Introducing Celebrating Dubai Watch Week, Genus Unveils The Rainbow Green

Genus emerged as an independent watchmaker in 2019 and introduced complex timepieces with one of the most stunning time displays, winning the Mechanical Exception Award at the 2019 Geneva Grand Prix Horlogerie. The company was co-founded in Geneva by watchmaker Sébastien Billières and entrepreneur Catherine Henry. Billières is the son of a watchmaker who spent 35 years at Rolex, and he began his own career at Roger Dubuis in 1999. He also owns other companies in the horology field, one of which makes the movements for Genus watches. 

For the 6th edition of Dubai Watch Week, Genus presented its new Rainbow Green timepiece, marking its 6th watch since the establishment of the company.

The watch comes in a green color inspired by the UAE flag, which symbolizes energy and vitality. To obtain this color, the case is subjected to oxidation through electrolysis of the Damascus titanium with which the case was made.Damascus titanium, a very rare material in Haute Horlogerie, GENUS’s creation honors an ancestral craft rooted in a difficult and subtle savoir-faire. It bears similarities to the Japanese method of making samurai katana blades, a technique first applied to steel and in use since the 17th century. As titanium is three times tougher than steel and can be worked at even higher temperatures, The particular hue of ‘Rainbow Green’ is achieved after finishing, polishing and satin-brushing the watch case, that is when it undergoes an anodic oxidation, an electrolytic process that changes the color.The spectacular end result shimmers in an intense green with a moiré effect that generates undulating reflections as the Damascus titanium seems to vibrate in the light. 

The case measures 43mm in diameter and has a thickness of 13.3mm. It is topped with a domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating. The crown is made from Damascus titanium, with the letters 'G-E-N-U-S' embossed around the circumference.

The core of the Genus time-telling system is the snake-like arrangement of what Genus calls its "genera." These are 12 gems which orbit two sub-dials once per hour, and which indicate how many tens of minutes past the hour it is, this is split into 20-30-40 minutes on the bottom subdial, and 10-50-60 on the top one. The hour can be read off the pointer to the left with a green arrow hand, which indicates the hour via a rotating carrier which makes one full revolution every 12 hours, the number of minutes which have passed in each ten-minute interval is shown on a disk at the right with a white arrow hand, which rotates once every ten minutes. 

Powering the watch is the caliber 160W-1.2 movement, which is composed of 406 components, all meticulously designed, created, and hand-decorated in Sébastien Billières' workshops in Plan-Les-Ouates, Geneva. This manual movement has 50-hours of power reserve, and operates at 18,000 vph(2.5Hz). The escapement bridge is mirror-polished, and the plate and three bridges are bead-blasted, creating a matte effect for visual contrast. All edges are chamfered and beveled, designed to enhance reflections and light variations while the majority of the steel parts are mirror-polished and also beveled and grained by hand. In the end, every single part tells a piece of the whole of watchmaking history, creating a bridge between past, present and future.

The watch is paired with a green alligator leather strap, padded and hand-sewn, featuring a green Damascus titanium pin buckle engraved with the GENUS logo. A folding clasp is also available upon request. The Genus Rainbow Green is priced at CHF 224,350  which is equivalent to AED 914,000.

For more information please visit Genus’s official website.