Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Gerald Genta Night & Day, early 2000s
- Maker / attribution
- Gerald Genta (maker)
- Date
- early 2000s
- Historical period
- Mechanical Renaissance (1990 – 2010)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 38 mm
- Stock no.
- 40990157
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40990157)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Gerald Genta Night & Day (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40990157), this is a wristwatch by Gerald Genta, made in Switzerland, dated early 2000s. The Atlas places it in the Mechanical Renaissance period (1990 – 2010) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 38 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Analog/Shift
Why We Love It Gerald Genta. If you have explored this hobby long enough to find yourself here, browsing our website, chances are you have come across his name. Perhaps the only watch designer known by name to more than a handful of horological scholars, Gerald Genta's most groundbreaking and iconic designs need no introduction... We feel, however, that some of more overlooked watches from his portfolio do. While watch folk know that Genta completed iconic design work for powerhouses like Universal Geneve, Omega, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and Cartier - he went on to release numerous high design models under a brand mark bearing his own name. This Night & Day model in one such watch. Dating to the early 2000s, it perfectly characterizes an almost intangible Genta flavor - something that you can't quite explain, yet is instantly recognizable as the work of a very specific master designer. This example features a 38mm steel case with coin edge detailing and a luminous black dial, matching sword handset, a magnified date window, and a night-day complication operated by a pusher on the left side of the case. When pushed, the night-day phase rotates in unison with the secondary red hour hand, allowing the user to keep track of multiple timezones. It also comes fitted to a unique multi-link steel bracelet with a hidden butterfly clasp, typical of Genta designs.
Historical context
Mechanical Renaissance (1990 – 2010)
Mechanical watches return as cultural objects; independent watchmaking flourishes.
Mechanical watches returned as cultural and luxury objects. Complications, tourbillons and new materials proliferated; independent watchmakers such as George Daniels, F.P. Journe and Philippe Dufour revived artisanal watchmaking; collecting vintage watches became a major field.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Quartz Revolution
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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