At Geneva’s 2024 Watches & Wonders event, Swiss watchmaker Gerald Charles have unveiled an exciting suite of new editions; the latest evolution of their iconic Maestro case, the Masterlink, and a colourful new suite of Gem-Set Novelties fit for the spring season.
Gerald Charles Masterlink
The Masterlink is slimmer than its predecessor, the Maestro, but still retains its instant recognizability. Sleek, sophisticated, and sporty, the Masterlink is said to be built on the archives of celebrated watch designer and founder, Mr. Gérald Charles Genta.
Elegantly crafted from steel, a material deemed precious by Monsieur Genta, the watch honours his legacy whilst looking to the future of the brand and where their extraordinary craftsmanship might take them next. Present day CEO of Gerald Charles, Federico Ziviani commented:
“The Masterlink represents the next step in the brand’s evolution, propelling it both rapidly and organically into the future, like a high-speed train of tomorrow,”.
Masterlink is a name aptly chosen to signify intent to maintain a strong connection with the founder’s vision, and the watch itself reinforces this with its nods to the original design. Now more contemporary with slimmer, elegant, design cues and its sleek integrated bracelet built around the case, the Masterlink successfully draws inspiration from the past whilst also carving out a distinctively modern design of its own.
Gerald Charles Masterlink. Credit: Gerald Charles.
While the Maestro was previously designed around a rectangle, the Masterlink takes its cues from the square through tighter, more contained proportions. The Masterlink also becomes the first Gerald Charles timepiece to feature an integrated bracelet, challenging enough when considering the curve of the case’s iconic “smile” at 6 o’clock, but even more so when recognizing its truly asymmetrical design. The Masterlink is guaranteed to be a perfect fit for every wrist, thanks to the ability to add or remove half-links, as opposed to whole links. The clever design, developed exclusively for the Masterlink, allows for precise custom adjustments to be made down to the millimeter.
Impressively, the Masterlink’s newly designed slimmer case (7.9mm) retains its slim size despite its screw down construction. Generally, you’d expect a screw down case to add extra thickness but in producing the Masterlink the team at Gerald Charles knew thinness had to be non-negotiable. Having overcome this challenge, the Masterlink secure and waterproof without adding even a fraction of height to the case, which has a depth rating of 100 meters.
Gerald Charles Masterlink. Credit: Gerald Charles.
The Masterlink has its own unique dial design which features new indices, new hands, and new minute markers with perfect readability thanks to meticulously crafted white Super LumiNova inserts. Like the dial, the power-generating element of the movement maintains a two-part finish that has been sandblasted at the base and has sunburst brushing on the top. These fine details and finishes have been purposefully designed to creative a cohesive harmony between the two faces of the watch.
Gerald Charles Gem-Set Novelties
Gerald Charles first introduced the Maestro 8.0 Squelette gem-set limited edition in 2022, following its success a further two introductions to the collection have been announced at the 2024 Watches & Wonders event. In total, fans of the brand can expect to see four new references of the Maestro 8.0 Squelette, two new versions of the Maestro 2.0 and one of the Maestro GC Sport.
A series of precious gems have been integrated into the Maestro’s curved case architecture for which Gerald Charles was required to develop their own in-house technical plans for gem-setting. The Maestro 8.0 Squelette features an invisible setting of 66 baguette fancy cut stones of the highest purity that have been set by hand into an 18-carat white gold bezel and the sapphires are presented in four new shades: violet, orange, yellow, and blue.
Maestro 8.0 Squelette. Credit: Gerald Charles.
Gerald Charles first introduced the Maestro 8.0 Squelette gem-set limited edition in 2022, following its success a further two introductions to the collection have been announced at the 2024 Watches & Wonders event. In total, fans of the brand can expect to see four new references of the Maestro 8.0 Squelette, two new versions of the Maestro 2.0 and one of the Maestro GC Sport.
A series of precious gems have been integrated into the Maestro’s curved case architecture for which Gerald Charles was required to develop their own in-house technical plans for gem-setting. The Maestro 8.0 Squelette features an invisible setting of 66 baguette fancy cut stones of the highest purity that have been set by hand into an 18-carat white gold bezel and the sapphires are presented in four new shades: violet, orange, yellow, and blue. Similarly stunning, the Maestro 2.0 Ultra-Thin’s steel bezel is painstakingly decorated with 52 round-cut gemstones to enhance its sunburst dial.
Maestro 8.0 Squelette. Credit: Gerald Charles.
Linking past to present once more, the new timepieces are a further representation of the connection between the company’s founder and his philosophy for combining technology and aesthetics. Feauturing the iconic Maestro case originally drawn by Mr. Gérald Charles Genta, and vulcanized rubber strap which has been introduced in new colours for the Squelette references: Optical White, Coral Red, Yellow Sunshine and Ice Blue, the new references each offer a 50-hour power reserve, 5G shock resistance and 10ATM / 100m water resistance.
Prices for each of the new editions, alongside technical specifications and further information, can all be found at geraldcharles.com.
