GPHG 2015 Finalists: The Winners (And Losers); Early Conclusions From Yesterday’s Announcement

Dubbed the “Oscars of the watch industry,” the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève celebrates the most inventive, innovative, and most well executed watches of the year. Yesterday, the GPHG announced their final selection before the award ceremony, hosted in Geneva on October, 29. Already, we can draw some conclusions from the jury’s final selection.

The Winners:

The independent brands will once again be very well represented at this year’s GPHG. Familiar faces such as MB&F and Christophe Claret will feature again, but it’s a larger independent brand that will be celebrating its berth in the competition the loudest. Audemars Piguet will indeed be feeling really good about their chances of picking up a prize during this year’s award ceremony. A notable absent from the GHPG for many years, Audemars Piguet entered three watches in this year’s competition, and all three made it into the jury’s final selection. Blancpain, Bulgari, Fabergé, Hermès, Montblanc, MB&F, Piaget, Tudor, and Zenith will also feel confident with watches competing in several categories.

The Losers:

Not everyone was celebrating last night. A couple of brands will feel a little hard done by this year’s final selection. Most notably Carl F. Bucherer and Ralph Lauren. Despite a combined total of eleven watches featuring in the pre-selection, neither brand will be represented at the finals in Geneva. In competition during the previous edition of the GPHG, Chopard (L.U.C 1963 Tourbillon, Mille Miglia GTS Power Control etc…) and Bell & Ross (BR-X1 Carbone Forgé) also drew blanks, while TAG Heuer will be nursing some regrets. Of the six watches that were in contention in the previous round, only the Carrera Calibre 18 Chronograph survived. The exclusion of the new Monaco V4 Phantom will be viewed as a major blow.

The Surprises:

There will be a couple of absentees from this year’s finals, as well as a few new faces. Cabestan’s Triple Axis Tourbillon, the MCT Sequential One S110 EVO, and the Fabergé Visionnaire 1 were all tipped for glory but were surprisingly left out of the jury’s final selection. However, newcomer Antoine Preziuso and his Tourbillon of Tourbillons are through in the Tourbillon category (see full list below). Speaking of independent brands, Jaquet Droz will give them some welcomed competition in the Mechanical Exception category, which they often dominate.

Please find below the complete list of finalists, through to the GPHG 2015, and links to full reviews.

Men’s

Bulgari — Octo Finissimo Small Seconds
Laurent Ferrier — Galet Square
Louis Vuitton — Escale Time Zone
MB&F — HMX
Piaget — Altiplano 900P
Voutilainen — GMR

Chronograph

Audemars Piguet — Royal Oak Concept Laptimer Michael Schumacher
Longines — Column-Wheel Single Push-Piece Chronograph
Louis Moinet — Memoris
Montblanc — Heritage Chronométrie ExoTourbillon Minute Chronograph Vasco da Gama
Piaget — Altiplano Chrono
TAG Heuer — Carrera Calibre 18 Chronograph

Tourbillon

Antoine Preziuso — Tourbillon of Tourbillons
Blancpain — L-evolution C Tourbillon Carrousel
Bovet 1822 — Braveheart
Greubel Forsey — Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision
MB&F — Horological Machine N°6
Ulysse Nardin — Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon

Calendar

Blancpain – Villeret Quantième Complet
Claude Meylan — Full Calendar
Hermès — Slim d’Hermès QP
Hublot — Classic Fusion Aeromoon
Tiffany & Co – CT60 Annual Calendar
Ulysse Nardin — FreakLab

Striking

A. Lange & Söhne — Zeitwerk Minute Repeater
Akrivia — Tourbillon Chiming Jump Hour
Christophe Claret — Allegro
Franc Vila — Inaccessible Tourbillon Minute Repeater
Girard-Perregaux — Minute Repeater Tourbillon with Gold Bridges
Hublot — Big Bang Alarm Repeater

Mechanical Exception

Christophe Claret — Maestoso
Dewitt — Academia Mathematical
Emmanuel Bouchet — Complication One
Hautlence — Vortex
HYT — H3
Jaquet Droz — The Charming Bird

Petite Aiguille

Bulgari — Diagono Magnesium
Habring2 — Felix
Hermès — Slim d’Hermès
Montblanc — Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum
Tudor — North Flag
Zenith — Elite 6150

Ladies

DeLaneau Rondo 42 Peony
Audemars Piguet — Millenary
Hermès — Arceau Petite Lune with diamonds
Hublot — Big Bang Broderie
Piaget — Limelight Gala
Ulysse Nardin — Jade

Ladie’s High-Mech

Bulgari — Il Giardino Notturno
Chaumet — Hortensia Creative Complication
Fabergé — Lady Compliquée Peacock
Jaquet Droz — Lady 8 Flower
Montblanc — Bohème Perpetual Calendar Jewellery
Piaget — Altiplano 1200S

Jewellery

Audemars Piguet — Diamond Punk
Bulgari — Mvsa High Jewellery Watch
Chaumet — Joséphine Aigrette Impériale
de Grisogono — Grappoli
Fabergé — Summer in Provence Multicoloured Sapphire
Piaget — Extremely Piaget Double Sided Cuff Watch

Artistic Crafts

Blancpain — Villeret, Cadran Shakudo
Girard-Perregaux — The Chambers of Wonders – The New World
Harry Winston — Premier Precious Butterfly Automatic 36mm
Hermès — Slim d’Hermès Koma Kurabé
Piaget — Altiplano Scrimshaw
Romain Gauthier — Logical One Secret Kakau Höfke

Sports

Audemars Piguet — Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Tourbillon Chronograph
Blancpain — Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe
Harry Winston — Project Z9
Seiko – Prospex Marinemaster Professional Diver’s 1000m Hi-Beat 36000
Tudor — Pelagos
Zenith — El Primero Sport