Just In: All the Winners of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2015 Revealed

With the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2015 award ceremony just concluded, here are the winners, a list that includes widely predicted favourites and some surprising picks.

The best known awards in watchmaking, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève awards were just announced in the evening of October 29 in the Swiss city. Winners included stalwarts like Greubel Forsey, Tudor and Audemars Piguet, but also newcomers like Faberge. Independent watchmakers were well represented, with Antoine Preziuso taking two awards, while Habring2 took the prize for affordable watches. The full list follows:

Special Jury Prize – Micke Pintus, Yannick Pintus, Jean-Luc Perrin and the Vacheron Constantin Reference 57260 (pictured above)

Eight years in the making, this Vacheron Constantin is the most complicated watch ever, and the three watchmakers responsible for it shared the Special Jury Prize.

Aiguille d’Or – Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision

The entry-level tourbillon from Greubel Forsey took the “Golden Hand”, the top prize of the competition, perhaps proving less is more.

Ladies Watch – Hublot Big Bang Broderie

A variant of Hublot’s signature men’s watch, the Broderie features lace embroidery on the bezel, dial and strap.

Ladies Mechanical Watch – Faberge Lady Peacock

Conceived by movement specialist Agenhor (led by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht), the Peacock cleverly shows the time with the fan-like tail feathers of the peacock on the dial. A surprising complication from the recently revived name.

Men’s Watch – Voutilainen GMR

Voutilainen’s dual time zone version of his flagship chronometer wristwatch. It’s powered by the hand-wound movement developed by Voutilainen, and decorated with a high level of finishing typical of the brand.

Chronograph – Piaget Altiplano Chronograph

A clean and simple chronograph that is the thinnest chronograph on the market. While record breaking, the movement is so similar in construction to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s workhorse chronograph calibre (both companies are part of luxury conglomerate Richemont) that its originality is uncertain. This was the start of a good night for Piaget, being just the first of its two prizes.

Tourbillon – Ulysse Nardin Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon

Somewhat plain visually, the Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon nonetheless has an interesting escapement and tourbillon made almost entirely of silicon that is a true constant force escapement.

Calendar – Hermes Slim d’Hermes Perpetual Calendar

Distinguished by its custom-designed font, the Slim d’Hermes is the brand’s new flagship men’s watch. And the perpetual calendar has the extra cachet of being designed by Agenhor, the same complications maker also responsible for another prize winner, the Faberge Peacock.

Striking Watch – Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Tourbillon

This is Girard-Perregaux’s latest flagship complication, featuring its trademark arrow-shaped gold bridges along with an exposed repeater mechanism on the dial.

Mechanical Exception – Jaquet Droz The Charming Bird

Equipped with a tiny automaton in the form of a bird that sings, swivels and flaps its wings, The Charming Bird is both charming and exceptional.

Petite Aiguille – Habring2 Felix

A prize for affordable watches, the “Small Hand” was won by the Austrian watchmaker’s first wristwatch equipped with its new in-house movement.

Sports Watch Prize – Tudor Pelagos

Not a entirely a new model but rather equipped with the newly developed in-house movement. Nonetheless a solidly made watch.

Jewellery Watch – Audemars Piguet Diamond Punk

Edgy, cool and glamorous. Definitely one of the most striking jewelled watches of the year.

Metier d’Art – Blancpain Villeret Shakudo

Featuring a dial made with an ancient Japanese technique of metalworking, this has a dial made of copper and gold lacquered for contrast. It’s the first time shakudo is used on a wristwatch.

Innovation Watch and Public Prize – Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillons

A chunky watch with three tourbillons orbital linked by differentials, meaning each tourbillon spins on its own axis, while all three go around the dial. It won for both innovation as well as garnering the most votes from a public vote, a surprise result for a independent brand that is not widely known.

Revival – Piaget Extremely Piaget Cuff

Open to watches that are remakes of vintage models, the Revival Prize went to the Piaget based on a creation from the 1970s. The second Piaget to win tonight, it’s a delicately formed cuff watch made of white gold wires with an opal face; striking in appearance yet pleasingly retro.

Horological Revelation – Laurent Ferrier Galet Square

Given to a brand less than 10 years old, the prize went to the steel, cushion-shaped Laurent Ferrier. Almost plain looking, the Galet Square is best viewed from the back, where the gorgeous self-winding movement is visible.

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Up Close with the Patek Philippe 5074P Minute Repeater & Perpetual Calendar (with Video)

One of the largest grand complication wristwatches Patek Philippe makes, the reference 5074P is a self-winding minute repeater with perpetual calendar.

With a wide, flat and polished bezel, the Patek Philippe reference 5074P has a distinctive look similar to that of the discontinued reference 5070 chronograph. It’s also 42mm in diameter, making it one of the largest highly complicated watches made by Patek Philippe. But the 5074P sports a restrained, almost functional, design that’s almost stealthy. Despite being rather large, it is classically styled, with a look that’s contemporary to that of the reference 5016 (the more recent grand complications watches like the 5207P look more, well, recent).

The 5074P is characterised by Arabic numerals and a railway minute track, an altogether formal look that’s a little stiff but handsome. The layout of the perpetual is old school, with everything inside three sub-dials. It’s all quite legible, something enhanced by the monochromatic black and silver colour palette.

The only hint of colour on the dial is the moon phase, which is a blue disc with the moon and stars in grey

As is typical of a Patek Philippe grand complication, the view from the rear is richly coloured. The movement inside is the calibre R 27 Q (“R” stands for repetition and “Q” for quantieme or “calendar”) with two dominant visual features: an open-worked Calatrava cross over the repeater governor and the gold rotor decorated with guilloche.

The rotor, however, is large, covering most of the movement. Nonetheless there’s lots to admire in the details, with the movement finishing of an impressive standard.

Beneath the gilded Calatrava cross sits the mechanism that regulates the striking of the repeater

The Patek Philippe Gyromax balance when at top right with its signature adjustable weights for poising

The rotor is mounted on ball bearings, as is common for automatic movements

Being platinum, a metal significantly denser than gold or steel, the sound of the repeater does not resonate or linger as long as that of repeaters in lighter metals. But it is still a Patek Philippe repeater, and sounds good.