It’s awards season again for the watch industry as the 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG) gets underway to pick the best timepieces in 14 categories, including the prestigious Aiguille d’Or grand prize.
The winners will be selected by a jury of 30 GPHG members headed by British writer and journalist Nick Foulkes, while the rest of the academy’s 500 members will also get to vote. The results will be announced on November 4 in a ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the GPHG.
Here, we look at some of the watches that are in the running.
Chanel Mademoiselle J12 Acte
Competing in the best ladies’ watch category, Chanel’s Mademoiselle J12 Acte is a new quartz addition to the brand’s popular J12 collection. The diamond-studded watch, which comes in a 33mm-wide case made of steel, white gold and ceramic, showcases a stylised effigy of Mademoiselle Chanel balancing on the crown. The limited-edition (500 pieces) timepiece retails for 23,650 Swiss francs (S$34,529).
Ludo Secret Watch
A contender in the jewellery category, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Ludo Secret Watch recalls one of its emblematic creations in the ’30s – the Ludo bracelet. Like the original, the Ludo Secret Watch evokes the shape of a belt with its flexible mesh. It has a jewel-encrusted motif in place of the buckle. And, of course, there’s the secret watch which the brand holds dear – with a mother-of-pearl dial ringed by diamonds. The cabochon rotates to unveil the shimmering shades of the dial, adorned with a set star indicating the 12 hours. Price: 245,000 Swiss francs (S$355,841).
H08
In the men’s best watch category, the Hermes H08 is a sporty watch powered by a self-winding movement housed in a robust but ultra-light graphene-filled case, topped by a ceramic bezel. It has a black gold-coated dial punctuated by a minute track and luminescent Arabic numerals. The hours, minutes and seconds are indicated by black nickel-coated hands while the date is displayed at half-past four.
The cushion-shaped model, which is paired with a black rubber strap, also appears in two other variants: One with a matt black DLC-coated titanium case; and the other a satin-brushed titanium case. Price: 8,670 Swiss francs (S$12,592)
Chronomaster Sport
Aiming for the best chronograph prize is Zenith’s Chronomaster Sport. The brand says this high-frequency timepiece, which offers greater performance and precision than before, is “the only watch to feature a 1/10th-of-a-second display etched directly on its polished and graduated black ceramic bezel”.
Dive X Skeleton
Competing in the diver’s watch category, Ulysse Nardin’s Diver X Skeleton is a limited edition of 175 pieces. Powered by a new automatic movement, it boasts a 44mm titanium case with an ultra-sleek finish and a blue multi-layered, X-shaped dial – one of the most complex dials made by the brand. Price: 21,000 Swiss francs (S$30,501).
Black Bay Ceramic
Aiming for the Petite Aiguille prize (for watches retailing at 3,500 to 10,000 Swiss francs), Tudor unveils the Black Bay Ceramic. It’s an all-matt black ceramic timepiece of high performance in precision and resistance to magnetic fields. A Master Chronometer certified by the Federal Institute of Metrology. “This Black Bay model is the epitome of high-tech aesthetic language,” says the brand. Price: 4,500 Swiss francs (S$6.534).
This article first appeared in The Business Times