company’s watch creation philosophy.

‘The Maestro is the Gerald Charles signature design and a perpetual tribute to the legacy of the company’s great founder, Monsieur Gérald Charles Genta,’ said Federico Ziviani, the company’s general manager. ‘The hugely popular Premier 2021 Editions were a preview of what was to come and sold faster than expected. Now, these new models in
steel continue the story and open up Gerald Charles to new generations of watch lovers.’ As well as being an ultra-thin, lightweight watch that both men and women can wear elegantly on the wrist across codes and styles, the 39mm Maestro is designed to be a high-performing sports watch. The GC2.0-A Automatic weighs just 85 grams, and the
GC3.0-A Chronograph 110 grams, and yet both are water-resistant to 100 metres and have advanced levels of shock resistance, too.

Performance-tested in a record-breaking pool by a record-breaking champion

To test the performance of the new Maestro references, Gerald Charles friend of the brand and record-breaking Italian Olympic swimming champion Luca Dotto took them to Y-40® The Deep Joy, the 42.15-metre deep pool in Italy’s Padua that in 2014 became the world’s deepest indoor pool.

This dynamic test answered a number of questions that would have remained unanswered in static conditions. For example, how would the watch fare on the wrist at depths of more than 40 metres? While the watch has an official 100-metre rating, the conditions required to achieve that status are less demanding than those at 40 metres underwater. And would the Maestro deliver on the maison’s promise to customers of a watch that is at once sporty, ultra-thin, elegant and versatile?

‘It wasn’t just that the watch was totally unaffected by the pressures deep under water,’ said Luca. ‘It was that the watch is so light and so ergonomic that I almost forgot I was wearing it. What a pleasure to have a watch I can wear freediving and when I go out for dinner.’

Luca’s experience demonstrated that to swim or freedive at amateur level, you don’t need a diver’s watch – or a second watch for dressier occasions. The Gerald Charles Maestro delivers on both counts.

To deliver this seamless balance between performance and wearability, Gerald Charles’ engineers brought forward the advanced geometries of the Maestro Premier Edition 2021 case. The new models share the bespoke gasket design first seen in those references. This gasket seals the irregular-shaped case and sapphire crystal, ensuring the watch can
withstand the pressures experienced at depth.

It may be invisible to the naked eye, but to make an ultra-thin case of this shape water resistant to 100 metres required years of research and development (the original 2006 model was only water-resistant to 30 metres). The resulting innovation is an achievement symbolic of Gerald Charles’s passion for the finest Swiss watchmaking traditions, as well
as of the unstinting quality standards applied to every watch the company creates: without compromise.

Artistic creativity, technical mastery, exclusive movements – continuing Monsieur Genta’s legacy

The four new references continue the story of the next-generation Maestro, first signalled by the Premier 2021 Editions, and become Gerald Charles’s continuous collection pieces.

But most of all, they continue the story of the greatest watch designer of the 20th century, Monsieur Genta, whose designs combined artistic creativity with the technical mastery of fine Swiss watchmaking. Gerald Charles takes great pride in paying tribute to his genius and unparalleled creative vision, and to the majesty of the Maestro design, created at Monsieur Genta’s hand in 2006.

Compared to previous generations, the GC3.0-A Chronograph has raised flanks that give the watch its squarer, more octagonal appearance, and extended, rounded lugs that deliver improved ergonomics. As before, it integrates irregular-shaped pushers that follow the contours of the case flank, protecting and even enhancing the Maestro’s signature silhouette. The GC2.0-A Automatic shares similar geometry, only with a rounder feel.

Whether in timeless black or sparkling emerald green, the steel GC2.0-A Automatic and GC3.0-A Chronograph watches convey casual charm and sophistication in keeping with the artistic vision set out by Monsieur Genta. The sunburst-finished dials dance in the light, while the Clous de Paris-motif vulcanised rubber straps cast enigmatic shadows across the wrist.

The two new models are powered by specially enhanced, hand-finished Vaucher movements that have been customised exclusively for Gerald Charles and that were first used in the Maestro Premier 2021 Editions. Each of the new watches has a sapphire crystal case back showcasing these beautiful mechanical movements.

The GC2.0-A Automatic houses the highly sophisticated Calibre Ref. GCA3002, a 3.7mm thick automatic that delivers time and date functions, elevated levels of accuracy and vibration and shock resistance, and a twin-barrelled 50-hour power reserve. It has a highgrade bi-directional rotating rotor set on a low-friction ceramic ball bearing system.
For the GC3.0-A Chronograph, Gerald Charles returned to the Calibre Ref. GCA3022/12, an automatic chronograph movement based on the GCA3002. It too offers remarkable thinness, measuring just 6.07mm in height, including its bi-directional rotating oscillating weight, and also offers a twin-barrelled 50-hour power reserve.

Four new watches, two exclusive calibres and an enduring legacy. This is the story of the new Gerald Charles Maestro.

Technical information
Gerald Charles Maestro GC2.0-A Automatic
Case Stainless steel, 39mm x 41.7mm, screw-down stainless steel crown with Clous de Paris finish and embossed logo, anti-glare sapphire crystal, brushed stainless steel case back with anti-glare sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 100m
Dial Sunburst black or emerald green, hands and indexes filled with Super-LumiNova                                                                                                                                                                           Movement Ultra-thin automatic, 3.7mm, 189 components, 28 rubies, 28,800vph, (4hz), 50-hour power reserve from twin barrels, anti-shock system, Incabloc® stop-second system, bi-directional rotating rotor with ceramic ball bearing, hours, minutes and central seconds, date at 6 o’clock, circular-grained and Côtes de Genève decoration                                                                     Strap Black or emerald green vulcanised rubber, Clous de Paris finish to top side, Gerald Charles logo tapisserie to rear, stainless steel buckle.

Gerald Charles Maestro GC3.0-A Chronograph
Case Stainless steel, 39mm x 41.5mm, screw-down stainless steel crown with Clous de Paris finish and embossed logo, anti-glare sapphire crystal, brushed stainless steel case back with anti-glare sapphire crystal, water-resistant to 100m
Dial Sunburst black or emerald green, hands and indexes filled with Super-LumiNova®
Movement Ultra-thin automatic chronograph, 6.07mm thickness, 351 components, 46 rubies, 28,800vph, 50-hour power reserve from twin barrels, anti-shock system, Incabloc® stop-second system, bi-directional rotating rotor with ceramic ball bearing, hours, minutes and central seconds, chronograph with counters at 3, 6 and 9, circular-grained and Côtes de Genève decoration
Strap Black or emerald green vulcanised rubber, Clous de Paris finish to top side, Gerald
Charles logo tapisserie to rear, stainless steel buckle.

About Gerald Charles
Gerald Charles is an independent, family-owned Swiss watch company based in Lugano. It was founded in 2000 by the great Gérald Charles Genta, the 20th century’s foremost watch designer. Monsieur Genta, often referred to simply as ‘Maestro’, was a prolific artist and watch designer. After selling the company in 2003, he stayed on as its designer-inchief until his death in 2011, leaving a treasure trove of watch designs in the company’s care. Every watch created by Gerald Charles is based on one of his original designs and carries his legacy of ‘artistic creativity, technical mastery’ forward into the future. Gerald Charles’s exclusive collection of watches is produced without compromise, and according to the finest traditions of Swiss mechanical watchmaking.