Gerald Genta Gefica Safari watch: Rugged masculine strength drawn from the African Mother Earth

The thought of waking up in the savannah evokes memories of distant roaring and the hum of a twin-engine plane bringing supplies to a lodge. As soon as the first crimson rays of a gigantic sun appear on the horizon, the primal beauty of the African earth is suddenly brought to light. Contemporary man senses the force of this nature as well as its potential threat. Through adventures, he savours the awakening of the senses: the intense vibrancy of colours, the unity of shapes, the fascination of scents and the touch of materials. His body shakes off its numbness as the archaic strength of this earth is revealed within him, and his mind sets off on pleasurable flights of fancy.
Gefica Safari links urban man to this primeval world through a unique harmony of basic and contemporary materials. Its form and its materials, which evolve through time, enhance the virility and sensuality of the emotions they arouse. At the dawn of the world, some 4,000 years ago, men took the first steps in the science of materials by discovering the alloy of copper and pewter: bronze. In harmony with its times and with contemporary smelting and alloy technologies, Gérald Genta offers a world-first combination of bronze and titanium with the new Gefica Safari.
From the origins of the Gefica Safari to the present day In 1988, Gérald Genta presented the first Gefica, born from a discussion between friends during a Big Five gaming hunt in Africa. From the merging of the first two letters of their surnames – Geoffroy, Fissore and Canali – came a name: GEFICA. Initially intended to be a hunter’s watch, the revolutionary use of bronze for its exterior was driven by a concern for invisibility, because this non-shiny material avoided any risk of the sun glinting off it at an inopportune moment. In 2007, the Gérald Genta brand is reviving the material and the model in a resolutely 21st century spirit: today’s man is a urban predator, who paradoxically seeks to protect nature. The spirit of the new Gefica is thus profoundly urban, while the shapes, the materials and the colours are drawn from Mother Earth.

Right from the outset, the brand has distinguished itself through its provocative and innovative approach to the use of materials. It was the first Haute Horlogerie brand to introduce materials such as carbon fibre, rubber, tantalum, bronze, wood and liquid ceramics into Haute Horlogerie models while combining them with precious counterparts. It has thereby acquired a legitimacy that is now firmly established, in an era where breaking with classic traditions seems an obvious choice. Thanks to this legitimate expertise in working with unusual materials that the Gérald Genta engineers have mastered for almost 20 years, the new Gefica Safari is crafted in bronze and combined with titanium, giving it a truly unique character. Thanks to the inherent properties of these materials, such an object evolves over the years as the bronze gradually acquires a patina and the harmony between materials is embellished with the passing of time.

This spectacular model with its complex architecture evokes the volcanic topography of Africa, the geometry of the Primitive Arts of this continent, and their aesthetic influence on the Art Deco movement of the early 20th century. Its statuesque shapes instantly propel us into a world of raw sensations, while radiating an aesthetic blend of reminiscences and contemporary character. The world of the early hunters is thus transposed and sublimated within the urban jungle of contemporary mankind.
Right from the start, the eye is drawn to the two-tone bronze and titanium case, gliding over its flaring shape before encountering the contrast between the raised convex sapphire crystal and the hollowed concave dial. From the edge of the bezel shaped like the rim of a volcano crater, the gaze follows the dome and plunges down the rounded slopes of the dial, admiring the sweep of the curved red seconds hand, before coming to rest on a back marked by horizontal grooves. Shapes, materials and colours unite to immerse us in the aesthetic and sensual world of African art and its multiple influences. The twin rows of titanium beads on the case middle and the crown, echo the body painting on bronze-coloured skin and the geometrical shapes represented in tribal Art; whilst the natural hues recall nature and the colours of the African Mother Earth. The graphic design of the numerals indicating the time also reflect the Art Deco world that was so strongly inspired by the same source.

The choice of the Biretro movement for the rebirth of the Safari.

For over ten years, the Gérald Genta brand has been refining, developing, enhancing the reliability and successfully marketing this original combination of complications featuring the so-called “incremental” hour
display and “reinitialisation” minute indication. It is to date the only contemporary Haute Horlogerie brand to have earned genuine legitimacy in the construction of this type of mechanism in wristwatches through the experience it has acquired. Over the years, various issues such as shock-resistance, the precision of the instant minute and date jumps have had to be resolved, and safety systems relating to winding and time-setting have also been developed in order to ensure the reliability of the mechanism. Gérald Genta has filed three patents exclusively linked to this mechanism, which in terms of the technical difficulties involved in the various horological complications is fairly close to those implied by the making of a perpetual calendar.

The Manufacture-made self-winding movement, which is the engine driving this model, is equipped with the jumping hour, retrograde minute and date complication module entirely developed, built and assembled in the workshops of the Manufacture Gérald Genta, in the Vallée de Joux. In keeping with its approach to Haute Horlogerie, this calibre is entirely decorated with circular-graining performed on a movement featuring “Potter” finishing. The 18-carat gold oscillating weight is also entirely circular-grained and engraved with the “Gérald Genta” brand name. Since the launch of its first models featuring this type of display, the aesthetic lines through which it is conveyed have never betrayed the sophisticated technical substance of each of its movements, nor the contemporary design of the collections. The launch of the Gefica Safari represents an additional step towards confirming Gérald Genta’s status as a Manufacture producing exceptional watch models, consistently equipped with mechanical complications protected by sophisticated exteriors and endowed with the potential to arouse emotions that is inherent in prestige objects.

In a nutshell

Exclusive Gérald Genta self-winding movement, hand-decorated, “Potter” finishing, equipped with jumping hours appearing through a round aperture at 12 o’clock, a graduated 180° retrograde minute segment in the upper part of the dial between 9 and 3 o’clock and a 180° retrograde date segment in the lower part of the dial between 5 and 7 o’clock. 45-hour power reserve. Flared case with sandblasted bronze and titanium middle adorned with a double row of titanium beads, hollowed lugs, sandblasted bronze bezel and bronze and titanium beaded crown. Hollowed multi-layer dial with sandblasted finish, galvanic-coloured base with raised horizontal motif; Art Deco style hour, minute and date numerals. Curved seconds hand following the dial profile. Convex sapphire crystal glareproofed on both sides and case-back fitted with a sapphire crystal glareproofed on the inside, secured with 8 pentagonal screws. Exclusive Gérald Genta hand-sewn alligator leather strap. Titanium triple-folding clasp carrying the openworked brand symbol on the buckle. Water-resistant to 10 Atm.