32 Extraordinary Watches Nominated for This Year’s ‘Oscars of Horology’
I’ve been a member of the Academy for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) since its inception in 2020, and it’s both an honor and a privilege, but also sometimes a mystery and a source of frustration. It’s a very well organized and transparent competition. There are some 900 members, from the industry: journalists, artisans and suppliers, industry executives, retailers, enthusiasts, designers and influencers. Members can nominate watches (as can individual brands) and we also take part in the early rounds of voting to determine the winners.
This summer we nominated 90 of the 273 watches entered in 15 categories, from which 20 prizes will be awarded, including the Aguille d’Or, the Grand Prix. In two or three voting rounds, we narrow the entries down to six per category, rating them in order. Those finalists then become part of a traveling road show in the fall (at the moment, they are on display at Watches of Switzerland in New York, where Robb Report’s watch editor, Allen Farmelo and photographer Atom Moore went in to snap the entries you see in this gallery.) In early November, a jury of 30 members from the Academy will convene in Geneva to inspect the finalists and decide the winners.
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What the GPHG does, bringing all these stakeholders together, and providing this venue for recognition in the watch industry is extremely important, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. I’ve worked hard to nominate what I believe are the worthiest timepieces I see throughout the year, and it’s fascinating to see what my colleagues view as the year’s most worthy. I see a lot of watches in a year, but I don’t see all of them–including some of the independents, which are not backed by huge marketing campaigns, but are often created by gifted watchmakers and dedicated teams of artisan.
But serving on the Academy has also been at times frustrating. As I’m going over the nominees in each appointed category, I often find myself thinking, “Wait, what about such-and-such,” by which I mean certain watches I’ve written about during the year that are obvious top-grade contenders in certain categories. Not just obvious to me, but pretty much universally obvious. There are, to say the least, a few solid contenders missing among the nominees. I sigh, and cast my vote among the alternatives, but I can’t avoid the nagging feeling that the category is sadly incomplete. How, for example, can you leave Cartier out of the jewelry watch category, not to mention the Iconic prize? And where are Omega and Rolex in the sports watch section? And Patek Philippe or Lange & Söhne in Mechanical Exception? The simple answer is that these and other brands, including Breguet, Richard Mille and other top marques, decline to participate.
I’m not alone in lamenting these omissions. Tim Mosso director of media for WatchBox/The 1916 Company, addressed specific omissions on one of his podcasts a few years ago, naming pieces that should have been runaway winners … “woulda shoulda coulda been contenders.”
I don’t think most of the winners have necessarily been unworthy. The panel and the jury are made up of professionals who know and understand watches. I just wish the obvious top-notch candidates were included in the competition, which would add more meaning to the spirit of the GPHG. It is often touted as “The Academy Awards of Watchmaking.” As it is, though, it’s more like “The Sundance Film Festival of Watchmaking,” a showcase for excellence among mostly independent watchmakers, with a sprinkling of big brands thrown in: Bulgari, Audemars Piguet, Piaget and Chopard are frequent winners. But so are MB&F, Kari Voutilainen, De Bethune and Urwerk.
During a panel discussion on the GPHG at Geneva Watch Days last summer, I asked the directors why nominated watches from some of the big brands were routinely not included as finalists. GPHG director Corinne Maillard responded that “It’s very important for us to showcase the finalists in exhibitions, but these brands decline to participate, and if the brands will not work with us, we don’t have the information, or the watches. So it’s better for us just to have the brands that want to participate … and why should we give them a prize and show their watches if they don’t want to participate?”
It came out in further discussion that the biggest argument for some brands not to get involved with the GPHG awards is that there is little to gain for an already famous watch brand when they win an award, but on the other hand, they stand to lose much more in terms of reputation if they get beat by the “smaller guys.”
Max Busser of MB&F said it outright: “All these bigger brands who don’t participate because they’re scared of losing … I feel like telling them: we don’t remember the 90 or so watches that didn’t win; we only remember the ones that did win. There are no losers.”
Whatever their reasons for not participating, I sincerely wish they’d reconsider. No matter how much the big brands are criticized by the so-called critical thinkers in the watch media for being marketing-driven or focused on volume, you have to admit they are making some pretty great watches. They have the means, and most do not shy away from invention and innovation. They are great brands, commercially successful, for a reason. But they should step up and help represent the industry in the GPHG and turn it into a true Academy Awards of Watchmaking. If they lose occasionally, so what. They should take one for the team.
Here are 31 of this year’s nominees, with their categories in brackets—but do keep in mind that every watch is up for the “Best Of.” They are not Robb Reports picks for the competition—and, to be clear, the magazine doesn’t vote, though I do.
A very special thank you watch photographer to Atom Moore for his amazing images shot in New York City just last weekend where all the nominees were on display.
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Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Platinum (Men’s)
This watch is part of Bulgari’s famous stable of world record breaking ultra-thin watches. It’s a manual-wind, with a total thickness of 1.80 mm and a monochromatic look in satin-polished and sandblasted platinum. The integrated bracelet is only 1.50 mm thick. It has an openworked dial, hour and minute regulator display, and is limited to 20 pieces.
Garrick S3 MKII (Men’s)
British brand Garrick displays its “expertise and penchant” for hand craftsmanship with the S3 MK2, with an openworked dial and a manual-wind movement with high watchmaking finishes, including screwed chatons and black polishing. But since each watch is made to order, finishes are optional. Bridgework and components can be frosted, grained, or mirror-polished.
Hajime Asaoka Thunami “Art Deco” (Men’s)
The Hajime Asaoka Tsunami “Art Deco” is a six-piece edition completely made by hand by the Japanese watchmaker. The manual-wind movement incorporates the watchmaker’s trademark large 15 mm balance wheel that hides a secret poising method that allows for symmetrical oscillations without the use of peripheral weights. The dial’s striped center features vertically contrasting color gradations of silver, azure, green and blue.
Voultilainen KV20i Reversed (Men’s)
The Voutilainen KV20i Reversed is equipped with an in-house caliber with a unique “back-to-front” construction. The movement has been reversed, showing it on the dial, where hours and minutes are also read, while a seconds subdial is positioned on the caseback. Among the movements horological enhancements are two escapement wheels that provide a direct impulse to the balance for improved efficiency, stability and a longer power reserve.
Artya Purity Central Tourbillon Blue (Men’s Complication)
This massive (20 mm, in a 43 mm case) tourbillon is raised under a domed crystal to give it a dramatic presence. It is the brand’s fifth manufacture caliber, its fourth tourbillon, and the first automatic. Two peripheral indicators clock hours and minutes over an index ring made of blue sapphire.
De Bethune DB Kind of Grande Complication (Men’s Complication)
The DB Kind of Grande Complication is a compendium of the core technical and aesthetic elements that De Bethune has conceived over 22 years of innovation, research and creativity. Functions include hours, minutes, date, day, month, year, moon phases, power reserve, jumping seconds, tourbillon and perpetual calendar. The titanium case is 43.3 mm wide x 13.85 mm thick.
Frank Muller Long Island Evolution Master Jumper (Men’s Complication)
This titanium watch is an evolution of Franck Muller’s Long Island series, with a case that retains the silhouette of the original, with an additional inner bezel made of anodized aluminum that secures the manual-wind movement. It’s a triple jumping complication, with hours, minutes and date indicated through a complex mechanism of jumping disks
Bovet 1822 Recital 28 Prowess 1 (Mechanical Exception)
This watch has everything: hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, month, year, power reserve indicator, world time, tourbillon, perpetual calendar and daylight savings time indicator. In fact it solves the Daylight Savings Time issue that has plagued all world timers: previously you had to either had to set the world timer for the countries that changed or for the countries that didn’t change. The breakthrough in showing them all involved the use rollers instead of a conventional display. And while Robb Report doesn’t vote, it did celebrate this watch as the very Best of the Best earlier this year.
MB&F HM11 Architect (Mechanical Exception)
MB&F’s modern pod-like home-for-the-wrist is a one-minute reverse-rotation central flying tourbillon – unlike any other. The watch draws inspiration from the futuristic architecture of the 1960s and 1970s and accordingly, has four rooms, or pods, each opening a window on a different function: time; power reserve; thermometer; and a crown for time setting. Rotating the watch to view the various pods also winds the mainspring.
Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon (Mechanical Exception)
This watch is a celebration of several things: the 150th anniversary of Piaget; the 67th anniversary its first ultra-thin caliber, the 9P; the sixth anniversary of what was at the time the thinnest mechanical watch in the world, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept, at 2 mm thick. The new version takes it to the next level by adding a tourbillon – without increasing the thickness.
Chopard LUC 1860 Flying Tourbillon (Tourbillon)
Chopard employs its flying tourbillon caliber L.U.C 96.24-L here in the ultra-thin case of its first L.U.C 1860 watch (36.5 mm wide x 8.2 mm thick). The hand-guilloché dial is 18k yellow gold, as is the case. The open caseback has a hunter-style cover, engraved on the inside with a beehive motif. Chopard is the only brand with flying tourbillon watches that are both chronometer-certified and bear the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark.
Daniel Roth Tourbillon Souscription (Tourbillon)
This vintage reproduction honors the tourbillon Ref. 2187/C187, the first Daniel Roth model, introduced in 1988, and the one most associated with the brand. It established the brand’s distinctive aesthetic – a double ellipse in yellow gold. The dial is made from a plate of solid yellow gold, the dial is decorated with Clous de Paris guilloché as was the original.
Sartory Billard SB06-24HM “La Nuit” (Tourbillon)
The hour hand on this watch runs two times slower and therefore makes only one unique rotation per day. To read the time on the scale, use the sun symbol for daytime hours, and the moon symbol for nighttime hours. Each covers a twelve hour period in a continuous loop. The minutes are read from a central hand. The moon engraving is based on altimeter measurements from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The topography is engraved to realistic depths on a convex-shaped dial surface.
IWC Portigieser Eternal Calendar (Calendar and Astronomy)
Purists will argue that it is impossible to produce a real perpetual calendar, that it’s all just a grand estimate anyway, but isn’t it a fantastic flex to have created a watch with a moon phase display that is accurate to one day in 45 million years? IWC is renowned for its Kurt Klaus-designed perpetual calendars but this one is special: IWC says it will show the correct length of every month, year, and century, until at least the year 3999.
Moser Endeavour Chinese Calendar (Calendar and Astronomy)
In collaboration with boutique movement maker Agenhor, H. Moser & Cie developed a movement combining the Chinese lunisolar calendar with the solar-only Gregorian calendar. It displays the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac alongside moon phases without requiring any correction for 12 years. Other Chinese calendars require at least 70 manual corrections over the same period. That makes it a technical feat.
LV x Rexhep Rexhepi LVRR-01 Chronographe a Sonniere (Chronograph)
Louis Vuitton is embarking on a series of collaborative timepieces with renowned independent watchmakers. It debuts with this collaboration renowned independent Rexhep Rexhepi, a double-faced chronograph with a chiming complication powered by a tourbillon movement developed by Rexhepi. The platinum case, made by Jean-Pierre Hagmann, is a reinterpretation of Louis Vuitton’s classic Tambour model.
TAG Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph (Chronograph)
This is TAG Heuer’s first ever split-seconds chronograph movement in a wristwatch, developed by Carol Forestier-Kasapi, the brand’s director of movement development in partnership with Swiss boutique movement maker Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier. It is made of titanium – not just the case, but also the movement. The case is a half sapphire crystal and half titanium construction, with a raised bezel made of sapphire covering the dial.
Singer Reimagined Divetrack (Sports)
The Divetrack is that rare thing: a mechanical diving chronograph. It is an automatic 24-hour central chronograph with 300-meter water resistance, in a 49 mm x 19.67 mm case. The chrono has three zones: CHILL (0h-6h), to determine the surface interval before your next dive; DIVE (6h-18h), indicating when you can dive again after the required surface interval; and FLY (18h-24h), the safety window before flying to avoid health risks such as pulmonary embolism.
Arnold & Son Perpetual Moon 38 Night Tide (Ladies)
The moon affects the tides, and that is the narrative depicted on this dial, with mother-of-pearl and ruthenium on the dial, illuminated by diamond highlights–2.62 carats in all. The soft curves are feminine, and the moon phase is after all widely regarded as a feminine, “poetic” complication. The 38mm case is 18k white gold.
Fabergé Colors of Love Rose Gold (Ladies)
The shape of this 18k rose gold case was Inspired by the symbol most synonymous with the brand: the egg, which Fabergé has been famous for making in jeweled form since 1885. The colors of love referred to in the title are expressed with gemstones. The straps are likewise available in several color options—a trend that has become common among luxury brands.
Andersen Genève Celestial Voyager Sakura (Ladies Complication)
Andersen Genève and Benjamin Chee Haute Horlogerie (BCHH) collaborated on this world timer, a 20-piece edition that celebrates Japan’s cherry blossom or “Sakura” season. The dial is decorated with cloisonné enamel, combined with decorative elements in mother-of-pearl and purple BlueGold—21ct gold mixed with iron elements and heat-treated to a radiant shade of blue, or in this case pink-purple.
Trilobe The Exquisite Hour Secret (Ladies Complication)
The moon phase in this complication is co-axially linked to the seconds wheel, and is depicted under a starry sky. Each dial is customized for its owner, with the map of the sky reflecting the day, time and place of choice, making each watch a unique piece. Each filled with Super-LumiNova using a syringe. The 38.5 mm case is titanium.
Czapek & Cie Goutte d’Eau (Time Only)
Goutte d’Eau (drops of water) is a slim dress watch that contains Czapek’s in-house automatic caliber SXH5. The dial is rendered in grand feu enamel in a way that creates an optical illusion as the watch moves – the idea is to create the effect of a raindrop falling on the still surface of a pond, with ripples radiating out from the seconds sub-dial.
Urwerk UR-120 Reloaded (Iconic)
This model represents classic Urwerk, a round watch with an hour unit gliding along a semi-circular track. Like the original, it has a time indicator that looks like a celestial body, like the Sputnik satellite, with a trajectory of hours and minutes indicated on a semicircular arc on the upper dial. It is now 41 mm in diameter compared to the 38 mm of its original version and the crown now merges into the case. The case is titanium.
Piaget Polo 79 (Iconic)
In 1979, Piaget revealed a watch that would come to define the spirit of the 1980s, which it brings back to life this year for its 150th anniversary. It features the original’s signature alternating polished gadroon and brushed block links that run seamlessly from bracelet to case to the dial, appearing to have been sculpted from a single piece of gold. The case has been slightly enlarged to 38mm.
Piaget_Jewellery_002
Piaget_Jewellery_002
Chronograph Monopoussoir Sylvain Pinaud x Massena LAB (Chronograph)
This monopusher chronograph was crafted by hand in the Swiss atelier of Sylvain Pinaud. The movement’s integrated chronograph complication is hand-finished and exposed on the dial side as well as through sapphire windows on the sides of the titanium case, and through the caseback. It is limited to 10 pieces.
Laurent Ferrier Classic Moon Silver (Calendar and Astronomy)
An Annual Calendar, along with the brand’s first-ever moon phase complication is set in the watchmaker’s classic pebble-smooth design, chosen by the GPHG as best Men’s watch in 2010. Aventurine glass from Murano artisans is engraved to create the shape of the moon and stars with hand-applied white paint for the details. They are hand-filled with Super-LumiNova, which is then engraved to resemble craters on the moon’s surface.
Hermès Archea Chrous Stellarum (Artistic Crafts)
The dial was inspired by the Chorus Stellarum silk scarf designed for Hermès by Daiske Nomura. The characters – skeleton riders astride horses – are made of mobile yellow gold animations, engraved and painted by hand. Driven by a spring mechanism linked to the 9 o’clock pusher, they swing into action, prancing around a gilded constellation created in champlevé enamel. It is a numbered limited series of six.
Gucci G-Timeless Planetarium (Jewelry)
Hours are marked by 12 rotating precious stones that encircle a central tourbillon in a rainbow of color. A start-and-stop function makes the stones spin on their axes for nine seconds and turn clockwise around the dial in 90 seconds. A textured guilloché base reflects the stones’ beauty and light. The central tourbillon is crafted in a diamond-set flower motif, a design that’s echoed on the caseback.
Damiani_002
Damiani_002
Bulgari Fenice (Phoenix) High-Jewelry Secret Watch (Jewelry)
Bulgari demonstrates its prowess as a jeweler here, with 161.62 carats of joyful gems that took over 3,000 hours to set into a watch designed as the mythological Phoenix. Gems include blue, pink and violet sapphires, amethysts, rubies, pink garnets, tanzanites, iolites, aquamarines and diamonds. A rare 9.78-carat central Paraiba tourmaline hides the pavé-set diamond dial. The mobile feather embraces the wrist in an openwork construction that allows the bird to spread its wings and take flight.
