31 October might be famous for most as Halloween, but for the world of watchmakers this year it marked one of the most prestigious industry events on the calendar. The Grand Prix d'Horologie, or GPHG as insiders call it, took place at the Grand Theatre de Geneve in what was its 14th year as one of the top industry awards events.
About the Event
Dubbed as the watch industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards, the GPHG is held in high regard by high-end watchmakers and is certainly an interesting and memorable affair. Whilst the GPHG may lack some of the formality of other industry award ceremonies, it still ranks as one of the most important and influential in the business.
The idea behind the GPHG event is to reward and highlight the year's best watch-making innovations that have helped to advance and influence the watch-making industry worldwide.
Entrants to the awards ceremony paid 500 Swiss francs to be judged, and 16 coveted awards were up for grabs. An international panel of distinguished judges, including watch collectors, watchmakers, high-end retailers and journalists, scrutinised the entries to ascertain who had achieved the most in advancing watch-making in 2014.
The Winners
The most coveted award, the Aiguille d'Or (Golden Hand) Grand Prix prize, was handed to Swatch-owned Breguet for its Classic Chronometrie timepiece. Blancpain received the accolade of the Ladies' Watch Prize, whilst Hublot achieved the Striking Watch Prize. The Chronograph Watch Prize went to De Bethune, Gronefeld picked up the Tourbillon Watch Prize, and Urwerk received awards for the best Innovation Watch and the Mechanical Exception Watch.
For the Men's Watch Prize, Urban Jurgensen & Sonner came out on top, whilst for the Ladies' High-Tech Watch Prize, Christophe Claret stole the show. The Calendar Watch Prize went to A. Lange & Sohne, whilst the Sports Watch Prize was awarded to Zenith. Bulgari picked up the Jewellery Watch Prize, Omega got the Revival Watch accolade, whilst Voutilainen received the trophy for its Artistic Crafts Watch.
Seiko picked up the Petite Aiguille prize in acknowledgement of its affordable watch-making. A Special Jury Prize went to Walter Lange. The Public Prize, which was based on votes cast on the internet and at exhibitions from the general public, went to Breguet for its Classique Dame timepiece.
The event was jointly hosted by Melanie Winiger and Frederic Beigbeder, with the top prize officially presented on stage by the Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Anmann. An audience of around 1,500 guests made this 14th annual event one of the most popular yet.
GPHG was simultaneously translated into English to ensure it had global appeal and was also broadcast live on a number of sites and channels throughout the world.
The award-winning watches were on display at the Cite du Temps in Geneva until 2 November, after which they headed to London for an exhibition at the SalonQP from 6-8 November.
Last year, the supreme Aiguille d'Or Prize was awarded to Girard-Perregaux's Constant Force LM.
Be Inspired
If you are seeking new inspirational watches for your timepiece collection, then casting your eyes over this year's winning entries from the GPHP could prove really beneficial. Take a look at the GPHP website for further guidance — http://www.gphg.org/.
