CHIMING IN: For watchmakers, a minute repeater complication is a demonstration of technical mastery. Achieving the most beautiful sound was what mattered to legendary watch designer Gérald Genta.

That’s what made a chiming watch the ideal starting point for his brand’s second timekeeper, a striking yellow gold design simply titled “Minute Repeater,” unveiled Thursday at the Geneva Watch Days.

Its smooth cushion outline strikes at first glance but its the crystalline sound that leaves the clearest impression.

“For him, it was never only about technical master as he was fascinated by the magic of sound in watchmaking and by how a complication could please the ears as much as the eyes,” his widow and business partner Evelyn Genta told WWD.

From numerous hours working with his team headed by Pierre-Michel Golay, a master watchmaker who was also an opera singer, sprang versions that included an automatic minute repeater, a water-resistant version and a combination of the complication with a perpetual calendar.

With such a pedigree, tapping into the 4,000-strong font of sketches left behind by the late founder didn’t quite hit the spot.

“Pairing Mr. Genta’s favorite complication with a ‘blank slate’ approach for the shape was deliberate,” said La Fabrique du Temps’s watchmaking artistic director Matthieu Hegi. “As the second GG reference, we wanted to both honor his legacy and push the boundaries of design, much like Mr. Genta himself was known to do.”

Serving as a throughline for this 40mm model’s development are Genta’s signature, which led to the idea of his signature octagonal shape softening into the sensual curves of a cushion, leaving the ambiguity of a shape that appears round at first glance.

“Gérald always said a watch should be something that both the eyes and the hands can caress,” commented Evelyn Genta. “He never liked sharp angles, whatever the case design.”

Interplay of brushed and polished surfaces, with double gadroons, and an onyx dial — another well documented Genta preference — complete the watch’s 9.6mm-thick case that was “treated…as a drum, designing it for optimal resonance,” Hedi explained.

That’s where the particular expertise of master watchmakers Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini comes in. Both worked with Genta himself and were involved in the creation of the brand’s complicated watches under Golay, including its first grande and petite sonneries, Holy Grails of fine watchmaking.

They developed the GG-002 manual-winding minute repeater caliber from scratch at La Fabrique du Temps, paying particular attention to acoustic and sonic characteristics.

Evelyn Genta deemed the result “a sensorial watch that can be experienced with the eyes, hands and ears” and “that is exactly what Gérald always wanted his watches to be.”

There are likely to be plenty of volunteers to experience the Minute Repeater at the Geneva Watch Days, which is expecting up to 20,000 visitors for its sixth edition running through Sunday.  

With its price still under wraps, no cap was given for the Gérald Genta Minute Repeater but it is expected to be produced in limited quantities and be available from September.