GPHG 2024 Recap: IWC Schaffhausen Wins Horology’s Night of Nights!

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The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève – It’s the Watch World’s night of nights, the Horological Academy Awards, and the who’s who turn up to celebrate the much-deserved winners& IWC took home the biggest prize of all!

With every new year comes two more reasons for me to be excited: Watches &Wonders and the GPHG. Now that it’s passed, you may already be familiar with the world’s biggest watch fair , but I’m more than happy to explain the latter.

How Does It Work?

Standing for Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the GPHG is to the watch industry what the Oscars are to the film industry. To compete, the best watchmakers and watch brands from all around the world submit various timepieces for consideration. These watches are then nominated by the GPHG Academy to compete in any of the 15 award categories, including: Best Sports Watch – timepieces notable for their performance in intense environments; Best Ladies’ Watch; Best Tourbillon; Even the Petite Aiguille and Challenge categories, consisting of the best timepieces made within a certain budget (CHF 3,000 to CHF 10,000 and under CHF3,000, respectively)

The Academy itself is an assortment of nearly 1000 of the best and most experienced stakeholders in the watch industry, including: Hodinkee’s Ben Klymer; Arnault brothers Jean and Frédéric; YouTubers Jennifer Leingang (Jenni Elle) and Nico Leonard Van Der Horst; Akrivia’s Rexhep Rexhepi; and the venerable Richard Mille, among countless others. From these nominations, just six watches are chosen per category, which are then judged by a panel of 30 GPHG jurors. These include some of the greatest minds that horology has to offer, with master watchmakers such as Raúl Pagès, Bart Grönefeld, and Philippe Dufour among others.

The Aiguille D’Or – The GPHG’s Highest Honour

Like most award shows, there exists the ‘big one’ – the award that everyone is gunning after. For the GPHG, this is the Aiguille D’Or (Literally translated to ‘Golden Needle’), denoting the GPHG’s watch of the year. Not only is this a big deal for the brand, but it also permits the winning brand’s CEO to sit at the judge’s table for the next GPHG Award Ceremony. This year, Audemars Piguet CEO Ilaria Resta has been invited to sit on the jury, as the Le Brassus brand won the Aiguille D’Or in 2023 with the Code 11:59 Ultra-Complication Universelle RD4 under the leadership of previous CEO François Bennahmias.

Related Reading: All the GPHG Winners From Geneva 2023

Like every GPHG, competition between the nominated pieces was as fierce as ever. However, there can only be one winner, and IWC Schaffhausen was destined to receive the top honours. The IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar, while appearing as unassuming as perpetual calendars go, is a viciously engineered masterpiece. This is IWC’s first secular perpetual calendar complication, factoring in the rules of the Gregorian calendar and skipping three leap years over the next 400 years.

The Art of Complications – The Perpetual Calendar

Not only that, but the Porgugieser Eternal Calendar’s moonphase complication has been re-engineered, making it accurate to 45 million years! To do this, they had to use a specialised computer program that simulated over 23 trillion possible gearing systems to determine which one would be most ideal for the task, resulting in an engineering feat that permits the Portugieser Eternal Calendar to display accurate moon phase readings until the year 45,364,079. 

While its 44.4mm case diameter and 14.9mm thickness are rather imposing for all but the largest of wrists, no other watch in the world has perhaps taken the phrase of ‘withstanding the test of time’ any more literally than this one. IWC has deservedly taken the Aiguille D’Or for 2024, undoubtedly making CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr an extremely happy man. Congratulations from WatchAdvice to all at IWC and to Christoph – we can’t wait to see you on the juror’s table next year!

The Highlights

While IWC gets the biggest share of the spotlight with the Aiguille D’Or, there still remain 15 categories and 5 honorary awards to play for. As much as I want to break every single nominated watch down in excruciating detail, by the time I’m finished the Portugieser Eternal Calendar would probably reach its end. However, here are three of the award winners that I felt best encapsulated the spirit of GPHG 2024 and this incredible landmark year for watchmaking:

Audacity Prize: Berneron Mirage Sienna

In my opinion, this has to be the best release of 2024 – barring the Portugieser Eternal Calendar, of course. Sylvain Berneron, former Chief Product Officer at Breitling, felt that it was high time for him to explore his own horological vision beyond the large corporate confines of the esteemed Swiss brand. His ventures beyond Breitling would lead him to found Berneron alongside his wife, architect Marie-Alix Berneron, in 2022. 

The Mirage collection, their first solo foray into the watchmaking world, is perhaps what all enterprising watch brand founders aspire to create. Complete creative freedom for the Berneron duo saw the Mirage take form as a uniquely asymmetrical timepiece that is as deliberate as it is imperfect. Due to the shape of their in-house Cal. 233, it became the first shaped watch to ever be built in reverse, tasking Berneron to design the case around the movement instead of the other way around.  

This gives the Mirage an almost otherworldly appearance—melting, yet meticulously deliberate in every design element. It’s exemplary in its expression of Surrealism (Think Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory), transforming a fantastical art form into a tangible, wearable masterpiece unlike anything else.

Designing a harmonious timepiece is hard enough, but to purposefully warp and distort its elements in a way that not only preserves the flow but enhances its organic aesthetic requires a singular, audacious, and innovative vision. Berneron’s Mirage Sienna, however, does so with extreme skill and craftsmanship. This timepiece and all the creativity it represents stand as a bold reminder that, even after centuries of horological artistry, the watchmaking world still has a lot to learn. It’s because of this that Berneron’s maiden voyage into the industry has secured the Audacity Prize at this year’s GPHG Awards Ceremony.

Intl. Retail Price & Availability: CHF 61,000, order book re-opening 2025. Find out more at the Berneron Official Website

Iconic Prize: Piaget Polo ‘79

Piaget in the modern day is oftentimes overlooked, which is tragic. I believe they are one of the most criminally underrated watchmakers out there, and their illustrious heritage proves it. Once such example of this heritage is the returning Piaget Polo ‘79: A far cry from the Polo designs of the 21st Century, but one that was so groundbreaking and disruptive that its aesthetic still holds up to this day. This seems to be a sentiment that was shared by the rest of the GPHG Academy, as this incredible timepiece was crowned with the Iconic Watch Prize for 2024.

Related Reading: Piaget Brings Back An Icon With The Polo ’79

A major player in the sports watch revolution amidst the Quartz Crisis, the Piaget Polo ‘79 is an exquisitely refined watch that can take on the rigours of everyday wear. Water resistance, shock resistance, and ultra-thin wearability were the three key features of the original design, all of which still persist today. Despite being encased in 18k gold, the Polo ‘79 still features a 50m water resistance. A bit low for some dissidents, perhaps, but still uncommon amongst the 30m water resistance of equally dressy watches.

Speaking of, describing the Piaget Polo ‘79 as simply ‘dressy’ barely scratches the surface. The remastered design remains faithful to the extravagance of the original, complete with an uninterrupted set of striped gadroons across the case and dial of the watch. The most major (and perhaps only) change that Piaget made to the Polo ‘79 is the addition of an ultra-thin micro-rotor automatic movement, as opposed to the original’s quartz. Giving the watch it’s incredible 7.85mm thickness, the in-house 1200P1, is a welcome addition to the remaster. Beautifully decorated and visible through the sapphire caseback, it is also a wake-up call to those who still believe they can write off the Richemont brand’s horological talents. 

Aus. Retail Price & Availability: AU$120,000, available to order via Piaget.com and Piaget boutiques

Challenge Prize: Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 6

My taste in watches has always been rather eclectic, in contrast to some of my peers. That’s hardly a bad thing, though – if we liked all the same things, everything would be boring! We even established a fun rule of thumb: ‘If Matt doesn’t like it, Mario probably will.’ I suppose, then, that the Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 6 is one of many manifestations of precisely what I look for in a watch. That is, if I could get a hold of it – The No. 6 is only available by raffle and Japanese domestic shipping only!

While the microbrand remains low-key and modest, the efforts of watchmaker Jiro Katayama have beat the Swiss at their own game, capturing the Challange Watch Prize for GPHG 2024. Founded by Katayama-san in 2008, Ōtsuka Lōtec is his outlet of creative horological expression, with a focus on creating watches that are machine-like in nature. While that seems like a normal lens with which to view a mechanical watch, the No. 6 is almost opposite to what the Berneron Mirage represents: Instead of organic, flowing shapes, the No. 6 is cold, raw, and unforgivingly industrial.

Don’t let appearances fool you, though. The Ōtsuka Lōtec No. 6 is incredibly detailed in its own right, and every element works together to evoke a unique charm. The dial and crystal, taking inspiration from a Japanese desk fan, have been uniquely shaped; the crown has been situated at 2 o’clock as opposed to the usual 3; and exposed screws across the case and dial, accompanied by clear Arabic numerals and printed Japanese text, further enforce the utilitarian aesthetic.

While the design is charming in its own right, this is the Challenge category; Compromises had to be made somewhere, and an in-house movement might have ruled Ōtsuka Lōtec out of the competition. The Miyota 9015 that powers the No. 6 is hardly a horological marvel, but it is more than capable of getting the job done where it matters. However, it has also been extensively modified by Katayama-san, resulting in a module that allows for a double retrograde complication for the minutes and hours. This complication, most often seen in watches ten times the No.6’s price point, is an incredible and cost-effective modification of a seemingly bog-standard watch movement, and elevates this strangely beautiful timepiece above its contenders. 

Intl. Retail Price & Availability: ¥440,000, raffle & Japanese domestic shipping only. Find out more at the Ōtsuka Lōtec Official Website

The Results

Finally, here is a recap of all the results and nominated timepieces per category and speciality prize. Jeweller-watchmakers Van Cleef & Arpels made away with the most GPHG awards of any brand (3); And the award winners, though predominantly Swiss, also consisted of: France (3, Van Cleef & Arpels); Germany (1, Kudoke); Japan (1, Ōtsuka Lōtec); Finland (1, Voutilainen); and Malaysia (1, Ming).

INDIVIDUAL PRIZES (Open to All Contenders)

ALL CATEGORIES

Ladies’ Watch Prize

Ladies’ Complication Watch Prize

Men’s Watch Prize

Men’s Complication Watch Prize

Iconic Watch Prize

Chronograph Watch Prize

Tourbillon Watch Prize

Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize

Mechanical Exception Watch Prize

Time Only Watch Prize

Jewellery Watch Prize

Artistic Crafts Watch Prize

Petite Aiguille Prize

Sports Watch Prize

Challenge Watch Prize