Gérald Genta launches its most flamboyant Gentissima Oursin watch yet

As part of its LVMH Watch Week presentation, Gérald Genta has debuted the new Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal timepiece. The fourth piece added to the Gentissima Oursin collection, the new watch is the brand’s most flamboyant one yet – but I don’t know how to feel about it.

While the brand was officially launched back in 1969, Gérald Genta currently only has one collection on its website: the Gentissima Oursin line. The collection dates back to 1994 where Gérald Genta first had the inspiration for the design on holiday after seeing a sea urchin. From there, the first Gentissima Oursin watch was sketched out, inspired by the spiny exterior found on a sea urchin.

The Gentissima Oursin collection is unlike anything I’ve seen before as it puts the focus on the bezel rather than the dial which is typically the star of the show. Despite being inspired by sea urchins, the Gentissima Oursin watches look a lot like flowers, with tiny gemstones or beads wrapping around the dial and taking up the entire bezel.

For LVMH Watch Week, Gérald Genta has added a fourth timepiece to the line-up in the form of the Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal. As the name suggests, the Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal has 137 fire opal gemstones on the watch bezel and case. The opals have hues of yellow, orange and red, and are given that spiky look and texture with yellow gold pins on the top of each gemstone.

To bring out the colour even more, the Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal has an orange carnelian dial. The dial itself is quite simple, although if you look closely, it has a faint octagonal pattern. The hands are made of yellow gold, and the hour markers are displayed by the same yellow gold dots that sit on the fire opal gemstones.

Measuring 36mm, there’s a lot to look at with the Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal, despite its small size. The watch is powered by the GG-005 Zenith Elite movement with a redesigned oscillating mass, with a 50 hour power reserve and 30 metres water resistance. It’s finished with a black alligator leather strap.

I don’t know whether I love or hate the new Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal by Gérald Genta, but it certainly has me intrigued. It’s definitely the most colourful watch I’ve seen at LVMH Watch Week – even giving Tiffany & Co a run for its money – and it has me excited for this year’s watch launches, as I hope to see more gemstones and colours in 2025.

As of writing, pricing on the Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal hasn’t been announced but it’s expected to launch in May 2025, and it’ll be a limited edition timepiece.