When Gucci wrote the very first lines of its watchmaking history, its watches followed in the footsteps of its fashion creations, whose aesthetic imprint has since trickled down to leather goods, jewelry, and eyewear. Recognizable at first glance and endowed with a sharply defined aesthetic identity, yet initially lacking in strong technical content, the Italian brand’s watch designs have since adopted a new tone reflecting a fresh corporate discourse in this realm. While Gucci-style High Watchmaking might have seemed hard to imagine, 2021 saw the launch of its very first in-house movement and in 2022, the brand unveiled its first skeletonized flying tourbillon, followed by its first perpetual calendar in 2023. Since then, Gucci has been writing the next chapter of its history in the world of High Watchmaking and this year marks the start of an exciting new chapter of sophistication, innovation, design and precision.
LISTENING AND ADMIRING
The GUCCI 25H Minute Repeater sets the tone. Few brands have mastered the complex nature of the minute repeater and Gucci commands respect. The first impression – which is often the correct one – is auditory: the notes produced by the GUCCI 25H Minute Repeater watch offer a rich, complex sound, similar to that of a musical instrument, thanks to a hand-crafted minute repeater. Its innovative activation mechanism is operated by a rotating bezel, reinforcing the unique style of this timepiece, which features 340 components assembled by hand at the Gucci Watch Lab, a 9,000sqm production unit in Cortaillod.
The second – this time visual – impression confirms the first: the beauty of the sound is echoed by the elegance of the design. Despite all the technology at work behind the scenes, Gucci has man- aged to maintain a streamlined profile, with the 40mm case in white and rose gold measuring just 9.9mm thick. The dial reveals a complex cymatic pattern, while the Roman hour-markers feature a new typography inspired by the Interlocking G logo. This adds a fashionable touch to the rotations of the tourbillon, classically positioned at 6 o’clock.
TRANSPARENT EXCELLENCE
Classic style is nonetheless not what best defines Gucci – quite the contrary, in fact. The Italian House has never made any secret of its taste for extravagance and its consummate sense of showmanship. Placed at the heart of the ultra-thin sapphire case of the GUCCI 25H Skeleton Tourbillon, the queen of complications is revealed with complete transparency in three new colorful 40mm interpretations. The skeletonized movement is fully visible through the sapphire crystal whose machining Gucci has mastered to perfection, with the tourbillon taking the lion’s share.
The tourbillon also reigns supreme in the inaugural timepiece of the new GUCCI Interlocking collection, where it is escorted by jumping hours – all framed by a 41mm cushion-shaped case in rose or white gold with a slightly retro look. To indicate the jumping hours, Gucci has opted for a hand-lacquered disk, embellished with Roman numerals inspired by the Interlocking G motif and revealed through an aperture in a partially transparent, smoked sapphire crystal. A thin layer of iridescent aventurine glass covers the disk bearing the minutes hand, while the dial center bears the flying tourbillon of this eye-catching model.
In a different register, the G-Timeless Planetarium produces exactly the same effect. The central tourbillon, with its flower-like gold cage delicately adorned with diamonds, is surrounded by a rainbow of moving colors. Spinning both on their axes and around the dial, topazes, tanzanites, amethysts and rubellites dance in a precious circle enhanced by a guilloché background instilling a resolutely graphic allure.
Caught up in this flurry of new models, devotees of High Watchmaking have every opportunity to appreciate Gucci’s unique vision of horological elegance. Chic and technical: there is truly something fantastic about High Watchmaking according to Gucci.
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