The luxury watch industry held its Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in Switzerland last week, the biggest event in the industry—equal, yes, to the Academy Awards for the movies.
Big-name brands and lesser-known niche luxury models competed for awards geared toward collectors’ interests—the focus was on best overall timepieces as well as best complications and innovations.
The big winner, according to Robb Report, was Bulgari. The Italian luxury house took home the top prize, the Aiguille D’Or, for its Octo Finissimo.
Here’s more on the winner from Robb:
As the world’s slimmest perpetual calendar, its case measures only 5.8 mm thick, and represents one of Bulgari’s seven world records for micro-watchmaking.
The movement, the caliber BVL 305, is only 2.75 mm thick, and the extremely lightweight titanium only adds to the feeling of weightlessness. “This is the first time an Italian-born brand has won a GPHG,” pointed out Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin when accepting the award. “It is an example of Italian genius and obsession for details.”
Other winners included Zenith. Its Chronomaster Sport won Best Chronograph thanks to its exquisitely well-engineered automatic movement, which was inspired by the watchmaker’s vintage El Primero, a bestseller in the 1960s.
Grand Seiko was a more familiar name that left the competition covered in glory. The Japanese watchmaker’s luxury line won Best Men’s Watch with the Hi-Beat 36000 80 Hours Caliber 9SA5 which boasts “an accuracy rating of +5/-3 seconds per day” and “an 80-hour power reserve.”
The textured dial is inspired by the white birch tree forests that grow in northern parts of Japan, as seen near the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi where all Grand Seiko mechanical watches are made.”
It’s an impressive, gorgeous timepiece, just like most of the rest of the pack. Per the Robb Report, see a complete list winners—including the watches we’ve already mentioned—below:
- Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix: Bulgari, Octo Finissimo
- Ladies’ Watch Prize: Piaget, Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow
- Ladies’ Complication Watch Prize: Van Cleef & Arpels, Lady Féerie Watch
- Men’s Watch Prize: Grand Seiko, Hi-Beat 36000 80 Hours Caliber 9SA5
- Men’s Complication Watch Prize: MB&F, LMX Titanium
- Iconic Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin
- Tourbillon Watch Prize: De Bethune, DB Kind of Two Tourbillon
- Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize: Christiaan Van Der Klaauw, CVDK Planetarium Eise Eisinga
- Mechanical Exception Watch Prize: Piaget, Altiplano Ultimate Automatic
- Chronograph Watch Prize: Zenith, Chronomaster Sport
- Diver’s Watch Prize: Louis Vuitton, Tambour Street Diver Skyline Blue
- Jewelry Watch Prize: Chopard, Flower Power
- Artistic Crafts Watch Prize: MB&F, LM SE Eddy Jaquet Around the World in Eighty Days’
- Petite Aiguille Prize: Tudor, Black Bay Ceramic
- Challenge Watch Prize: CIGA Design, Blue Planet
- Innovation Prize: Bernhard Lederer, Central Impulse Chronometer
- Audacity Prize: Louis Vuitton, Tambour Carpe Diem
- Horological Revelation Prize: Furlan Marri, MR. Grey Ref. 1041-A
- Special Jury Prize: Dubai Watch Week