As the year making the quarter of this century nears its end, the creative industries are contending with myriad threats, crises and upsets. The worlds of arts and crafts have been shaken by slashed funding, skill shortages and the looming fear of an AI takeover.
However, the rarefied world of luxury watchmaking has been quietly weathering the storm. Each year, the finest timepieces are extolled at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) award ceremony, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in November.
Here, the astonishing mastery and exquisite skill that defines the industry will once again take the spotlight as 90 watches and clocks vie for coveted prizes in 15 categories, including ladies’, men’s, calendar and astronomy, jewellery and mechanical.
The top honour, known as the ‘Aiguille d’Or’ Grand Prix, is open to any watch across all categories. Last year, it was won by IWC Schaffhausen’s Portugieser Eternal Calendar.
The winners, decided by a jury of experts including watch collectors, watchmakers, journalists and auctioneers, will be announced on Thursday 13 November at the awards ceremony at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva.
This year also marks the fifth anniversary of the GPHG Academy, now composed of more than 1,000 members, all keen to contribute to watchmaking’s global influence. It plays a central role in the selection process for watches in competition.
Each spring, members begin proposing eligible timepieces, subject to brands’ approval. In summer, academicians nominate six finalists per category before participating in the autumn selection of the prizewinners, alongside the jury, itself composed of Academy members.
Nominated watches take a world tour
The 84 watches and 6 clocks from among the 302 models submitted by 184 brands this year have been touring the world in anticipation of the awards ceremony, dubbed the ‘Oscars’ of watchmaking.
The timepieces were exhibited in Shanghai at the beginning of October as part of Golden Week, an initiative committed to promoting cultural exchanges between East and West.
The tour continued in Istanbul from 15 to 20 October, for an exhibition organised with the Turkish fashion group Vakko in its private hotel on the banks of the Bosphorus.
Geneva’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire will welcome the nominated timepieces from 29 October to 16 November 2025 to its historic premises. A wide-ranging cultural outreach programme will be offered to the public and schools as part of this event.
As the final stop on the 2025 tour, Dubai Watch Week will honour the 2025 winners from 19 to 23 November.
Timepieces to watch out for at the 2025 awards ceremony
Six timepieces are nominated for each category, and some have already caught the attention of industry experts.
Gérald Genta’s Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal is a standout in the Ladies’ category. Watches competing for this prize are not allowed to be overly ornamented, so Genta’s timepiece makes a statement instead with a flame-hued dial surrounded by 137 individually set fire opals. GPHG’s description aptly calls it “audacious elegance”.
Last year, Van Cleef & Arpels snapped up both the Ladies’ and Ladies’ Complication prizes, but has no entries in either category this year.
In the Men’s category, the Grand Seiko Spring Drive U.F.A has been a much hyped object of interest, as it is the most accurate mainspring-powered watch in the world. “While the sizing and the design might not be the most eye-catching things on the list, it’s hard to argue with the achievement,” writes GPHG Academy member Mark Kauzlarich.
Last year, it was the precision of IWC Schaffhausen’s entry that won the maker the Aiguille d’Or. The Portugieser Eternal Calendar is officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the “most precise lunar phase wristwatch”.
With a theoretical deviation of just one day in 45,361,055 years, the Double Moon indication of the Portugieser Eternal Calendar beats the previous world record by more than 43 million years.
The Mechanical Exception category is defined by GPHG as watches featuring a special mechanism, such as an innovative or sophisticated display, an automaton, a striking or any other acoustic function, a special escapement, a belt-driven movement or comprising another original and/or exceptional horological concept.
Given that requirement, it is hard not to single out Louis Vuitton’s Escale au Pont-Neuf pocket watch. More like a piece of fine art than a timekeeper, it depicts the French capital’s oldest bridge in exquisite, whimsical detail using a bas-relief engraving technique. There are 13 moving elements including a barge loaded with Louis Vuitton trunks that slowly open to reveal golden monogrammed flowers. It is priced at an eyewatering CHF 3.15 million (€3.4 million).