Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2015: top watches revealed
September 1, 2015. Of the 193 models sent in by the brands, 72 have been displayed in our GPHG section. Indeed, a good number of the watches we presented recently already caught our eye.
By Joel Grandjean
Editor-in-Chief
Aurel Bacs, the man who gavels everything into gold, is the jury foreman. The jurors include a number of luminaries in addition to some members of the media, like the outstanding Pierre Maillard, editor-in-chief of the Europa Star. The presence of the great watchmaking master, Philippe Dufour, or of one of the world's most important collectors, Claude Sfeir, gives some idea of the sensitivity shown, which allowed the 72 models to be selected out of the 193 entries. They were divided up into twelve categories, i.e., six timepieces per category, and represent all in all 37 percent of the total entries.
The first surprise, which comes before we publish any more articles and commentaries on this year's Grand Prix, is that a fair percentage of watches among the 72 chosen ones already made an appearance in recent editions of our online magazine. You can get some idea of them by browsing through the articles linked below.
- Tag Heuer Calibre 18
- Louis Moinet Memoris
- Piaget Altiplano 900P
- Fabergé Lady Peacock
- Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillons
In terms of things to celebrate, let us note this year that the brand Tudor has maintained its presence in the contest, emitting strong vibes as to its credibility regarding the whole game and its rules in terms of quality and media impact. Another noteworthy bit of news is Swatch Group's positioning in the race after it once again entered a whole slew of brands: Jaquet-Droz, Blancpain, Harry Winston and even Longines. So, Swatch Group has now joined other groups like Richemont (Piaget, Montblanc, A. Lange & Söhne), LVHM (Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith), Kering (Girard-Perregaux), which all have strong presence.
In addition to these thoughts, let us mention that the 2015 selection is spangled with promising pieces from the independent brands, like Audemars Piguet, Hermès, Oris, Chanel and Claret. And there are some great discoveries to be made, like the priceless and perfect chiming watch by the new brand AkriviA, which could well scale the Olympus inhabited by historical and recognized giants.
Discover all the watches and news from the GPHG 2015 on our dedicated page:
GPHG 2015: The competing watches
The list of all watches competing in the GPHG 2015 edition has been unvealed on July 15th.