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The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève award ceremony is the most hotly anticipated event of the Swiss watch industry calendar, where the crème de la crème of watchmakers presents their best timepieces.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 2024 edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) saw 57 luxury Swiss watch brands go head-to-head at a glittering award ceremony hosted by actress Carole Bouquet on 13 November. At the event, dubbed the ‘Oscars of watchmaking’, the makers of these exceptional timepieces vied for prizes including ladies’, men’s, calendar and astronomy, jewellery and iconic. For the first time, there was also an eco-innovation prize awarded which celebrates developments in sustainability and traceability.Introducing the ceremony, GPHG president Raymond Loretan reminded the audience of watchmaking’s prestige as UNESCO intangible heritage. “This is a visionary industry and craft, an infinite quest for beauty while remaining true to centuries-old tradition,” he said.IWC Schaffhausen walked away with this year’s prestigious Grand Prix de l’Aiguille d’Or best-in-show award for their Portugieser Eternal Calendar, pictured below. Taking place in Geneva’s Théatre du Léman, the ceremony gathered together a jury of 30 experts with historian, author and journalist Nick Foulkes as president joined by watch collectors, watchmakers, journalists, auctioneers and Ilaria Resta, CEO of Audemars Piguet, last year’s winner of the top prize, the Aiguille d’Or.90 watches were in the running this year – here are all the winning timepieces from the 24th spectacular ceremony. “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix best-in-show awardThe most distinguished award at the GPHG, the Aiguille d’Or, went to IWC Schaffhausen.The jury recognised the Portugieser Eternal Calendar for pushing the boundaries in fine watchmaking. It has been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the “most precise lunar phase wristwatch”. With a theoretical deviation of just one day in 45,361,055 years, the Double Moon indication of the Portugieser Eternal Calendar beats the previous world record by more than 43 million years.While the perpetual calendar needs an adjustment in centurial years which are not leap years, the secular perpetual calendar is mechanically programmed to consider these exceptions. Thanks to a newly engineered 400-year gear, which completes just one revolution every four centuries, the calendar will skip three leap years over 400 years – an event that will take place in the year 2100 for the first time. The eternal calendar will calculate the leap year correctly until at least 3999, as no official decision has been taken yet as to whether 4000 will be a leap year.Winners of the GPHG watchmaking awardsHere is the full list of winners of tonight’s dazzling awards ceremony:ADVERTISEMENTLadies’: feminine watches comprising the following indications only – hours, minutes, seconds, simple date (day of the month), power reserve, classic moon phases – and that may potentially be adorned with a maximum 9-carat gemsetting.WINNER 2024: Van Cleef & Arpels’s Lady Jour NuitVan Cleef & Arpels has reinvented the Lady Arpels Jour Nuit watch, introduced in 2008, with a diamond-paved moon and stars perpetually pursuing the sun, embellished with guilloché yellow gold.The jury described this timepiece as a “tiny theatre that changes its set like a parade of poetic ambiences.”ADVERTISEMENTLadies’ Complication: feminine watches that are remarkable in terms of their mechanical creativity and complexity. These watches may feature all kinds of classic and/or innovative complications and indications (e.g. annual calendar, perpetual calendar, equation of time, complex moon phases, tourbillon, chronograph, world time, dual time or other types of model) and do not fit the definition of the Ladies’ and Mechanical Exception categories. WINNER 2024: Van Cleef & Arpels’s Lady Arpels Brise d’ÉtéThe jury praised this “charming piece that conceals an extraordinary mechanism in a bucolic garden.” They added that it “combines enamelling, gemsetting and chronometry in a dreamlike picture.”Paying tribute to nature, a source of inspiration for the Maison since its creation, the Lady Arpels Brise d’Été watch celebrates the freshness of a summer morning. White- and yellow-gold butterflies rendered in plique-à-jour enamel not only tell the time but flutter off thanks to an on-demand animation module that also breathes life into the flowers and their stems. ADVERTISEMENTTime Only: watches with two or three hands and no gemsetting, bearing exclusively analogue time indications: hours, minutes, seconds.WINNER 2024: H. Moser & Cie’s Streamliner Small Seconds Blue EnamelThis watch is “highly complex in construction, it has extremely fluid lines, based on organic forms. The links, all unique and articulated, are the height of subtle sophistication, and supple flexibility.”Men’s: masculine watches comprising the following indications only – hours, minutes, seconds, simple date (day of the month), power reserve indication, classic moon phases – and that may potentially feature a digital/retrograde display or be adorned with a maximum 9-carat gemsetting.ADVERTISEMENTWINNER 2024: Voutilainen’s KV20i ReversedThe jury described this timepiece as “celebrating fine mechanics in its details and finish which is exceptional and carries forward a controlled power”. Men’s Complication: masculine watches that are remarkable in terms of their mechanical creativity and complexity. These watches may feature all kinds of classic and/or innovative complications and indications (e.g. world time, dual time or other types of model) and do not fit the definition of the Men’s and Mechanical Exception categories.WINNER 2024: De Bethune’s DB Kind Of Grande ComplicationADVERTISEMENTThis watch features seven complications which represent “all the know-how” of the De Bethune watchmaking house. Iconic: watches stemming from an emblematic collection or model that has been exercising a lasting influence on watchmaking history and the watch market for more than 20 years or offering a contemporary reinterpretation.WINNER 2024: Piaget’s Piaget Polo 79This watch was chosen as “a timepiece which has marked this history of watchmaking” through the characteristics of “nonconformity and freedom”. ADVERTISEMENT45 years after it was first created – after it came to define the spirit of the 1980s – it has been relaunched as “something that respects the spirit that Piaget wanted to give to this, a piece of jewellery and a watch at the same time.” Tourbillon: mechanical watches comprising at least one tourbillon. Additional indications and/or complications are admissible.WINNER 2024: Daniel Roth’s Tourbillon SouscriptionThe jury was “won over by the special design devised 30 years ago which moves the time display to the top of the dial”.ADVERTISEMENTCalendar and Astronomy: mechanical watches comprising at least one calendar and/or astronomical complication (e.g. date, annual calendar, perpetual calendar, equation of time, complex moon phases display, etc.). Additional indications and/or complications are admissible.WINNER 2024: Laurent Ferrier’s Classic Moon SilverFor the jury, this timepiece “epitomises classic elements and the soberness of classical pieces.” Mechanical Exception: watches featuring a special mechanism, such as an innovative or sophisticated display, an automaton, a striking or any other acoustic function, a special escapement, a belt-driven movement or comprising another original and/or exceptional horological concept.ADVERTISEMENTWINNER 2024: Bovet 1822’s Récital 28 Prowess 1The jury described this watch as a “world first” because it “resolves the headache that travellers face by simultaneously displaying all the time zones in the world and the changes from summer to winter time depending on the regions.” Chronograph: mechanical watches comprising at least one chronograph indication. Additional indications and/or complications are admissible.WINNER 2024: Massena Lab’s Chronograph Monopoussoir Sylvain Pinaud x Massena LabADVERTISEMENTThis is a monopusher chronograph, crafted almost entirely by hand in the atelier of Sylvain Pinaud in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland. The jury praised the movement’s integrated chronograph complication, hand-finished by the watchmaker himself and left exposed on the dial side.Jewellery: watches demonstrating exceptional mastery of the art of jewellery and gemsetting, and also distinguished by the choice of stones.WINNER 2024: Chopard’s Laguna High-Jewellery Secret WatchThis timepiece “set the jury dreaming of distant shores” thanks to its “scintillating mix of colours and glow of a pearl.”ADVERTISEMENTCrafting this mesmerising miniature ecosystem involved over 1,000 hours of fine workmanship, delicately entwining ethical gold and titanium.Sports: watches linked to the world of sport, whose functions, materials and design are suited to physical exercise.WINNER 2024: MING’s 37.09 BluefinThe jury praised the timepiece as an “original watch with a minimalist style that celebrates all kinds of blue and the spirit of the open sea in a diving watch.” ADVERTISEMENTArtistic Crafts: watches demonstrating exceptional mastery of one or several artistic techniques such as enamelling, lacquering, engraving, guilloché (engine-turning), skeleton-working, etc.WINNER 2024: Van Cleef & Arpels’s Lady Arpels Jour EnchantéThis timepiece features a graceful silhouette picking flowers under the early morning sun. Light passes through leaves of white gold, plique-à-jour enamel and diamonds harbouring a field of flowers aglow in dazzling colours. It is set with yellow sapphires of façonné enamel and a meticulously hand-sculpted feminine figure in white gold spreads her wings made from sparkling, pearly-white plique-à-jour enamel for a luminous transparency effect.ADVERTISEMENTThe jury particularly praised the “feat of creating the dew on transparent leaves”.“Petite Aiguille”: watches with a retail price between CHF 3,000 and CHF 10,000. Smartwatches are admissible in this category.WINNER 2024: KUDOKE 3’s SalmonThis watch was highlighted for its unconventional way of displaying the time. While the minutes are “traditionally” indicated, the hour indication is placed on an attached plate and divided into three sections on the level below the upper dial. ADVERTISEMENTThe hour is indicated with the help of a triple-armed hour hand – each hand with different lengths running between the two dials. When one arm of the hand reaches the end of the hour scale, the next longer or shorter arm appears at the beginning of the next hour scale. Hours 2, 6 and 10 are then shown twice on different scales before the current handarm moves on.Challenge: watches with a retail price equal to or under CHF 3,000. Smartwatches are admissible in this category.WINNER 2024: Otsuka Lotec’s No.6The jury awarded the prize because the watch features an “original double retrograde display showing the time as would an instrument on an old dashboard, a fine tribute to the pioneers of steam engines and submarines.”ADVERTISEMENTEco-innovation Prize: This prize rewards the best competing timepiece featuring significant developments linked to sustainability: traceability, ethics, materials, etc. This prize is discretionary and the Jury will decide whether there are grounds for awarding it in 2024.WINNER 2024: Chopard’s L.U.C Qualité FleurierAudacity Prize: This prize rewards the best competing timepiece featuring a non-conformist, offbeat approach to watchmaking. It is intended to foster creative audacity. This prize is discretionary and the Jury will decide whether there are grounds for awarding it in 2024.WINNER 2024: Berneron’s Mirage SiennaADVERTISEMENT”Horological Revelation” Prize: This prize rewards a competing timepiece created by a young brand (less than ten years of existence since its first model was commercialised). This prize is discretionary and the Jury will decide whether there are grounds for awarding it in 2024.WINNER 2024: Rémy Cools’ Tourbillon AtelierChronometry Prize: This prize rewards the best competing timepiece that stands out for its remarkable precision timekeeping performance (special escapement or distinctive regulating device) and which is officially certified (ISO 3159 standards) by an inspection authority such as the COSC, TIMELAB, Besançon Observatory, etc. This prize is discretionary and the Jury will decide whether there are grounds for awarding it in 2024.WINNER 2024: Bernhard Lederer’s 3 Times Certified Observatory ChronometerADVERTISEMENTThe Jury of the GPHG awards the following prize:Special Jury Prize: This prize rewards a personality, institution or initiative that has played a fundamental role in promoting high-quality watchmaking. It cannot be awarded to a timepiece, nor to a brand as such. This prize is discretionary and the Jury will decide whether there are grounds for awarding it in 2024.WINNER 2024: watch case maker Jean-Pierre HagmannQuiet LuxuryA few standout themes dominated the nominations – and winners – of this year’s awards. One trend gripping the fashion and the watchmaking industry is ‘quiet luxury’.ADVERTISEMENTParmigiani Fleurier was nominated in the ladies’, men’s, calendar and astronomy, chronograph, sports and, a new category for 2024, time only, which awards a classic timepiece with two or three hands and no complications. “It is the most difficult category because it’s the simplest watch and, in design, to be iconic with simplicity, is a very difficult exercise,” Guido Terreni, CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier, told Euronews before the ceremony. Parmigiani Fleurier’s Tonda PF Micro-Rotor No Date watch was nominated in this category. It features a 40mm steel and platinum case, a hand guilloché dial in a barley grain colour and an automatic micro-rotor movement.Terreni believes Parmigiani Fleurier’s success in the nomination is in part due to its longstanding reputation as a luxury brand that has a modest design signature. ADVERTISEMENTIn an era of ‘quiet luxury’, this is helping the brand, ironically, to stand out: “If you look at our nominations all together, and you feel the brand identity, you feel a new language and luxury that we are bringing, which is less ostentatious, deeper, and this is appreciated by collectors and the trade industry.”The Swiss watch house led the nomination this year alongside Chopard with six timepieces in the running each.“It’s something really special. It’s the first time in all the 24 editions that the brand gets six nominations. So it’s a moment of pride,” Terreni said.Hermès hopefulHermès, a brand also well respected for its luxury goods but less well known for its watches, is nominated in the ladies’, mechanical exception and artistic crafts categories.ADVERTISEMENTLaurent Dordet, CEO of Hermès Horloger, says that the brand has been making watches since 1978 but began entering the GPHG Awards in 2011. “When we have the chance to be shortlisted, and sometimes to win, it’s very valuable for us because I think it establishes the long-term notoriety of Hermès as a watchmaker. Hermès is a very well-known brand, but very much so for other categories. I think we have to prove every year, through our own product, that we are stepping up to more complex watches, more technical watches, more legitimate watches that establish the reputation of the brand also in this category,” he says.Each of the three nominated timepieces has uniquely Hermès design characteristics. The wheels in the movement of the Arceau Duc Attelé are inspired by the wheels of the “duc” horse cart from the Hermès logo along with two horse-shaped hammers on the front. The Arceau Chorus Stellarum is inspired by one of the brand’s classic scarves featuring a skeleton riding a horse. The Hermès Cut is a simpler design from a new line, but Dordet explains that the cut of the bezel at the four outer points of the circle is a subtle signature of this watch and the font on the numerals was created especially for it.The Hermès Cut is nominated in the highly competitive ladies’ category of the awards and Dordet says this would be a particularly special win. “The first GPHG we won was in 2011 with the men’s watch category for our Time Suspended watch. It was a very important sign for us because the Time Suspended is more than a watch, it is really all about Hermès philosophy about suspending time. So that’s why, 13 years after Time Suspended, we are hoping to be granted the ladies’ prize. The category would be kind of destiny.”ADVERTISEMENTNew kids on the blockThe GPHG Awards don’t just celebrate the big names in watchmaking, it’s also an opportunity for new and independent brands to compete.Hoping to win the challenge category was first-time nominee SpaceOne. Founded only 18 months ago, the TSpaceOne which was shortlisted is only from the brand’s second collection. “To be already nominated is quite an honour and it’s a prize for the work that has been done by the team. So, I’m super happy, and we hope we’re going to win this,” Guillaume Laidet, who cofounded SpaceOne with award-winning watchmaker Theo Auffret told Euronews before the ceremony.The challenge category is for watches that retail at 3,000 CHF (3,209 EUR) or lower. Laidet said that the lower price point is what is special about this nomination. ADVERTISEMENT“It’s the first time there is a planetarium at a good price… Our concept with SpaceOne is to democratise the independent complication that normally you cannot buy for less than EUR 100,000. The complexity was to find a way to make a complication but for an affordable price.”Laidet says that they have been able to retail the Tellerium for 2,900 CHF (3,102 EUR) thanks to developing everything in house rather than outsourcing to agencies.
