The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) awards celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, showcasing the crème de la crème of luxury watchmaking at a glittering ceremony on 13 November.
In the first quarter of this century, the creative industries have battled slashed funding, skill shortages and the looming fear of an AI takeover.
But the Oscars of Watchmaking, as GPHG is dubbed, shows that long-standing knowledge and talent can weather the storm.
“Watchmaking represents an alliance of art and industry, mechanics and poetry, mystery, mastery of the microscopic and the pursuit of the infinite,” said Raymond Loretan, president of GPHG. “It is a living art. Despite the current difficulties, it displays remarkable vitality.”
Once again, the event shone a spotlight on the rarefied world of watchmaking, as 90 timepieces vied for coveted prizes in 15 categories, including ladies’, men’s, calendar and astronomy, jewellery and mechanical.
The top honour, known as the ‘Aiguille d’Or’ Grand Prix, is open to any watch across all categories. Last year, it was won by IWC Schaffhausen’s Portugieser Eternal Calendar.
The winners were decided by a jury of experts, including watch collectors, watchmakers, journalists and auctioneers.
The selected timepieces will be on display at Dubai Watch Week between 19 and 23 November.
“Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix best-in-show award
The most distinguished award at the GPHG, the Aiguille d’Or, went to Breguet’s Classique Souscription 2025 – a watch which only has one hand. As the jury said, “it looks simple, but it embodies one of the greatest challenges of watchmaking: simplicity.”
The timepiece draws on the groundbreaking Souscription pocket watch of 1796, reborn as a pocket watch. The first timepiece with a simplified architecture, the design is epitomised by the purity of the white enamel dial and the time displayed by a single hand.
Winners of the GPHG watchmaking awards
Here is the full list of winners of the night’s dazzling awards ceremony:
Ladies’: 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 2025: Gérald Genta’s Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal
Watches competing for this prize are not allowed to be overly ornamented, so Genta’s timepiece makes a statement instead with a flame-hued dial surrounded by 137 individually set fire opals. GPHG’s description aptly calls it “audacious elegance”.
Ladies’ 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 2025: Chopard’s Imperiale Four Seasons
At the heart of this creation lies a rotating disc that completes a full revolution over 365 days, following the cycle of the seasons. Crafted in painted textured mother-of-pearl marquetry, this miniature tableau is a moving landscape, shifting subtly with time.
Its upper half is adorned with a lacework pattern in 18-carat ethical white gold, sculpted into the silhouette of a lotus flower – a recurring motif in the IMPERIALE collection.
Time Only: watches with two or three hands and no gemsetting, bearing exclusively analogue time indications: hours, minutes, seconds.
WINNER 2025: Daniel Roth’s Extra Plat Rose Gold
The jury said “the Extra Plat Rose Gold represents purity and savoir-faire, masterfully balancing modern elegance with time-honoured craft.”
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.
WINNER 2025: Urban Jürgensen’s UJ-2: Double wheel natural escapement
At the heart of this timepiece is the double wheel natural escapement – a mechanism whose elegance belies the complexity of its creation. “Each component, from the hand-finished wheels to the pristine bridges, to the decoration on parts unseen by the naked eye, exists because that’s the way it should be,” the jury said.
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 2025: Bovet 1822’s Récital 30
Prior to the Récital 28 and the Récital 30, all world timers were wrong during the Daylight Saving Time periods. Collectors either had to set their world timers for the countries that changed or for the countries that didn’t change.
The breakthrough was deciding to use rollers instead of a conventional display. The 24 city rollers are printed on four sides, and the time period roller is printed with the four different periods. When you press the upper pusher of the Récital 30, all the rollers turn 90 degrees at the same time.
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 2025: Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
To mark the beginning of its 150th anniversary celebrations, Audemars Piguet unveils a new generation of self-winding perpetual calendar movement, Calibre 7138, which, for the first time ever, enhances user comfort by making the corrections of all functions possible via its “all-in-one” crown.
Tourbillon: mechanical watches comprising at least one tourbillon. Additional indications and/or complications are admissible.
WINNER 2025: Bvlgari’s Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon
By integrating a skeleton tourbillon into the movement of this watch with a total thickness of just 1.85 mm, the Roman jeweller’s Swiss watchmaking division demonstrates its horological expertise with watchmaking’s most emblematic complication.
Today, Bvlgari has taken skeletonisation to the next level on the new Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon – to maximise light diffusion throughout the movement.
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.
WINNER 2025: Greubel Forsey’s Nano Foudroyante
At the heart of this timepiece lies a disruptive idea: nanomechanics – the control of energy at the nanojoule scale inside a mechanical movement. This enables the Nano Foudroyante to operate its eponymous complication using just 16 nanojoules per jump, compared to 30 microjoules in traditional designs, which is a staggering reduction by a factor of 1,800 – “lightening fast” as the name translates.
Chronograph: mechanical watches comprising at least one chronograph indication. Additional indications and/or complications are admissible.
WINNER 2025: Angelus’ Chronographe Télémètre Yellow Gold
“This timepiece calculates the distance of an event based on the distance between the speed of light and the speed of sound, an indication rivalling even the most sophisticated modern equipment,” the jury said.
Sports: watches linked to the world of sport, whose functions, materials and design are suited to physical exercise.
WINNER 2025: Chopard’s Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF
With its third edition of high-frequency timepieces, Chopard marks the achievement of introducing the lightest watch ever in its collection. The cutting-edge technology is complemented by a sleek aesthetic: the ceramicised titanium features a sporty bead-blasted finish, while the Pitch Black titanium dial plays on contrasts with subtle orange accents.
Jewellery: watches demonstrating exceptional mastery of the art of jewellery and gemsetting, and also distinguished by the choice of stones.
WINNER 2025: Dior Montres’s La D de Dior Buisson Couture
This timepiece is part of the Les Jardins de la Couture High Jewellery collection, marking the beginning of a new way of expressing nature with blossoming garlands of ‘couture bushes’ that evoke the artistry of intricately embroidered florals. The new La D de Dior reflects meticulous craftsmanship, with stones chosen for their hue and shape to reproduce a luxuriant yet delicate garden. “You can almost smell the perfume,” said the jury.
Artistic Crafts: watches demonstrating exceptional mastery of one or several artistic techniques such as enamelling, lacquering, engraving, guilloché (engine-turning), skeleton-working, etc.
WINNER 2025: Voutilainen’s 28GML SOUYOU
This shimmering timepiece showcases the mastery of the Japanese lacquer art of Mr Tatsuo Kitamura, requiring over a thousand hours of meticulous work. It also incorporates raw materials such as “Urushi” (tree sap), “Kinpun” (various gold powders), “Kirigane” (cut gold sheets), and “Kirigai” (cut shell from New Zealand abalone and the great green turban).
“Petite Aiguille”: watches with a retail price between CHF 3,000 and CHF 10,000. Smartwatches are admissible in this category.
WINNER 2025: M.A.D. Editions’ M.A.D.2 Green
The M.A.D. Editions project was created as an alternative, accessible label by MB&F. The M.A.D.2 was born from the mind of Eric Giroud – designer, rebel, and longtime MB&F friend – and is a love letter to the wild, electrifying spirit of 1990s club culture, incorporating a DJ deck and strobe lighting. It is only available by lottery.
Challenge: watches with a retail price equal to or under CHF 3,000. Smartwatches are admissible in this category.
WINNER 2025: Dennison’sNatural Stone Tiger Eye In Gold
This watch revives a classic Dennison cushion case, paying homage to the elegance of the 1960s. The dial features a natural tiger’s eye, a striking stone chosen for its warm depth and pattern, each one cut and polished to reveal its unique character.
The jury called it a “feat in itself” to produce such a watch for under CHF 3,000.
Mechanical Clock: mechanical instruments whose main function is time measurement, such as longcase clocks and table clocks. Wristwatches are not allowed in this category.
WINNER 2025: L’Epée 1839’s Albatross L’Epée 1839 X MB&F
Albatross features a striking hour function – chiming both the specific hours on the hour and a single strike on the half-hour – and an automaton composed of 16 pairs of propellers that launch into action every hour. A mechanical computer lets the owner choose between full operation mode, full quiet mode, silent mode with the propellers running, or just the chime. There is also a “repeat on demand” button to repeat the predefined chime/automaton setting or to activate the propellers in standalone continuous motion.
Audacity Prize: rewards the best competing timepiece featuring a non-conformist, offbeat approach to watchmaking. It is intended to foster creative audacity.
WINNER 2025: Fam Al Hut’s Möbius
Fam Al Hut’s MARK 1 Möbius is a bold debut that redefines technical miniaturisation and spatial design in haute horlogerie. At its heart is an in-house bi-axis tourbillon, housed within one of the most compact wristwatch formats ever created.
It is the first time that the Chinese firm has participated in the awards.
Horological Revelation Prize: rewards a competing timepiece created by a young brand (less than ten years of existence since its first model was commercialised).
WINNER 2025: Anton Suhanov’s St. Petersburg Easter Egg Tourbillon Clock
Anton Suhanov’s St. Petersburg Easter Egg Tourbillon clock is a far cry from tradition. As opposed to Carl Fabergé’s lavish designs, Suhanov strove for minimalism and wanted to give the genre of Easter egg clock a different, modern, relevant vision.
This version mysteriously remains in a perfectly vertical position as there are no supporting parts.
Chronometry 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.
WINNER 2025: Zenith’s G.F.J. Calibre 135
This watch carries in it the history of Zenith, which has been producing timepieces for 160 years. This new version of the movement uses the dimensions, the look and the architecture of its ancestor. But it is a modern re-engineering that integrates up-to-date technical solutions and materials wherever possible.
Special Jury 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.
WINNER 2025: Alain Dominique Perrin, founder of the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain.