Gentissima Oursin — historic case size in titanium.

When Louis Vuitton's acquisition of Gérald Genta's archives was announced last year, one of the questions that naturally arose was which path the revived brand would follow as it developed.

The master who died in 2011 left an exceedingly complex legacy, and in one of the interviews given by the designer's widow Evelyne Genta, she said that she didn't want her late husband's name to be solely associated with luxury sports watches, even if they are iconic.

This probably also applies to the Mickey Mouse pieces that Bulgari has also acquired. An unexpected winner emerged from the archives this year: a gouache of the Oursin model from 1994.

The artist's source of inspiration is believed to have been a lasting impression from a family vacation on the island of Corsica. After he came back, he transferred the profile of a sea urchin onto his watches (oursin is French for sea urchin).

Three versions of the new Gentissima Oursin are available, which echo the silhouette of the watch with beaded spikes from thirty years ago. All of them have titanium cases that measure 36.5 mm in diameter and 9.6 mm in height.

The first version has an anthracite dial encircled by white-gold beads, the second is the most punk-rock version with a black dial and yellow-gold spikes, and the most feminine version has a pink dial with rose-gold diamond-tipped urchin spines.

The watch houses an automatic GG-005 movement based on the Zenith Elite caliber. The rotor has been made octagonal for the Gentissima Oursin, and bold beads appear around its edge.

Gentissima Oursin is a fantastic alternative to Genta's octagonal bezel. While it's still too early for this design to have competitors, surely it couldn't be a coincidence that Credor pulled the Locomotive design out of the archives this year, and they're confident it'll be a success.

Meanwhile, Audemars Piguet failed to register their Royal Oak model's design as a unique trademark this year — the Japanese IP High Court ruled that the bezel and applied mark are insufficient for inherent and acquired distinctiveness.

The octagonal bezel has almost become public property. So the expressive design exhibited by LV really does look very promisingly individual indeed.