Here are the finalists for the world’s biggest watch prize
As usual, it’s an eclectic field as the shortlist of 84 watches for GPHG is revealed.
By Hodinkee, September 10 2019
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) has drawn up the shortlist of finalists for this year's competition. Winners won't be announced until November 7, but we've got the final collection of 84 watches that the judges will assess in the days leading up to the big award ceremony in Geneva. These watches span 14 categories, with six finalists allowed per category.
Chopard's LUC Chrono One Flyback is a contender for the prestigious title of best chronograph.
The spread of brands and styles represented is pretty diverse, and with the GPHG it's pretty difficult to predict ahead of time which watch is going to take home the night's top prize.
The Girard-Perregaux Quasar will contend in a star-studded field for the inaugural 'iconic' prize.
The jury is a diverse set of professionals and collectors from across the world, and it's extremely tough to guess at what they're going to find most appealing in any given year.
There are a few new prizes being given out this year, including special awards for dive watches and ‘iconic’ watches, and a few jury members have rotated in and out, but otherwise this will be business as usual.
MB&F continue their history of weirdness with the Legacy Machine Flying T in the ladies complication section.
Looking over the shortlisted watches, a few things do stand out. First off, the ratio of independent watchmakers represented in comparison to big brands feels strong.
Begian brand Ressence will contest the 'various' category with the innovative Type 5.
The ‘Men's’ category, for example, is a six-way heat featuring Alchemists Mechanical Healings (who?), De Bethune, Grand Seiko, Grönefeld, Laurent Ferrier, and Voutilainen. There's not one group-owned brand in that mix.
The Alchemists Mechanical Healing Cu29 looks a dark horse in the premier men's category.
The only category to swing hard in the other direction is the new ‘Iconic’ category, which predictably features the likes of Audemars Piguet, Girard-Perregaux, Hamilton, IWC, TAG Heuer, and Zenith. What's more iconic, a Royal Oak, a Monaco, or an El Primero? We'll just have to wait and see.
You can peruse this year's full list of pre-selected watches here.
Hodinkee is the world's preeminent online magazine for watch enthusiasts, and is republished under licence by Executive Traveller.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Here are the finalists for the world’s biggest watch prize