As a history of art graduate, Carine Maillard was working with the curator on fine arts exhibitions at Geneva’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, (MAH) when the City of Geneva decided to give its backing to the nascent Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). The MAH also appointed her as coordinator of the third edition of the GPHG in 2003, assisting the two founders of the competition for the awards ceremony at the Grand Théâtre de Genève opera house. The Gabriel Tortella / Jean-Claude Pittard duo opened the doors of watchmaking to Maillard – and taught her everything her academic studies had not. When the entity was sold to Edipresse in 2007, Maillard was the sole employee of the limited company. Under the oversight of Edipresse, she worked to secure the independence of the GPHG and helped set up the GPHG Foundation, a public-interest organisation, together with former President of the Swiss Council of States Carlo Lamprecht.
The Foundation was officially established in 2011. Carlo Lamprecht became its President, and Maillard its director. They created real synergy, taking the GPHG to another level altogether. In 2012, they achieved institutional recognition for time measurement as the 12th art. To ensure the independence and spark of life the GPHG needed to remain in existence, its workings were completely rethought: the financial model, the organisation of the competition, voting procedures, rules, and even the ceremony itself. It was also during this period that the GPHG became more international, in particular through exhibitions organised in capital cities worldwide. Its influence spread, and it became established as watchmaking’s Oscars – a not-to-be-missed event in the watch industry calendar. Some one hundred brands take part every year, presenting over 200 watches as candidates for nomination. The expansion has continued under the presidency of Raymond Loretan, appointed in 2018. The former diplomat and businessman has implemented the vision of an Academy, reflecting the GPHG’s unifying mission. Launched in 2020 to coincide with the GPHG’s 20th edition, the GPHG International Academy has 350 members from across the entire watchmaking industry.
*On the occasion of GMT Magazine and WorldTempus' 20th anniversary, we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. This article is an extract. The Millennium Watch Book is available on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with a 10% discount if you use the following code: WT2021.
