LVMH Watch Week has grown into the group’s preferred laboratory for ideas, a focused platform where each maison can show its current thinking without the noise of a full-scale trade fair. The 2026 edition in Milan underlined that shift once again, with La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton using the spotlight to push the revived Gérald Genta name into its next chapter. After the theatrical Gentissima Oursin and the rarefied Geneva Minute Repeater, the new Geneva Time Only Marrone and Grafite arrive as the most distilled statement yet of what this reborn maison intends to be. They strip the complication set back to hours and minutes, yet keep the sculptural case architecture and dial games that define the modern Geneva collection. These are not crowd-chasing sports watches and they are not archival reissues. They sit in the quiet space between: contemporary, precious, design driven, and resolutely focused on proportion and surface.
The Geneva Collection And L’Esprit de Genève
The Geneva line is built around an idea rather than a complication sheet. The brand describes “Geneva” as a state of mind anchored in refinement, restraint and a particular kind of horological discipline, rather than a mere location name on the dial. It is also the city where Gérald Genta was born and where the maison’s revival has been orchestrated since 2023 under the guidance of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton and its artistic director Matthieu Hegi.
The first Geneva piece, the Geneva Minute Repeater, established the core design vocabulary: a cushion shaped case with gadroon on the flank, a dial that plays geometry against geometry, and a very deliberate control of thickness and sound.
The Geneva Time Only models unveiled at LVMH Watch Week 2026 take that language and apply it to daily wear. They introduce a new 38 millimetre case, slim at 8.15 millimetres, with a simplified two hand layout while preserving the sculptural intent.
At launch there are two references:
- Geneva Time Only Marrone in rose gold 4N with a smoked brown dial
- Geneva Time Only Grafite in white gold with a silver grey dial
Each reference carries a price of 25,000 Swiss francs before taxes.
Geneva Time Only Marrone
The Marrone is the warmer of the two introductions, both in tone and presence. Its cushion shaped case is rendered in 18 ct rose gold 4N, measuring 38 millimetres in diameter and 8.15 millimetres thick. The profile is taut but not severe, a soft evolution of the brand’s 1970s cushion experiments, reinterpreted by Matthieu Hegi for this new era.
A single broad lug on each side of the case replaces the traditional pair, tightening the silhouette and giving the strap a cleaner integration. This lug architecture is now a key signature of the collection and gives the watch a distinct presence on the wrist without excess.
The flanks carry a gadroon that runs around the case, framing the central body and catching the light in a controlled way. Surfaces alternate between satin brushing and polished accents, produced at La Fabrique des Boîtiers, LVMH’s case manufacture that also supports other high end projects in the group.
Water resistance is rated to 30 metres, sufficient for the sort of careful daily wear that a full gold dress oriented watch invites.
Dial
The Marrone expresses “l’Esprit de Genève” through colour and texture rather than inscription. The dial is brass with a grained finish and a smoked gradient that moves from a lighter brown at the centre to a deeper tone near the periphery.
Two visual elements define the face. The first is the two segment minute track: an inner ring that is perfectly round and an outer ring that follows the cushion outline of the case. The interaction between the two creates a subtle optical effect, reinforcing the tension between circle and square that Gérald Genta used throughout his career.
The second is the tone on tone treatment. Applied indexes and the rounded, polished hands with arrow tips are all executed in rose gold 4N, mirroring the case and amplifying the warmth of the composition. White printed minute markers provide just enough contrast for legibility without diluting the monochrome impression.
This is a pure time only layout: no seconds, no date, no power reserve display. Hours and minutes move across the dial without interruption or framing devices.
Movement
Behind the smoked dial sits calibre GG 005P, developed from Zenith’s Elite architecture and finished and adapted for Gérald Genta at La Fabrique du Temps.
The automatic movement measures 25.6 millimetres in diameter and 3.88 millimetres in height, with a frequency of 4 hertz and a power reserve of approximately 50 hours. It comprises 158 components and 27 jewels, and is visible through the sapphire crystal caseback.
The rotor has been redesigned specifically for this collection, with a form that matches the Geneva aesthetic rather than Zenith’s own branding. That decision matters: it signals that the maison is not simply dropping a stock calibre into a luxury case but is working within the LVMH ecosystem to shape movements that support its identity.
Finishing is in line with a high end contemporary automatic: Geneva stripes, perlage on the mainplate, and careful attention to the rotor’s surfaces.
Strap And Price
The Marrone is delivered on a brown calfskin leather strap with a matching rose gold pin buckle. The colour is calibrated to the dial, so the watch reads as a coherent warm object rather than a case with a random strap choice.
Pricing is set at 25,000 Swiss francs excluding taxes. In the context of an 18 ct gold case, in house case manufacture, and a reworked Zenith Elite movement, Gérald Genta is clearly positioning the Geneva Time Only Marrone as a serious entry to the high luxury dress segment rather than a speculative limited run.
Geneva Time Only Grafite
The Grafite reference shares the same 38 millimetre by 8.15 millimetre architecture but comes in white gold, lending it a cooler and slightly more formal character. The case construction is identical to the Marrone: cushion shaped with gadroon sides, a double stepped bezel, and single broad lugs at twelve and six. Mixed polished and satin surfaces again emphasise the geometry and the break lines.
This consistency between the two references underlines that they are twin expressions of one idea rather than separate models.
Dial
Where the Marrone leans into warmth, the Grafite works in silvers and greys. The grained brass dial is finished in a silver shaded gradient, with a lighter central field that darkens towards the minute track.
The two segment minute track returns, with the inner circle and the cushion shaped outer ring echoing the case profile. The effect is slightly more pronounced here because the grey tones interact differently with the printed white minute markings.
Interestingly, Gérald Genta retains rose gold 4N for the applied indexes and hands on the Grafite, rather than switching to white gold to match the case. The result is a subtle bicolour play, with the warm markers standing out against the cooler dial and case. It recalls the way Genta often put tension between materials and forms in his classic work without resorting to bright contrasts.
Functionally, the layout remains identical to the Marrone: two central hands indicating hours and minutes, no small seconds, no date aperture. This symmetry between the references keeps the decision between them firmly in the realm of taste and wardrobe.
Movement
The Grafite is powered by the same automatic calibre GG 005P as the Marrone, with identical specifications: 4 hertz frequency, 50 hour power reserve, 158 components, and a revised oscillating mass visible through the sapphire back.
From a collector’s perspective, the use of a Zenith based movement is coherent with LVMH’s broader strategy. It leverages proven industrial reliability while giving La Fabrique du Temps scope to express its finishing standards and design language.
Strap And Price
On the wrist the Grafite reads cooler and slightly crisper, an impression reinforced by the grey calfskin strap. As with the Marrone, the strap is calfskin leather with a gold pin buckle that matches the case metal.
Pricing is identical: 25,000 Swiss francs before taxes. That alignment keeps the choice purely aesthetic; Gérald Genta is not using metal type to introduce a pricing hierarchy within this micro family.
Positioning Within The Gérald Genta Revival
Since its 2023 revival, the maison has followed a very deliberate path. First, a bold, jewellery adjacent object in the Gentissima Oursin, reviving a 1990s design based on a sea urchin profile with hardstone dials and gem set beads. Next, a highly limited Geneva Minute Repeater in yellow gold that reintroduced grand complication under the name, powered by a movement developed within La Fabrique du Temps.
The Geneva Time Only watches now sit between these two poles. They keep the sculptural intensity of the Oursin and the geometric discipline of the Minute Repeater, but apply both to a piece that can realistically be worn in an ordinary day. No cartoon dials, no chiming sliders, no experimental case sizes. Just a considered cushion case, a refined dial and a high quality automatic calibre selected for proportion and reliability.
