Winners – 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève

The award ceremony of 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) just kicked off the biggest week in Geneva’s horological calendar.

Widely regarded as the all-encompassing awards of watchmaking, the GPHG is made up of fourteen prizes for individual categories, plus a special prize for the watch of there year. And here are the year’s winners.

Aiguille d’Or Grand

Recognised for its aesthetic and technical qualities – it is the thinnest perpetual calendar wristwatch ever – the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar took home the top prize of the event.

Audacity

The winner certainly lives up to the name of the prize. The Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem is over the top but finely decorated in an artisanal manner, with an impressive movement that combines an automaton and minute repeater.

Innovation

Deserving of its prize, the Bernhard Lederer Central Impulse Chronometer is one of the most technically impressive watches of 2021. And that’s because it’s kitted out with a double-wheel escapement powered by twin going trains, each equipped with a remontoir d’egalité constant force mechanism.

Men’s Watch

Grand Seiko’s Elegance SLGH005 “White Birch” is equipped with an impressive, latest-generation calibre, the cal. 9SA5. It was a worthy winner, though it has to be said that the competition was not especially strong this year.

Launched last year for Grand Seiko’s 60th anniversary, the cal. 9SA5 is the brand’s highest-end mechanical movement to date. It’s high frequency with a longish 80 hour power reserve, though the real highlight is the Dual Impulse escapement and an overcoil hairspring with a unique curve.

Men’s Complication Watch

Created to mark the 10th anniversary of the Legacy Machine, the LMX combines features of the past LM models while incorporating several new ideas. It evokes the LM1 visually, but is equipped with a brand-new, triple-barrel movement that provides a weeklong power reserve.

Though not ultra-complicated, the LMX features complications such as the power reserve executed in an original manner, which can be said of few of the other nominees in this category.

Iconic Watch

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin is no doubt an iconic designs.

And it got even better with a platinum case and smoked, green dial. While the design is certainly not novel, it is extremely compelling.

Tourbillon Watch

The De Bethune DB Kind of Two Tourbillon is a inventive, complex, and two-faced watch that swivels on its floating, spring-loaded lugs. ‘Nuff said.

Chronograph Watch

The Zenith Chronomaster Sport boasts the brand’s latest-generation El Primero movement that previously installed only in limited editions.

The most notable feature of the El Primero 3600 movement inside is a lightning central seconds that makes one revolution every 10 seconds, allowing for recording of 1/10th of a second.

Petite Aiguille

Unsurprisingly, the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic claimed the Petite Aiguille, which is open to watches priced between 4,000 and 10,000 Swiss francs. As our founder put it, the Black Bay Ceramic is “strategic genius“, packed with features found only in more expensive, but intrinsically comparable, watches.