We discuss Grand Prix favorites before members of the jury make their official decision.

A few small changes have been made to the rules for this year's 23rd Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. For example, the retail price range for the Petite Aiguille category has been amended, which is now between CHF 2,000 and CHF 8,000.

Nominated timepieces in the Challenge category now need to have a retail price equal to or under CHF 2,000. Each brand pays an entry fee of CHF 800 per candidate timepiece, and if the model is nominated, they need to pay another flat-rate fee of CHF 7,000.

However, the price is lower for nominated timepieces in the Mechanical Clock category: CHF 4,000 per model. In addition to funding from sponsors Foundation de Haute Horlogerie and Rolex, these funds are essentially what keep the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève alive.

The most important new development is that smartwatches can now be entered in the Petite Aiguille and Challenge categories. However, Apple, Samsung, and the Chinese electronics giants have yet to take advantage of this opportunity, although they were probably invited to.

The rest remains the same: 15 main categories and a maximum cap of 7 models can be entered by any one participant (in different categories).

On the eve of the awards ceremony, the jury picks another five prizewinners to award the Innovation Prize, Audacity Prize, Horological Revelation Prize, Chronometry Prize, and of course, the best-in-show Aiguille d’Or (Fr. "Golden Hand"). As per tradition, the Special Jury Prize will also be awarded to either a particular watchmaker or an organization.

There haven't been any dramatic changes in terms of participants. The event will go ahead without any participation from Swatch Group brands, and the majority of Richemont Luxury Group brands will also give it a miss, along with big names Rolex and Patek Philippe.

Ladies’ 

The situation in the Ladies’ Watch Prize category is unambiguous. There are two clear favorites here: Piaget's Hidden Treasures (Ref. G0A48255, price CHF 161,000) and Van Cleef & Arpels Ludo Secret Watch (Ref. VCARPBKC00, CHF 151,000).

Fans know how special Piaget's signature cuffs are, which exhibit hand-crafted gold work by the top artisans at Métiers d’Or. As for stunning timepieces by Van Cleef & Arpels, collectors from countries all over the world have been engaging in heated battles to get hold of such pieces for years — competition which could even rival the battles fought over many coveted models by Patek Philippe.

Ladies’ Complication

It's hard to predict who will be awarded the prize in this relatively young category at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. In our view, there are no less than four models contending for this prize: Chopard's Imperiale Jumping Hour, Andersen Genève's Celestial Voyager Arctic Sunrise X BCHH, the Portofino Perpetual Calendar with a movement originally engineered by the IWC Schaffhausen's legendary watchmaker Kurt Klaus, and Dior's Grand Soir Automate Etoile de Monsieur Dior.

The most interesting and freshest contender is of course the automata by Dior with precious stars on its dial that come to life when the owner activates the moving figures. This watch is also interesting in that it combines mechanical automata with a quartz movement for the hours and minutes.

Just 28 of these watches will be available, each retailing at CHF 110,000. As for the three other contenders, we've already seen them in a similar shape or form.

Andersen Genève's entry continues the collectors' Celestial Voyager series, which Svend Andersen has been creating since 2021 for the Singaporean collector Benjamin Chee and his boutique (BCHH stands for "Benjamin Chee Haute Horlogerie"). The other two watches are essentially remakes. We'll have to wait and see what the jury picks.

Artistic Crafts 

The favorite watchmakers in the ladies' categories categories also appear in this renowned category among collectors: Van Cleef & Arpels and Andersen Genève. Of course, the models in this category are different. Van Cleef & Arpels is banking on the Lady Duo de Lions watch (CHF 102,000) from the watchmaker's famous Extraordinary Dials collection.

Its mother-of-pearl dial is a masterpiece of applied arts, which blends an artistic miniature enamel with gem-setting and gold engraving. The main creative themes for Van Cleef & Arpels are love and nature, symbolized in a moment of tenderness between a lion and lioness engraved in white- and yellow-gold, set against the mountainous backdrop of Tanzania's Kilimanjaro.

Piaget has entered a tourbillon called the Altiplano Métiers d'Art - Undulata, which is priced at CHF 225,000 and limited to a series of eight pieces.  Meanwhile, Svend Andersen continues to delight fans of the refined art of guilloché with his dial on the Jumping Hours Rising Sun Edition (CHF 48,800).

Men’s

The six finalists in this category really do impress: Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Starwheel, De Bethune's DB28xs Starry Seas, Ferdinand Berthoud's Chronomètre FB 3SPC, Parmigiani Fleurier's Tonda PF Micro-Rotor, Simon Brette's Chronomètre Artisans and Xhevdet Rexhepi's Minute Inerte.

However, if we want to do some nitpicking, not all of them strictly meet the brief for the nomination, i.e. a prestigious men's watch for everyday wear.  In our view, the trio of leaders include De Bethune and Parmigiani, although neither of these brands have entered a novelty, and are putting forward variations of tried and tested bestsellers.

That's why the watch with the best chance of winning is the chronometer by Simon Brette, Chronomètre Artisans. The brand which has barely marked its second birthday has already worked with the companies MB&F and H. Moser & Cie. Brette debuted with his own proprietary movement from the get-go, which he developed and assembled from 194 components.

The balance in Caliber SBCA beats at a frequency of 2.5 Hz (18,000 vph). It has a large balance wheel secured by a powerful bridge with rounded mirror-polished titanium beams. Its two mainspring barrels provide three days' worth of power reserve.

All things considered, this caliber has been kept fairly thin, as the third and fourth wheels are lowered to the dial side, which has not only allowed the movement's height to be slimmed down, it has also almost opened up a full view of the hairspring.

The openworked escape wheel with a pallet lever makes servicing, lubrication, and fine-tuning timekeeping accuracy as easy as possible. The case measuring 39 mm in diameter is made of a material that's still rarely used in watchmaking: zirconium. The symbol on the caseband isn't an hourglass, it's a dovetail. This is the symbol that the watchmaker's father used to sign his work, who still works as a carpenter.

Finally, the dial is decorated with a signature engraving pattern dubbed "dragon scales". These scales made of rose gold come together to form a unique mosaic motif. Experts and collectors have seen enough photos to know how much potential young Brette has got. The resulting twelve Chronomètre Artisans pieces were certainly not cheap (CHF 53,850), but sold out the day they went on sale, and his waiting list is backed up for years to come.

Men's Complication 

This year, there are only two main contenders battling it out for the Men’s Complication Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak Concept Split-Seconds Chronograph GMT Large Date and Voutilainen's World Timer.

The complications found in the former are pretty much spelled out in the model's name. All we need to add is that the chronograph is a flyback chronograph, which allows you to reset the running chronograph and launch a new countdown with the push of one button as opposed to the usual two.

The watch's 42-mm case is made of titanium and ceramic, and houses the self-winding manufacture Caliber 4407, which has a 70-hour power reserve. The price for this piece is CHF 183,100. 

The second favorite potential prizewinner is the world's first watch with a fully integrated world-timer mechanism invented by the watchmaker himself.

By the way, this watchmaker also guillochées all dials by hand. Voutilainen's worldtimer is characterized by its steel cushion-shaped case, which measures 39 mm × 39 mm × 12 mm. Availability of the series is limited to ten pieces priced at CHF 198,000 a pop.

Iconic

We see two clear leaders in the contest within the contest among iconic timepieces: Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph (42-mm ceramic case, CHF 75,400) and IWC Schaffhausen's new Ingenieur Automatic 40 (40-mm steel case, CHF 12,000).

But other contenders in this category could find more favor among the jury, who will want to avoid offending anyone: Breitling's Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41 (CHF 8,650), TAG Heuer's Carrera Chronograph (CHF 6,300), or even Ulysse Nardin's Freak One (CHF 65,000).

Tourbillon

It looks like the craze for tourbillons really is gradually beginning to subside. At least that's what the list of contenders for this prize might lead you to believe, once almost the most prestigious category.

The undisputed leaders here are Laurent Ferrier's Grand Sport Tourbillon Pursuit, which has placed the most beautiful of complications on the caseback side (CHF 188,475), and Parmigiani Fleurier's Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon (CHF 150,000).

But the jury could decide in favor of one of the other regular loyal GPHG entrants: the Bulgari's Octo Roma Striking Papillon Tourbillon (CHF 113,000) or Bovet's Virtuoso XI (CHF 301,600).

Mechanical Exception

This young category has become the most prestigious, given that it's strictly reserved for complicated timepieces, which by and large means the most expensive timepieces. So it's no wonder this category is where the watch tipped to be this year's GPHG best-in-show can be found. We're talking about the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4: the most complicated watch in this maison's glorious history.

The automatic AP1000 movement it houses is assembled from over 1100 components, performs 40 functions, and has 23 complications, which include a minute repeater, Grande Sonnerie Supersonnerie, flying tourbillon, perpetual calendar, and a split-seconds flyback chronograph. All of this has been packed into a 42-mm case in pink gold that measures a mere 15.55 mm in height.

And that's counting the double "secret" cover caseback rendered in pink gold, which serves to amplify the watch’s acoustic performance. This is also the world's thinnest complicated watch.

Practically the entire RD department at Audemars Piguet spent around seven years creating this watch. Needless to say, this model has been released as a unique piece, which will more than likely end up being housed in the manufacture's museum forever.

However, the head of the maison could cave and meet loyal collectors in the middle one day by releasing a few more similar masterpieces, as long as they're not put off by the watch's price of CHF 1,723,200.

A model competing with AP in this category is Louis Vuitton's Tambour Opera Automata. The set of complications it offers are jumping hours, power reserve indication, retrograde minutes and automaton — a combination which has almost never been seen before in the watchmaking industry.

The watch is a tribute to Bian Lian, the Sichuan Opera's vivid dramatic art of face-changing, decorated by one of the best engravers of our time, Dick Steenman, along with the artist who is without doubt the best enamelist of our time, the unparalleled Anita Porchet. And that's why the watch doesn't come cheap, priced at CHF 455,000.

Calendar and Astronomy 

Solo watchmakers traditionally place their bets on working by hand. The first contender in this category serves as an example, Felipe Pikullik's Moon Phase 1.  Mr. Pikullik is a young independent watchmaker from Berlin who graduated from one of the famous watchmaking schools in Glashütte.

The watchmaker independently developed, calculated, and created his original Moon Phase. He engraved, frosted, and beveled each component for the moon by hand. And he took the same approach to the movement. The resulting caliber is a ultra-thin movement with a balance that beats at a frequency of 21,600 vph with a 56-hour power reserve.

Like the majority of elite Saxon movements, it goes without saying that Pikullik's caliber is hand-wound. A prototype of the model is presented in the photos, but by November all of the movement's bridges will also be frosted. Pikullik will produce 20 of these pieces in steel, each priced at CHF 25,188.

Another nominee with promising potential for investment in the Calendar and Astronomy category is Parmigiani's Tonda PF Xiali Chinese Calendar. This watch has two astronomical calendars: a solar calendar and lunar calendar.

But the most interesting detail is the fact that both mechanisms calculate independent of one another, although the results of their calculations are then coordinated and synchronized. Together, they represent one of the most unusual forms of perpetual calendar.

This solution has never been seen in a wristwatch before. No limit has been set on the availability of the model, but considering how unusually complicated the watch is, it's safe to say it will be a very small run for obvious reasons. The model costs CHF 59,000.

Chronograph 

Among the chronographs worth mentioning, one stands out: the exquisitely uncluttered and wonderful De Bethune DB Eight with signature blue accents in a titanium case measuring 42.4 mm in diameter.

At first glance, it's reminiscent of a classic watch, but hiding beneath the mask of the seconds subdial at 6 o'clock is where the 60-minute chronograph counter can be found, and the central seconds hand overlaps with the chronograph counter.

Another watch that deserves the highest praise is the Singer Reimagined 1969 Chrono, which is almost completely dominated by the chronograph, while the hours and minutes are indicated on subtle, discrete disks in a sector at 6 o'clock.

Meanwhile, three central hands are the chronograph's 60-hour (!), 60-minute and seconds counters. This is essentially the only wristwatch chronograph today capable of timing the duration of processes that stretch over two and a half days.

The self-winding Caliber 6365 comprises 491 components and has a three-day power reserve with a 3 Hz balance frequency, allowing the chronograph to perform its record 60-hour timing with ease. The price for one Singer Reimagined 1969 is CHF 54,900.

Sports 

The competition among sports models is probably the toughest and least predictable. All of these are all beautiful watches: Chopard's Alpine Eagle Cadence 8HF with a staggering balance frequency of 57,600 vph or 8 Hz (CHF 19,900), IWC's Ingenieur Automatic 40 perpetual calendar (CHF 15,000), Grönefeld's 1969 DeltaWorks (CHF 52,445), in many ways exclusive, and Tudor's coveted Pelagos 39 (CHF 4,400).

There's not much point arguing over which piece could win in the Jewelry category, and the same can be said of the Petite Aiguille and Challenge Watch Prize.

We've outlined our pick of the most interesting models at the 2023 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Our opinion is bound to overlap with some of the jury's final decisions, and we'll be very happy to see how it unfolds. We'll mainly be happy for the jury once it's over, who certainly have an unenviable task ahead of them, and will have to make some very hard decisions.

Credits taken from: www.gphg.org/horlogerie/ and official websites of manufacturers