Winners Didn't Take All!

The main results from the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), unofficially dubbed the "Oscars of Watchmaking": no prizes were awarded in the Men's Watch and Mechanical Exception categories, while Chopard, IWC, Louis Vuitton, Parmigiani Fleurier and Van Cleef & Arpels also went home empty-handed.

Ladies' and Jewelry Watch Prizes

The "Oscars of Watchmaking" awards ceremony got off to quite a predictable start. The clear favorites won in the Ladies' Watch and Ladies’ Complication categories — pieces we've already described in detail.

The Ladies' Watch Prize went to Piaget's unique hand-engraved Hidden Treasures cuff watch, while the Ladies’ Complication Prize went to the magnificent mechanical automaton watch with a 3D dial: Dior Montre's Grand Soir Automate Etoile de Monsieur Dior.

The exact same story unfolded in the Artistic Crafts and Jewelry categories, which featured a very diverse group of nominees. The watch that came out on top in the Artistic Crafts category was Piaget's white-gold ladies' Altiplano Métiers d'Art - Undulata from the Metaphoria collection.

The nominated timepiece that won the Jewelry Watch Prize was Bulgari's smashing pink-gold Serpenti Cleopatra cuff watch, encrusted with three massive topazes (weight: 24 ct), two rubellites (weight: 13.4 ct), two tanzanites (weight: 13 ct), two amethysts (weight: 11 ct) and diamonds (weight: 86.5 ct).

There's only one point worth noting here: the jury didn't award any prizes to Svend Andersen's timepieces — a watchmaker of great current interest, whose creations are coveted by collectors the world over. And this is despite the fact that he had entered timepieces in both the Ladies' Complication and the Artistic Crafts categories.

But the jury found a very nice solution to avoid an awkward situation by awarding Svend Andersen the Special Jury Prize, recognizing his joint foundation of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) with colleague Vincent Calabrese back in 1985.

The association currently unites 35 members, most notably François-Paul Journe, Kari Voutilainen and Philippe Dufour. But we don't think Andersen will see this award as fair compensation, as he'd be far more interested in PR to promote his new watches, but as they say, something's still better than nothing.

No Men's Prizes

The outcome of the fight for one of the most prestigious and important prizes in the Men's Watch category was totally unexpected. The prize went to... Nobody.

As we predicted, two of the six finalists nominated in the Men's Watch category did come out on top in other categories. Ferdinand Berthoud's Chronomètre FB 3SPC took the highly respected Chronometry Prize, which happens to be the only prize awarded to a watch brand of the generous Chopard Group.

Meanwhile, Simon Brette's Chronomètre Artisans which we praised secured the "Horological Revelation" Prize. None of the other four nominated timepieces were ultimately deemed good enough to to be proclaimed the best men's watch: Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Starwheel, De Bethune DB28xs Starry Seas, Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor and Xhevdet Rexhepi Minute Inerte.

"Freak" Icon

Another controversial decision that deserves to be highlighted is the victory of Ulysse Nardin's Freak One model in the Iconic Watch category. Don't get us wrong here, the Freak is a stunning historic watch in and of itself: no hands, no dial, no winding crown, and history's first watch to use a silicon escapement.

Armchair experts are still arguing over whether it's a tourbillon, a carousel, or a carousel tourbillon... But since when has it become an icon? It's only 22 years old. At this rate, we could see Hublot's Big Bang among next year's winners in this category.

The Grand Prix for Clear Favorites

At least there weren't any surprises in a group of top prestigious categories: Kari Voutilainen took the lead the Men's Complication category with the Voutilainen World Timer, the Tourbillon Watch Prize was awarded to Laurent Ferrier's Grand Sport Tourbillon Pursuit.

And the most worthy chronograph was deemed to be the platinum monopusher split-seconds model by the young gifted duo Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat: Petermann Bédat's Chronographe Rattrapante.

Questions remain for the statuette-holder awarded for their nominated piece in the Calendar and Astronomy Watch category. Sure, the established Maison Bovet 1822 is a regular at the GPHG, and the model itself boasts a tourbillon with equation of time along with summer and winter equinox indications.

But for all that, the unique and beautiful Récital 20 Astérium only offers an annual calendar, not a perpetual calendar. To single this nominee out among worthy contenders to be given the prize is, well…

At least there's no question mark hanging over the watch chosen as this year's best-in-show, and the Aiguille d'Or went to a nominee who deserved it: Audemars Piguet's Code 11.59 Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4. We also predicted Tudor's Pelagos 39 would win in the Sports Watch category.

But you know what they say, rules are made to be broken. This certainly applies to the winner of the Innovation Prize, Hautlence Sphere Series 1, a model with a jumping hour display and retrograde minutes. The jury's idea was clearly to support the tiny independent watchmaker, who isn't experiencing the best of times.

All in all, the final allocation of prizes leaves us with just one more question for the highly respected jury, albeit a very big one: where is the Mechanical Exception Prize?

Could they really not find one worthy candidate among the half-dozen magnificent timepieces many fans of haute horlogerie will remember the year 2023 for? Seriously?

Stepping on Rakes

To sum up the results of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2023, we'd like to point out the main mistake its organizers made: the strive for objectivity was too tough, if not brutal.

In the end, the jury overlooked respected loyal participants, such as Louis Vuitton, Parmigiani Fleurier, IWC, and even Van Cleef & Arpels. Oh, and "forgetting" two categories in a single awards ceremony... That's never happened before!

Winners of Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2023

Category / Winner

"Aiguille d’Or" Grand Prix: Audemars Piguet, Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Ultra-Complication Universelle RD#4

Ladies' Watch Prize: Piaget, Hidden Treasures

Ladies’ Complication Watch Prize: Dior Montres, Grand Soir Automate Etoile de Monsieur Dior

Men’s Watch Prize: No Winner

Men's Complication Watch Prize: Voutilainen, World Timer

Mechanical Exception Prize: No Winner

Tourbillon Watch Prize: Laurent Ferrier, Grand Sport Tourbillon Pursuit

Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize: Bovet 1822, Récital 20 Astérium

Chronograph Watch Prize: Petermann Bédat, Chronographe Rattrapante

Innovation Prize: Hautlence, Sphere Series 1

Sports Watch Prize: Tudor, Pelagos 39

Chronometry Prize: Ferdinand Berthoud, Chronomètre FB 3SPC

"Horological Revelation" Prize: Simon Brette, Chronomètre Artisans

Audacity Prize: Maison Alcée, Persée Azur

Iconic Watch Prize: Ulysse Nardin, Freak One

Jewelry Watch Prize: Bulgari, Serpenti Cleopatra

Artistic Crafts Watch Prize: Piaget, Altiplano Métiers d'Art - Undulata

"Petite Aiguille" Prize: Christopher Ward London, C1 Bel Canto

Challenge Watch Prize: Raymond Weil, Millésime Automatic Small Seconds

Mechanical Clock Prize: L'Epée 1839, Time Fast II Chrome

Special Jury Prize: Svend Andersen and Vincent Calabrese

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