Locomotive

In 1979 Credor entrusted Gérald Genta — already the designer of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus — with the design of a watch intended exclusively for the Japanese market. The result was the Locomotive: a hexagonal case, clearly related to the Royal Oak's octagon but reinterpreted in a more compact, unusual geometry, paired with an integrated bracelet that echoes the visual separation between case and links already seen in Genta's most celebrated work.

The black dial, with a texture inspired by the sleepers and rails of a steam locomotive — hence the model's name — and the case's contained dimensions, designed to sit well even on smaller wrists, make it an instantly recognizable watch that nonetheless remained for decades an almost cult object, known mainly among the most attentive Japanese and international Genta collectors, with secondhand market prices that have risen over the years to several thousand dollars.

For the brand's fiftieth anniversary, in 2024, Credor relaunched the Locomotive in a new execution (reference GCCR999, 300 pieces) that faithfully respects the original geometry devised by Genta while updating its substance: a high-resistance titanium case, a dial with more sophisticated engraved texturing, and above all a new automatic movement developed entirely by Credor, the CR01 caliber, which replaces the original watch's quartz with an automatic-winding mechanism just 4 mm thick.