New Sensation: Gucci unveils new watch collections at Baselworld 2019
From Gucci Grip to the G-Timeless, we present to you a detailed report on the Gucci timepieces shown at Baselworld 2019.
If you are in favour of the Alessandro Michele-led fashion renaissance at Gucci, then it is very likely that the current trove of Gucci watches would hit the sweet spot for you.
Founded in Florence in 1921, the Italian luxury fashion label began designing, developing and manufacturing watches in the early ’70s to create the world’s first “fashion” watches. Gucci watches have always been Swiss-made, holding sway for their innovative design, quality and craftsmanship.
Above all, they are sought after for a unique and creative mix of traditional elegance and contemporary spirit, wrapped irresistibly around iconic House emblems.
At Baselworld 2019, Gucci Timepieces and Jewelry made a splash with not one but two stands in the main hall dedicated to its myriad of novelties. One of the stands, a glass-encased conservatory replete with eclectic furnishings and a mini garden, housed a multitude of displays featuring the star timepiece called “Grip”. Inspired by the skateboarding culture, the timepiece’s snug fit around the wrist references how trainers stick to a skateboard’s grip tape.
Unisex and androgynous, the Michele-designed watch follows from the gender-fluid universe of the creative director’s reimaginings of Gucci. Its sui generis, quirky design and clean lines—a rounded square case displaying a trio of windows with white rotating disks to indicate the hour, minute and date in a top-to-bottom sequence—gives it a strong vintage appeal.
GUCCI GRIP
The quartz-powered Gucci Grip has four variants in 35 mm and 38 mm: yellow gold PVD case and bracelet; steel case and bracelet; yellow gold PVD case with bordeaux calf leather strap; and steel case with green calf leather bracelet. While the full-metal ones are engraved with Gucci’s signature interlocking G logos on the case and bracelet, the leather versions feature a simple “GUCCI” engraving on the dial’s bottom right-hand corner.
Offered with a sheer variety of sophisticated strap options in leather type and colour, the Grip is infinitely versatile, straddling the realm of a fashion accessory and timepiece with its audacious and unexpected details.
GUCCI G-TIMELESS AUTOMATIC
Giving this year’s G-Timeless a new spin are eight striking new editions, making an entrance with stone dials embellished with bees—a House signature—as hour markers and a decorative motif. For a luxurious take, the three 38-mm variations come with an 18k yellow gold case, alongside black onyx, brown tiger eye and green malachite stone dials partnered with black alligator, brown lizard, and precious skin with printed pattern straps respectively.
The next two 38-mm G-Timeless models are mixed-metal versions with steel cases and lapiz stone dials, finished with a steel-and-gold buckle and a blue lizard strap for one, while the other is adorned with an 18k yellow gold and steel bracelet.
Simple and classic, the G-Timeless with a steel case and bracelet, and a black onyx stone dial are available in 38-mm and 42-mm cases. Last is a 42-mm steel case rendition paired with a black onyx stone dial and shanghai calf leather strap with a steel buckle. Showcasing their Sellita automatic movement, all eight watches feature transparent case backs with anti-reflective sapphire crystal, while their adjustable buckles are tamped with the interlocking G motif.
GUCCI G-TIMELESS CONTEMPORARY
The more flamboyant G-Timeless Contemporary line with its proliferation of Gucci-isms gives us two quartz models, displaying seamlessness from dial to strap, on top of a revolutionary printed mesh technique. The first is a 38-mm all-steel creation: case, mesh-pattern dial and mesh bracelet, imprinted with a Gucci Kingsnake visual, sleekly slithering from dial to bracelet.
The other 42-mm edition is a shout-out to the brand’s enduring green-red-green graphic Web pattern running in linear fashion from dial to bracelet.
As Gucci Timepieces and Jewelry president and CEO Piero Braga says, “Gucci creates fashion watches that are different from anything else you will see in the industry. Our timepieces bring together a unique combination of Italian creativity, Swiss watchmaking and Gucci DNA. They are bold and distinctive, and designed to encourage self-expression.”
Not only are gender codes and other social mores being blurred, but the fashion and horology worlds at Gucci are also now walking in unison more than ever before.
This article was originally published on www.lofficielmalaysia.com
