The unveiling of Genus’s GNS2 timepiece heralds a new chapter in the art of watchmaking by the independent watchmaker nestled in Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva’s watchmaking heartland. This new model, building on the GNS1, preserves its hallmark mechanism while introducing a new and innovative semi-open dial. The inaugural ‘GNS2 Launch Edition’ will be limited to 18 pieces.
Since the brand made a stunning debut with its GNS1 in 2019, Genus has captivated connoisseurs of time. It was an audacious debut that claimed the Mechanical Exception Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). The GNS2 was conceived through five years of R&D led by the brand’s co-founders and Master Watchmaker Sébastien Billières.
The dial, a canvas of hand-hammered, satin-finished, and mirror-polished surfaces, plays with light and shadow, creating a visual symphony. Divided into two mirroring sections, The dial is hammered with tens of thousands of precise strikes, rendering each timepiece unique.
In a departure from the traditional, the GNS2 eschews contrasting hues for an elegant palette of greys. The watch’s heart, the ‘genera,’ floats in metallic blue through spherical openings, tracing time’s passage in a dance of light and shadow. This choreography of time is accentuated by rhodium-plated, diamond-polished appliqués and hand-polished screws, each element contributing to the watch’s visual allure.
The case, sculpted from grade 5 titanium, speaks of lightness and grace. Its sides, newly hollowed, echo the watch’s sleek silhouette. It is complemented by a ‘glass box’ sapphire crystal that enhances visibility.
At its core lies the 260Rh-2 calibre, fundamentally the same ‘brain’ as in the GNS1, but with an evolution in aesthetics. One part, the basic movement, encompasses essential functions, including a unique barrel that provides an impressive 50-hour power reserve. Atop this foundation sits the second part, the brand’s signature hour-and-minute display complication.
Each component, designed and hand-decorated by Sébastien, features a blend of polishes and intricate straight-grain finishes that exude a radiant lustre. The regulating organ, distinguished by its blue hue, subtly complements the dial’s aesthetics. The intricate snailing of the ratchet wheel, along with all the painstakingly applied mirror-polished finishes, testifies to the house’s craftsmanship.
This calibre enables GNS2’s unique time display. The outer periphery of the dial has an hours-track with twelve hour-marks like a conventional watch. However, the time is indicated unconventionally by three arrows that run over the hours-track, completing a circular journey every 12 hours.
The minutes indicator is even more unconventional. Here, another set of three arrows runs over an 8-shaped track around two sub-dials. They make a full tour on the 8-track once every hour. The minute markers are split between the two sub-dials.
The Genus GNS2 is set to make its debut at this year’s Geneva Watch Week in April.
