Auction, Novelties

TimeForArt Auction Spotlight: Gerald Charles x Igor Mitoraj Luci di Nara

While the intriguing TimeForArt benefit auction will happen at the Phillips auction house in New York on December 5th, early intel indicates that this artful Gerald Charles timepiece – inspired by the work of iconic 20th-century Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj – could be the lot to keep your eyes on.

By Mike Espindle

October 7, 2026

Now planning its third offering since 2022, the TimeForArt auction benefiting the non-profit Swiss Institute arts organization in New York City is the only fundraising watch auction that uniquely and directly supports contemporary art. The auction will take place in partnership with the Phillips auction house as part of its The New York Watch Auction: VX at 3 p.m. EST on December 5th in the Big Apple.

In the first two TimeForArt auctions, exceptional, art-inspired watches from leading makers generated $2.4 million in proceeds, 100% of which (including buyer’s premiums) aided the Swiss Institute’s support of the globe’s most visionary modern artists as well as the organization’s outstanding initiatives in exhibitions, public programming, educational efforts, and grassroots community arts engagement.

The cause is a decidedly good one, and the time-telling objects are always universally important and beautiful.

The Ongoing Spirit of Art

Of course, the creations of Geneva-based Gerald Charles, the maison founded by the late, great watch design visionary Gérald Genta in 2000 as a purely independent creative endeavor, already have a great deal of artfulness cooked into their formulas.

Likewise, Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj (born Jerzy Makina in Germany in 1944) passed away in 2014, after notably developing one of the most recognizable sculpting styles of the last century. Mitoraj’s work disrupted the classical beauty of Greco-Roman techniques with apt, modern elements of fragmentation and “incompleteness.”

His 1988 work Luci di Nara, which inspired the auction timepiece, introduced his notions of damaged perfection and dystopian loss of identity with such success that multiple executions and castings were produced during his lifetime.

This legacy collaboration between the namesake watchmaker and the artist’s Atelier Mitoraj and Galleria d’Arte Contini antecedents offers ample evidence of the ongoing and dovetailing spirits of both the watchmaker and the sculptor.

Facial Recognition

Dubbed the Maestro GC39 Mitoraj, the auction timepiece is both a unique expression of the Gerald Charles Grand Maestro Jumping Hour watch and the watchmaker’s first philanthropic endeavor dedicated entirely to contemporary art.

According to Gerald Charles, the challenge for this timepiece was not so much reproducing Mitoraj’s Luci di Nara visage on a smaller scale for a dial, but more translating its potency effectively for the wrist.

Luckily, the design team relocated the Grand Maestro Jumping Hour’s traditionally noon-positioned three-hour arc to the dial’s upper left (and rendered the indices in a more design-relevant Roman numeral approach), against the timepiece’s single, central minute hand.

This created a perfect counter-position on the dial’s lower right for the brass/4N PVD-coated mini-sculpture, creating an uninterrupted, harmonious balance between dimensional art and time-telling while artfully breaking from traditional watchmaking symmetry norms. A gorgeous, swirling, and exacting guilloché dial surface ties the message together.

Housed in a thin (just 11mm), signature 42 by 42mm Grand Maestro case in polished Grade 5 titanium and powered by the in-house, automatic, 50-hour power reserve Calibre GCA3900 movement, this singular execution features a closed titanium back engraved with pièce unique, Luci di Nara, TimeForArt, and other commemorative references, along with the engraved signature of Igor Mitoraj himself.

TimeForArt Auction Preview

“With its third edition, TimeForArt has evolved into a dynamic space for exchange between watchmaking and contemporary art,” says Mojdeh Cutter, Director of Partnerships & TimeForArt, Swiss Institute.

“It has been incredibly rewarding to see participating watch brands approach the initiative with such curiosity, bringing their distinctive perspectives and creative languages to the project, while collectors from the art world deepen their engagement with watches,” Cutter continues. “Each timepiece offers an opportunity to push boundaries and discover new forms of expression at the intersection of art, design, and watchmaking.”

While additional details, imagery, and specifics for the December 5th TimeForArt auction are arriving as you read this, the Swiss Institute has reported participation from 25 watch brands for 2026, from Alto to Zenith, and as disparate in art influence as Bvlgari, Hermès, and Universal Genève (to name just a few). Stay tuned to Watchonista as we continue to share more highlights and information on this inspiring auction.

For more information about the auction, check out the TimeForArt website.