The Mickey Mouse watch inspired by the world’s greatest watch designer – and it could go for over £300,000

The announcement last year that LVMH was reviving the Gérald Genta watchmaking brand was one of the biggest surprises in horology. And what Louis Vuitton’s high watchmaking atelier, La Fabrique du Temps, has made, under the aegis of master watchmakers Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, is no less eye-boggling.

The Gérald Genta name had been languishing with LVMH stablemate Bulgari since 2000, when the Roman brand bought the Genta watchmaking facility, and with it the rights to the name. 

The legendary artist and designer behind many of the world’s most sought-after watches, including the Universal Genève Polerouter, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Patek Philippe Nautilus, and IWC Ingenieur, Genta had established his eponymous brand in 1969 and the manufacture quickly became known as a hotbed of technical innovation and design. Genta worked for private clients on timepieces that shattered the traditional rules of watchmaking.

Perhaps his most daring idea came in the mid-1980s, when he designed models adorned with his favourite Disney characters. Destined for the 1984 Salon Montres et Bijoux, Genta’s Mickey Mouse timepieces were a step too far for a conservative Swiss watch industry, and the watches were forcibly removed from view.

The credentials of the duo leading the relaunch – and with it a revival of the Disney timepieces – are impeccable. 

Born into a watchmaking family, after graduating in 1980, Navas joined the Audemars Piguet precision workshop, where he was in charge of the smallest and thinnest movements, including the world’s first automatic tourbillon wristwatch. Enrico Barbasini, meanwhile, started his career at Gérald Genta. Coming from a family of accomplished singers, he specialised in minute repeaters. 

In 1987, Navas also began working for Genta, and it is here that he met Barbasini. For Navas and Barbasini, Genta’s disruptive outlook, aligned with the best in creative watchmaking, was irresistible and they worked together for him for seven years on chronographs, minute repeaters and perpetual calendars before Navas moved to Patek Philippe, where he was later joined by Barbasini before moving on again. 

They founded their current company, La Fabrique du Temps, in 2007. Here the pair worked as independent movement developers for a dozen or so brands, among them Louis Vuitton. Eventually, in 2011, LVMH bought the whole shooting match. Within a few months of the buy-out, La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton had developed Vuitton’s first minute repeater, and other innovations followed. 

Thirteen years on, LFdT is helmed by CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault’s youngest son, 25-year-old Jean. ‘He loves craftsmanship and he loves watches,’ says Navas about his youthful boss. ‘He understands the importance of savoir-faire, and together we are trying to gather watchmakers, engineers, dial makers, engravers and enamellers under the same roof. Very soon we will have guillochage specialists and gem setters, too.’ 

Jean Arnault has his father’s eye for detail, apparently: ‘He knows every brand, every model, every complication,’ says Navas. ‘He wants Louis Vuitton to be a real watchmaker, and is prepared to invest time and money in this.’

The revival of the Genta brand was apparently pure serendipity: ‘Enrico and I were talking about our background when Bernard Arnault came to visit La Fabrique du Temps,’ recalls Navas. ‘We mentioned our time with Mr Genta and Jean said, “Isn’t Genta part of the group?” We discussed how nice it would be if we could manage its revival. For us it was a dream.’

As a mark of respect, Jean Arnault, Navas and Barbasini travelled to London to visit Evelyne Genta, Gérald’s widow, now the Ambassador of the Principality of Monaco to the UK. ‘When we met, she was so happy to see me and Enrico,’ says Navas. ‘She hugged us and she was very impressed with our plans to relaunch the brand. She is naturally very protective of his name and his designs, and we want to include her and her daughter Alexia in our plans.’

In fact, Mrs Genta was one of the very first people to see the inaugural Gérald Genta watch – a minute repeater, jumping hour and retrograde minute Mickey Mouse timepiece. According to Navas, when she saw it, she told the two watchmakers that her husband would have loved it. She added that respecting the spirit of the Gérald Genta brand would mean innovating, not replicating what had been done before.

With this backing, Navas and Barbasini continued with a second Disney watch – currently a prototype. With a dial design based on a 1990s original showing Donald Duck playing golf, the watch combines four of the pillars of Genta’s work – the octagonal case, the retrograde minutes hand, the jumping hour and the minute repeater – and adds to them his most whimsical design. ‘With our first watches,’ says Navas, ‘we wanted to gather everything that says Genta and present it in one piece.’

The retrograde minutes display involves a ‘hand’ (in this case Donald’s arm and golf club) moving along an arc that indicates zero to 60, jumping back to the beginning to start again when 60 is reached. A digital number representing the hour is shown in a window at the traditional 3 o’clock position and at the exact moment that the minute hand flies back to zero, the number jumps to the next hour. The jumping hour complication orchestrates a complex synergy of gears, springs and levers to ensure the hour ‘jumps’ precisely. This requires a profound understanding of mechanical watchmaking. Additionally, maintaining the watch’s power reserve presents another obstacle, as the jumping hour consumes more energy than a traditional hand display.

Added to these is one of the most difficult horological functions to master: a minute repeater that chimes the hours, quarters and minutes on demand via two tiny hammers and gongs. The chiming mechanism incorporates an independent gear system consisting of a mainspring, gear wheels, and an escapement. Once set in motion by depressing the pusher at 9 o’clock, the rack – a semi-circular component with teeth – determines the time and causes the hammers to strike the gongs accordingly. The chiming mechanism alone comprises more than 200 individual components, which can take two months to fine tune. 

Rare on its own, combining the minute repeater with a jumping hour, which also requires a time calculation, was hugely challenging and involved Navas and Barbasini developing a special system to ensure accuracy and synchronicity between the time shown and the time chimed. This is incorporated into a hand-wound GG-001 calibre with a mighty 80-hour power reserve. 

‘To mix jumping hardware with a minute repeater is very tricky because there is just one second difference between chiming eight or chiming nine,’ explains Navas. ‘At first, we didn’t have the solution. This is something we discovered as we went along. It’s very, very difficult and we succeeded.’

The piece is housed in a 40mm octagonal white-gold case standing 10.96mm high with 50m of water resistance and alternating polished and satin-brushed finishes. While the crown at 3 o’clock winds the watch and sets the time, the minute repeater is activated by a pusher at 9. The dial in champlevé enamel is made by Nicolas Doublel who heads up a team of three (soon to become four) enamellers at LFdT. The process involves engraving cells into a metal plate and filling them with vitreous enamel. Following up to eight firings, at temperatures upwards of 800C, the dial is filed and polished. The metal portions remain visible and create the framework of the design.

‘With these first watches, we wanted to remind the watchmaking world of Mr Genta’s uniqueness,’ says Navas. ‘We decided two years ago to develop this model and it took a long time, not only for the watchmaking and the design of the case, but also for the dial. We basically wanted to continue Mr Genta’s ability of mixing two worlds.’

So far, both the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck watches are unique pieces. But, while Mickey will remain a one-off, there are plans for Donald to go into production. ‘But this is a minute repeater with a jumping hour,’ says Navas. ‘It will only ever be made in a very limited edition. I don’t know how many, but it will be very, very few pieces.’

Currently working on a third model, Navas insists that everything will always be done with respect for Genta’s creative vision and with the approval of Evelyne Genta: ‘We knew him well so we will respect the creative energy and vision he instilled within his brand. It is a pleasure to be doing it, but there is also a big responsibility. It is not easy but I think collectors will really enjoy the outcome.’