Gucci has prior experience with timepieces. In reality, they can still boast a respectable number of stylish, specialized collectors' pieces from the 1970s and 1980s. However, they have brought those vintage designs back to life, highlighted them, and—most importantly—supported them with some really impressive watchmaking abilities in the last few years. The Gucci High Watchmaking Manufacture, located in Switzerland, reopened recently.
That began in significant part with the 25H of 2021. We actually had a chance to play with it before its official release, and I was really impressed with how well it executed the sports luxe aesthetic with its round case and decking-adjacent dial. It served as the foundation for a strong collection that is still growing, encompassing everything from automatics to tourbillons. Because Gucci doesn't cut corners when it comes to their work. This is also the reason the maison debuted the Gucci High Watchmaking Manufacture earlier this year.
Gucci Grip
The Grip, Gucci's quirky leaping hours model, features vibrant colors. With its flowing minutes and jumping hours in twin apertures at 12 o'clock, the rounded square of the model—possibly the most recognizable in the maison line-up—has been given a throwback makeover in red jasper or chrysoprase. Although it's simply a recolor of an already-existing watch, it's still quite entertaining, unexpected, and striking—and let's not forget, stone isn't the easiest material to work with.
Gucci G-timeless Planetarium
The name of this gem-set wonder, which is neither a planetarium nor an orrery, stems from its cosmic influences. It's not only set with some lovely stones, so don't worry. The many nebulae-colored jewels spin in a cosmic dance around the dial and on their own axis when a button is pressed. It's what we would refer to as an emotional problem; its only purpose is to draw attention to itself. In its own unique way, it remains very technological and is targeted at high-end jewelry timepieces such as Van Cleef & Arpels.
Gucci 25h Perpetual Calendar
Gucci apparently decided that tourbillons were simply not sophisticated enough, so they jumped right into one of the major three watchmaking complications: the perpetual calendar. The new arrangement places the day at nine o'clock, the date at three o'clock, the month and leap year at twelve o'clock, and the moon phase—which is not strictly necessary but is usually present—at six o'clock. It is a heavy-hitter horologically, yet it is OCD-pleasingly symmetrical and retains that distinctive 25H appearance. Gucci's new lab is going to be working on some pretty insane projects if this is what they can accomplish right now.
Gucci 25h Skeleton Tourbillon
Like many other watch companies, Gucci is embracing color in anticipation of the upcoming warmer months, but these aren't your typical dial swaps. or, for that matter, dials. Instead, to fit into that lateral 25H design, we have a completely skeletonized tourbillon movement backed by a very small number of bridges. This is the ultimate in sports and luxury, complete with an eye-catching rubber strap. It's a really amazing watch.
Let's look at Gucci watches' most recent release schedule to see what this implies for the brand's future releases. Even though Gucci has made waves in the last two years, the reintroduction of the 25H was only the brand's first well manicured toe in the water. They're jumping right in now, and who knows where they'll end up in a few more years of development with parts like this already in place? Who knows, maybe sonneries? Harmony? Translocation? There are no limits.
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