LVMH Watch Week 2026: Small brands with big names – Daniel Roth and Gérald Genta

Throughout history, it has been the smaller watch manufacturers who have distinguished themselves through creativity, thereby driving the entire industry. The LVMH Group has two brands in its portfolio that were once founded by true and highly individualistic giants of the watchmaking world: the legendary designer Gérald Genta and the watchmaker Daniel Roth.

The latter's company has long been part of the luxury goods group LVMH's portfolio and was revived in 2023. It features watches in the same distinctive case shape that first attracted attention with Daniel Roth's early models in 1988.

At LVMH Watch Week, the house showcased an intricately skeletonized hand-wound watch, the "Extraplate Rose Gold Skeleton." The movement, housed in a case only 6.5 millimeters thick, was designed so that the remaining struts, once exposed, resemble a light, elegant sculpture.

Gérald Genta's former own brand has also long been part of LVMH and is being repositioned, ever since a veritable cult following developed around the designer of great watch classics like the "Polerouter," the "Nautilus," and the "Royal Oak." Genta indulged in numerous colorful gimmicks and references to his designs on the watches produced under his name, such as a golfing Mickey Mouse whose club displayed the time in reverse.

Of the two models presented in Milan, only the gadrooned cushion case is unusual at first glance, similar to the one Genta himself used. Otherwise, their design focuses on understated elegance.

lvmh.com