Today in Paris a panel of five judges – including Carole Forestier-Kasapi and Kari Voutilainen – presented Alexandre Hazemann and Victor Monnin with the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives. The pair clinched the prize for their jump-hour “School Watch”. These are the very same young watchmakers who won the F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition in 2023.

Launched in 2023 by Jean Arnault, who has spearheaded Louis Vuitton’s fine watchmaking ambitions, the initiative supports promising independent watchmakers while burnishing the maison’s credibility in the watch world. Last year the trophy – and its matching Louis Vuitton trunk – went to Raul Pages for his RP1 Régulateur à Détente.

This edition’s victors met at Lycée Edgar Faure, a technical high school in Morteau, France with a strong (and respected) watch and jewellery bent, and their aptly named School Watch developed from the pair’s school watch project.

They have since set up shop in Saint-Aubin-Sauges, Switzerland, though both will now have the option of a one-year apprenticeship at Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps, in addition to financial support.

In December, a Committee culled the 20 semifinalists, which we covered here, down to just five in December and appointed a five-person panel to select the winner. Other finalists included Norifumi Seki, who debuted the ambitious Fading Hours alarm watch, and Bernhard Lederer.

Carole Forestier-Kasapi presided over the jury, which also included Kari Voutilainen, Frank Geelen of Monochrome Watches, Matthieu Hegi of La Fabrique du Temps, and Parisian blogger François-Xavier Overstake.

The School Watch captures the current zeitgeist, a finely decorated jump-hour with optional stone dials that exposes much of the movement from the front – and chimes in passing.  For a so-called “school watch” it appears to be a surprisingly market-ready product, which is comendable given the duo’s youth.

For more information, visit Louisvuittonwatchprize.com.