GPHG Nominations Are Out ... Here Are Some of Our Favorites

For the 2024 awards, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) Academy has released their shortlist of nominated timepieces in each of the show’s fifteen categories. In the lead up to the award ceremony on November 13, 2024 at the Théâtre du Léman in Geneva, these nominated watches will tour across the world with exhibitions for the general public in Hong Kong, Saigon, New York, and lastly, in Geneva. 

Independent watchmaking is well represented across all of the categories with particularly steep competition in some, namely Chronograph and Men’s Complication. Here, we’re taking a closer look at some of these exceptional watches vying prizes. 

Chronograph – three heavy-hitting indies 

For each category, six timepieces are shortlisted. In the Chronograph category, more than half are independents. Angelus, Louis Vuitton x Rexhep Rexhepi. and Massena Labs x Sylvain Pinaud – all bring something exceptional to the table. Angelus’ new Fabrique collection, featuring modernized versions of some of the brand’s most historical timepieces, has been exceptional since its launch a few years ago. The Instrument de Vitesse pushes that collection forward with a monopusher dedicated to timing short intervals. Inspired by chronographs embedded in the dashboard of vintage cars, the Instrument de Vitesse is sleek and ultra-comfy with a classic 39mm diameter, 9.5mm thick case. 

Angelus Instrument de Vitesse Ebony Black and Ivory White

Our other brand partners, Rexhep Rexhepi and Sylvain Pinaud, both contribute to the short-listed chronographs through collaborations. The LVRR is everything that we would expect from Rexhep and Louis Vuitton – Hagman’s reinterpretation of LV’s Tambour case, a double-faced chronograph, tourbillon, and chiming mechanism. It’s ultra-complicated, ultra-luxury, and it does a great job weaving together the DNA of both brands. Extremely unusual to see a collaboration timepiece with Rexhep, and therein lies much of the fun and spectacle of this timepiece. 

In collaboration with Massena Labs, Sylvain Pinaud returns with an updated version of his first timepiece – the Chronograph Monopoussoir. The construction of the movement garnered him the prestigious Meilleurs Ouvriers de France prize, which honors the country’s most talented artisans and craftsmen. It’s a stunning skeletonized monopusher, that does something not seen enough in watchmaking – exposes all of the meticulous levers and gears at work in a chronograph. Superbly finished and attention-grabbing in its design, between this and the other two timepieces mentioned above, we’re sure that voters for this category will need a lengthy reflection to determine the winner. 

Kudoke back for more 

Another one of our brand partners, Kudoke, is back in the category that helped launch their popular collection, KUNSTwerk. In 2019, Kudoke took home the “Petite Aiguille” award with the Kudoke 2 – best watch under 10,000CHF. Now, the brand’s latest addition to the collection, the Kudoke 3, is nominated again for the “Petite Aiguille.” From our perspective, the Kudoke K3 is a big swing, moving things in a new direction while maintaining a strong connection to its award-winning predecessor. The triple-hour hand rotating to indicate hours is creative and fun, an overall unusual, eye-catching design on this timepiece’s dial. There is a very good chance that Kudoke picks up another “Petite Aiguille” for the Kudoke 3, and solidifies the brand’s position as one of the indies creating amazing value for money timepieces. 

Men’s Complication – De Bethune shines

When De Bethune makes a grand complication, we knew it would be critically acclaimed. Denis Flageollet, the master watchmaker behind the brand, put together a timepiece that reflects all of his accumulated knowledge and experience over the last ~25 years with De Bethune. The end result is a dual front and back display of hours, ultra-light (and ultra-fast) 30-second tourbillon, deadbeat seconds, spherical moonphase, perpetual calendar, power reserve indicator, and age of moon indicator. All crafted in line with the De Bethune aesthetic, featuring the iconic articulated lugs, the 751-component movement is a masterclass in haute horlogerie. One of the most fascinating things about this timepiece is the juxtaposition between the ultra-fast 30 second tourbillon and the slow, smooth deadbeat second. One movement to show the flow of time both as something fast and something slow. 

Youth in watchmaking is on the rise

We’d be remiss to not shed light on some of the younger watchmakers in the ranks of this year’s GPHG short-list nominations. Remy Cools, in particular, is in steep competition in the Tourbillon category. With watches in the category from Daniel Roth, Chopard, H. Moser & Cie, Voutilainen, and Sartory Billard, it’s safe to say that this group is stacked. Cools fits smoothly into this group, impressive for a watchmaker still in his twenties. The Tourbillon Atelier is a refinement from the watchmaker’s earlier iterations of the timepiece – thinner movement, additional of a traditional crown, full exhibition caseback. One of the things that we find impressive about the Tourbillon Atelier is that its slim profile sacrifices no three-dimensionality in the movement. The two-stepped bridges and overall geometry of the movement is stunning with both pink and yellow gold plate versions leaving an ultra-luxury feel. Regardless of the result this year in the Tourbillon category, we are very excited to see what the Cools has in store for the future. 

UR-102 – certainly an icon 

Urwerk’s UR-102 Reloaded finds itself in the Iconic category – watches that have exercised a strong influence on watchmaking history and the watch market for more than 20 years. Born 27 years ago, the UR-102 Reloaded is a modern reinterpretation of the brand’s first timepiece – a round watch without traditional hands was the initial idea. It launched the adventure for Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei, the duo behind the Urwerk. Since then, Urwerk has led the charge in modern avant-garde watchmaking. In the pantheon of the most creative, innovative brands in modern independent watchmaking, it will be difficult to choose a timepiece that has had more influence in this category.

Mechanically exceptional, always MB&F 

One of the brands that has seen a large amount of recognition by GPHG over the years, MB&F is back in the hunt for an award in the Mechanical Exception category – watches featuring a special mechanism. Often inspired by sci-fi, aviation, high performance automotive, MB&F pushes beyond all previous horizons to explore the realm of post-modern architecture in its HM11. The brand’s 21st caliber, the HM11 is divided into four rooms – a room for the indication of time, power reserve, a room temperature thermometer, and room dedicated to time-setting. On the wrist, the timepieces rotates to the choosing of its wearer – time can take center stage on the wrist or any other of the rooms. Most fascinating aspect of the HM11 is that the entire watch itself turns to be wound – ten clockwise turns to fully recharge the timepiece’s 96-hour power reserve. One of the most striking MB&F timepieces, we were thrilled to see its arrival earlier this year at Watches & Wonders. 

We’re excited to see the award ceremony in November, only a few months away. That presentation will be broadcast online with subtitles (and potentially dubbing) for the English-speaking world. For more information on GPHG, visit their website and comment on some of your favorites from the short-listed nominations on our Instagram post. 

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