The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, showcasing the finest examples of luxury watchmaking at a glamorous ceremony on 13 November. Over the past quarter-century, the creative industries have faced challenges such as reduced funding, skill shortages, and concerns about AI replacing human expertise. However, the “Oscars of Watchmaking,” as GPHG is often called, demonstrates that traditional craftsmanship and talent can thrive despite these obstacles.
“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 highlighted the exclusive world of watchmaking, with 90 timepieces competing for prestigious prizes across 15 categories, including ladies’, men’s, calendar and astronomy, jewellery, and mechanical.
The top honor, 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 selected 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 prestigious award at the GPHG, the Aiguille d’Or, went to Breguet’s Classique Souscription 2025 – a watch that only has one hand. As the jury noted, “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 epitomized 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 from the night’s dazzling awards ceremony:
Ladies’
Watches comprising hours, minutes, seconds, simple date, power reserve, and classic moon phases, with up to 9-carat gemsetting.
WINNER 2025:Gérald Genta’s Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal
This timepiece makes a statement with a flame-hued dial surrounded by 137 individually set fire opals. GPHG’s description calls it “audacious elegance.”
Ladies’ Complication
Feminine watches that are remarkable in terms of their mechanical creativity and complexity. These watches may feature various complications.
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.
Time Only
Watches with two or three hands and no gemsetting, bearing exclusively analogue time indications.
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 hours, minutes, seconds, simple date, power reserve indication, and classic moon phases, with up to 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.
Men’s Complication
Masculine watches that are remarkable in terms of their mechanical creativity and complexity.
WINNER 2025:Bovet 1822’s Récital 30
This breakthrough uses rollers instead of a conventional display, allowing for accurate world time tracking during Daylight Saving Time periods.
Iconic
Watches stemming from an emblematic collection or model that has influenced watchmaking history for more than 20 years.
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.
Tourbillon
Mechanical watches comprising at least one tourbillon.
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, Bvlgari showcases its horological expertise.
Mechanical Exception
Watches featuring a special mechanism, such as an innovative or sophisticated display, an automaton, or a special escapement.
WINNER 2025:Greubel Forsey’s Nano Foudroyante
This timepiece features nanomechanics, enabling the eponymous complication to operate using just 16 nanojoules per jump.
Chronograph
Mechanical watches comprising at least one chronograph indication.
WINNER 2025:Angelus’ Chronographe Télémètre Yellow Gold
This timepiece calculates the distance of an event based on the speed of light and sound.
Sports
Watches linked to the world of sport, with functions suited to physical exercise.
WINNER 2025:Chopard’s Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF
With its third edition of high-frequency timepieces, Chopard introduces the lightest watch ever in its collection.
Jewellery
Watches demonstrating exceptional mastery of the art of jewellery and gemsetting.
WINNER 2025:Dior Montres’s La D de Dior Buisson Couture
This timepiece reflects meticulous craftsmanship, with stones chosen for their hue and shape to reproduce a luxuriant yet delicate garden.
Artistic Crafts
Watches demonstrating mastery of artistic techniques such as enamelling, engraving, or guilloché.
WINNER 2025:Voutilainen’s 28GML SOUYOU
This shimmering timepiece showcases the mastery of Japanese lacquer art, requiring over a thousand hours of meticulous work.
“Petite Aiguille”
Watches with a retail price between CHF 3,000 and CHF 10,000.
WINNER 2025:M.A.D. Editions’ M.A.D.2 Green
This watch is a love letter to the wild, electrifying spirit of 1990s club culture, incorporating a DJ deck and strobe lighting.
Challenge
Watches with a retail price equal to or under CHF 3,000.
WINNER 2025:Dennison’s Natural Stone Tiger Eye In Gold
This watch revives a classic Dennison cushion case, paying homage to the elegance of the 1960s.
Mechanical Clock
Mechanical instruments whose main function is time measurement, such as longcase clocks and table clocks.
WINNER 2025:L’Epée 1839’s Albatross L’Epée 1839 X MB&F
Albatross features a striking hour function and an automaton composed of 16 pairs of propellers.
Audacity Prize
Rewards the best competing timepiece featuring a non-conformist, offbeat approach to watchmaking.
WINNER 2025:Fam Al Hut’s Möbius
This bold debut redefines technical miniaturisation and spatial design in haute horlogerie.
Horological Revelation Prize
Rewards a competing timepiece created by a young brand (less than ten years of existence).
WINNER 2025:Anton Suhanov’s St. Petersburg Easter Egg Tourbillon Clock
This clock is a far cry from tradition, offering a minimalist and modern vision of the genre.
Chronometry Prize
Rewards the best competing timepiece that stands out for its remarkable precision timekeeping performance.
WINNER 2025:Zenith’s G.F.J. Calibre 135
This watch carries the history of Zenith, which has been producing timepieces for 160 years.
Special Jury Prize
Rewards a personality, institution, or initiative that has played a fundamental role in promoting high-quality watchmaking.
WINNER 2025:Alain Dominique Perrin, founder of the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain.