Throwback-Inspired Watch That You Need This Year

Bvlgari’s Gerald Genta Arena Retrograde 'Mickey Mouse' is the only throwback-inspired watch you need this year

- Alvin Wong

For those of you who are old enough to remember, one of the most stunning modern watch industry mergers took place in the early 2000s, when the Bvlgari Group acquired two esteemed niche brands, Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta. Fans of both brands were left wondering if Bvlgari, an Italian company with roots in high jewellery, could do the watch marques justice and if their legacies would be continued.

Founded respectively by a master watchmaker and watch designer, arguably among two of the most respected figures in contemporary watchmaking, the eponymously named Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta had, prior to the acquisitions, already established their own followings, each with iconic timepieces that are celebrated by aficionados.

Collectors soon had their answer. In the years that followed, Bvlgari co-opted both brands’ aesthetic and technical signatures as its own and navigated their development with remarkable results. Besides previously rolling out co-signed creations that bear the Bvlgari-Daniel Roth and BvlgariGerald Genta names, Bvlgari’s recent highly rated complications from chiming watches to retrograde displays surely must have had their seeds sown after the momentous acquisition.