GENEVA — For Gucci, let the good times roll — again.
After celebrating its centennial with its first high watchmaking collection, the Florentine fashion house is marking 50 years of Swiss-made timepieces with a second iteration, presented this week as the Gucci Wonderland, a fun fair of horological creations.
“Half a century ago, in 1972, Gucci Timepieces presented the world with a new horological design proposition — watches combining unparalleled Swiss technical know-how with the best in Italian design,” wrote president and chief executive officer Marco Bizzarri in an email to WWD.
In keeping with the idea that “the world of Alessandro Michele is a world of wonders,” a fun fair theme runs through this “kaleidoscopic universe where refined complications shine alongside rainbow-like gems and celestial wonders” in which “each watch is as thrilling as a roller coaster ride,” according to the executive.
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Among the highlights of this anniversary lineup are the Gucci 25H Skeleton Tourbillon, a fully recycled-gold piece with a slimline 8mm case and see-through dial, which reveals a new flying tourbillon caliber; the G-Timeless Planetarium, featuring a rotating halo of 12 princess-cut gem stones; two variations of the transparent cushion-shaped jumping hour Grip Sapphire timepiece, and the G-Timeless Moonlight, with a natural meteorite dial and the “Dancing Hours” movement that follows the 29.5 day moon cycle and will only need adjusting every 360 years.
But as technically complex as they are, it’s a sense of delight that the brand intends with these colorful designs. “When you have three kids, like I do, you end up reading to them ‘Alice in Wonderland’ quite a lot: in the beautiful confusion of the book, time is always magic,” Bizzarri continued.
To extend the journey for those in need of a fresher course on the past five decades, an exhibition highlights some of the house’s memorable pieces, from watch diaries from the 1950s and handbag timekeepers from the 1960s, to semiprecious stone bangle watches from the 1970s and futuristic-looking steel models from the 1990s.
Other highlights will include fine jewelry designs, including the Link to Love series of rings set with baguette-cut green tourmalines and rubellites; the Gucci Flora rose gold necklace, set with white diamonds, and the Interlocking G design, this time featuring princess-cut blue topazes.