Pretty much every serious fashion label out there has dabbled in watches and it’s not always been great – it’s bad enough in fact that dubbing something a ‘fashion watch’ is crushing. I won’t name names; you already have plenty of examples of fashion watches you can reel off. But let’s not tar all couture houses with the same brush. Luxury powerhouses like Louis Vuitton and Hermes have both proven they have serious watchmaking credentials with things like the Tambour and H08, respectively. There’s definitely previous here and the latest house to prove that a fashion label doesn’t mean a fashion watch is Gucci’s high watchmaking.
Gucci 25H Coloured Glass Watch
Gucci have been involved in watches in the past. In fact, they have a solid handful of designs to their name from the 1970s and ‘80s that remain cool, niche collectors’ items. But in the past couple of years, they’ve reinvigorated those archival designs, put them under the spotlight, and more importantly, backed them up with some serious watchmaking chops. Recently they have opened their new Gucci High Watchmaking Manufacture in Switzerland.
That largely started with 2021’s 25H. In fact, we managed to get hands-on with it prior to launch and I was blown away by how confidently it nailed that sports luxe look, with its squircle case and decking-adjacent dial. It formed the basis for a solid collection that continues to expand, from automatics all the way up to tourbillons. Because when Gucci does something, they don’t half arse it. That’s also why earlier this year the maison unveiled the Gucci High Watchmaking Manufacture.
This isn’t some piddling design studio. The Cortaillod-based facility spans over 9,000 square feet of labs and offices, staffed by 140 of watchmaking’s finest. That’s smaller than, say, IWC’s epic facility, but it’s an incredibly impressive start and more importantly, brings the entire design process under one roof.
Indeed, prototyping is the main reason for the new Gucci High Watchmaking Manufacture. Gucci have already been playing with haute horology concepts aplenty, but there’s nothing too new about a tourbillon no matter how lovingly realised. By housing everything from concept to reality under one roof, they have the freedom to try new things, to experiment.
It also means a good deal better quality control, as the Gucci High Watchmaking Manufacture is also where Gucci’s current line-up will now be finished (including gem-setting), assembled, checked and sent out. It’s a holistic approach to match many of the more established names in watchmaking – and, let’s be honest, better than some. Oh, and it’s also nice to note that the facility’s 100% green. That doesn’t hugely impact the watches, but it’s good to know.
Gucci Grip
Bright colours come to the Grip, Gucci’s funky jumping hours model. Possibly the most recognisable design in the maison’s line-up, the rounded square of the model, with its running minutes and jumping hours in dual apertures at 12 o’clock, has been given a retro overhaul in red jasper or chrysoprase. Sure, it’s just a re-colour of an existing watch, but it’s one that’s fun, surprising and eye-catching in equal measure – and let’s not forget, stone’s not the easiest thing to work with.
Gucci G-timeless Planetarium
Not a planetarium or orrery, the name of this gem-set wonder comes from its celestial inspirations. Don’t worry, it’s not just set with some pretty stones. At the touch of a button, the various nebulae-coloured gems spin around the dial and on their own axis in a cosmic dance. It’s what we’d call an emotional complication – it doesn’t have a specific function other than to say ‘hey, look at this!’ It’s still incredibly technical in its own way, squarely aimed at the likes of Van Cleef & Arpels, jewellery watches with some serious mechanical heft.
Gucci 25h Perpetual Calendar
Tourbillons were apparently just not haute enough for Gucci and so they’ve dived headlong into one of the big three complications in watchmaking: the perpetual calendar. The novel layout has day at nine o’clock, date at three o’clock, month and leap year at 12 o’clock, and the not-entirely-necessary but always present moon phase at six o’clock. It’s OCD-pleasingly symmetrical and maintains that signature 25H look while being a heavy-hitter horologically. If this is what Gucci can do now, their new lab is going to be working on some downright crazy stuff.
Gucci 25h Skeleton Tourbillon
Gucci, like all other watchmakers, are embracing colour ahead of the coming warmer months, but there are no simple dial swaps here. Or dials for that matter. Instead we have a fully skeletonised tourbillon movement supported by a scant few bridges to tie into that lateral 25H aesthetic. With a brightly coloured rubber strap, this is both poles of sports and luxe taken to their extremes. It’s one hell of a watch.
As for what this means for Gucci watches moving on… well, let’s take a look at their latest release slate. While they’ve made a splash over the past two years, the relaunch of the 25H was just the start for Gucci, the initial perfectly pedicured toe in the water. Now they’re fully diving in and, with pieces like these already here, who knows where they’ll be a couple more years down the development pipeline? I don’t know, sonneries? Resonance? Teleportation? The sky’s the limit.
More details at Gucci.
