Mickey Mouse watch appears on Gérald Genta’s very own website

Gérald Genta, widely considered the 20th century’s greatest watch designer, finally has his own website.

Mr Genta died in 2011, aged 80, but his eponymous brand, the team and its intellectual property had been acquired by Bulgari in 2000.

Bulgari has no rights to Mr Genta’s most famous designs: Patek Philippe’s Nautilus, Cartier’s Pasha de Cartier and Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, but it has plenty of references to work from including his Disney character watches in the 1980s and retrograde pieces from the 1990s.

Two of these styles have been combined for a new Mickey Mouse retrograde watch that Bulgari unveiled at this week’s Geneva Watch Days.

Mickey appears on a rhodium-plated sunray dial with his left arm indicating the minutes on a 210-degree retrograde track. A jumping hour display is at 5 o’clock.

Only 150 of the watches are being made, guaranteeing them collector-grade appeal, and priced at $16,500.

They are powered by a BVL262 automatic movement housed in a 41mm polished steel Gérald Genta Arena case.