Live Trading News - The Winners of this Year’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève
Annually in Geneva, CH, a panel of 28 judges from watchmaking, jewelry, luxury retail, and the press gather to determine which are the best timepieces of the year.
The watched considers for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève are in 12 categories, from sport to artistic watches to the exceptionallt complications.
Overall, just 1 winner is chosen in the annual “Grand Prix.”
The prize: a small upraised hand and wrist, modeled in Gold, for the winner to be strapped on.
There were no Smartwatches in year’s finalists, they are barred from entry if they do not have a mechanical movement as well.
Below, the year’s best watches, according to the GPHG, the Oscars of watchmaking, as follows:
Aiguille d’Or (Grand Prize): Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud FB 1
Inspired by the rationalist design of 18th Century marine clocks and powered by an original hand-wound movement, Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud’s big winner stops the eye with an octagonal case that’s juxtaposed against an understated, lacquered dial.
Calendar: MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual
Unlike many perpetual-calendar watches, this platinum watch uses a mechanical processor. It features a dedicated quickset pusher for your quadrennial leap year adjustment.
Ladies’: Piaget Limelight Gala Milanese Bracelet
The Pink-Gold bracelet of this Piaget meshes with the spiral of diamonds and elongated Roman numerals to memorably elegant effect.
Artistic Crafts: Piaget Protocole XXL “Secrets & Lights” Venice Micro- Mosaic
Italian micro-mosaic artist Cesare Bella arranged 5,000 tiny tesserae to create a postcard-perfect view of the Santa Maria della Salute basilica in Venice.
Men’s: Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire
Brothers Bart and Tim Grönefeld grew up near a 12th Century basilica in the Netherlands. Their father, and his father before him, maintained its clock, the special “church turret” movement of which inspired this mechanism.
Ladies’ High Mechanical: Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Tourbillon With Gold Bridge
With 50 Diamonds on its oval bezel this Girard-Perregaux is a dazzler, from its leaf-shaped hands to its Mother-of-Pearl dial.
Chronograph: Montblanc 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter Limited Edition
From its large fluted crown to its distinguished, deep-blue face to its stately hands, the 1858 Chronograph Tachymeter Limited Edition pays tribute to the Minerva pocket watch of yesteryear.
Tourbillon: Girard-Perregaux La Esmeralda Tourbillon
Inspired by the most exceptional pocket chronometer of Y 1889, the Esmeralda Tourbillon features a tourbillon carriage 14.3 millimeters in diameter and a balance wheel 10.5 millimeters in diameter.
Travel Time: Fabergé Visionnaire DTZ
This Fabergé watch shows the local time, with peripheral hands that rotate around a raised dome to display the hour of a remote time zone.
Mechanical Exception: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie
This titanium Audemars Piguet makes music, bringing the acoustic clarity and sustained tone of chiming pocket watches to a minuterepeater.
Petite Aguille: Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze
The winding crown of the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze echoes the “Big Crown” of Y 1958 Submariners, and the angular hands allude to a French National Navy design of the 1970’s.
Sports: Eberhard & Co. Scafograf 300
The Scafograf 300 is a self-winding diving watch with a date window at 3 o’clock and a helium escape valve at 9 o’clock.
Jewelry: Chanel Secret Watch ‘Signature Grenat’
In homage to the quilted Chanel bag, Diamond squares hilighted with Orange Sapphires showcase the brilliance of 53-carat Carmine Garnet that opens to reveal the dial.
Revival: TAG Heuer Heuer Monza Chronograph
In Y 1976, Heuer designed a chronograph to celebrate both Ferrari and Formula One driver Niki Lauda, now 40 years later, the watchmaker brought the model up to date, increasing the diameter from 39 millimeters to 42.
This Czapek Genève is the favorite, winning votes from the public, and at various international exhibitions. I like watches, my grandfather Theodore Ebeling was a German watchmaker.
Live Trading News
Paul Ebeling