Athlete Giuliano Razzoli spotted wearing a Gerald Charles

Wengen's Lauberhorn course is the longest and one of the most storied downhill venues on the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup circuit, and it was there that Italian slalom specialist Giuliano Razzoli collected a podium finish recently — wrist adorned with a piece that rewards close inspection. The watch in question is the Gerald Charles Maestro 20th Anniversary in stainless steel, a sold-out limited edition that has quietly become a talking point among independent watch enthusiasts.

Gerald Charles was founded in 2000 by Gerald Ubassy, whose long tenure at Rolex made him intimately familiar with precision case finishing and movement integration. The Maestro is the brand's signature model, defined by its octagonal case form — a shape that references Art Deco geometry while remaining thoroughly contemporary. The 20th Anniversary edition elevates the standard Maestro with a big date complication positioned at 6 o'clock, a detail clearly visible in the dial image, flanked by the commemorative '20th Anniversary' text. The matte black dial keeps legibility high, with applied Arabic numerals at 12 and 3 and baton indices elsewhere. The case is fitted with a black textured rubber strap whose pyramid-pattern surface provides grip and visual texture in equal measure.

Powering the watch is a self-winding movement — Gerald Charles sources and modifies established Swiss ebauches, ensuring reliability without the boutique lead times of fully in-house production. The 252-piece limitation was a deliberate numerical homage to the brand's Geneva-area address, giving the edition a narrative coherence that collectors appreciate beyond the spec sheet.

Razzoli has long been associated with precision and timing in the most literal professional sense — hundredths of a second define his career. His choice of a complications-light but technically considered piece from an independent Geneva manufacture feels entirely consistent with that ethos. The watch was reportedly sold out at retail, making podium-level visibility like this particularly effective for the brand.

At a list price of approximately $12,000, the Maestro 20th Anniversary occupied a competitive position against similarly sized offerings from larger houses. With the edition now sold out, grey-market availability is limited and prices have held firm, reflecting genuine collector demand rather than speculative flipping.