GPHG 2016 - The watch industry’s thousand and one nights - GPHG - Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève

Divided into 12 categories, these GPHG finalists do indeed tell a wealth of wonderful contemporary watchmaking tales. They are all presented in the catalog insert in this magazine, and this article highlights two watches per category, specifically chosen for their differences illustrating the thousand and one facets of the 12^th Art, the art of time measurement.

The first standout feature takes the form of the first ‘victories’ achieved the three brands whose candidates have been chosen by the jury in half of the categories: Audemars Piguet, Bovet and Chopard. Hot on their heels are Bvlgari, Montblanc and Tudor, with five of their watches among the finalists. A fine token of recognition.

Ladies'
A meeting of exact opposites between the oval, black, zebra-striped and gemset Millenary by Audemars Piguet; and the round, pure, light and golden Lady Levity from Fabergé.

Ladie's High-Mech
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Color Blossom Spin Time with its bright colors and intensely animated dial makes a strong contrast with the Ulysse Nardin delicately openworked monochrome Tourbillon Squelette Pearl.

Men's
The gold 33 bis Quai des Bergues from the discreet Czapek Genève brand, graced with supremely refined slim hands sweeping over the white dial, is radically different from the robust steel and aluminum Heritage Black Bay by Tudor.

Chronograph
Flaunting a resolutely sporty design, the Mille Miglia 2016 XL Race Edition from Chopard reflects a very different approach to the elaborate Haute Horlogerie attitude adopted by Louis Moinet which is celebrating its founder’s invention of the chronograph 200 years ago.

Tourbillon
The unclassifiable Ottantasei Flying Tourbillon in titanium from Bovet, which is all about transparency and the Pininfarina designer touch, could hardly be further removed from the style of the Esmeralda Tourbillon revisited by Girard-Perregaux for its 225^th anniversary.

Calendar
With its daringly minimalist understatement clothed in a deep shade of night, the Perpetual Calendar Endeavour Concept Funky Blue by H. Moser & Cie is light years away from the MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual with its hyper-structured satellite-counter dial.

Travel Time
Whereas the 4910 Terrarum 110 Years Edition pocket watch by Montblanc depicts the world in color at the center of a white city disk, Manufacture Royale uses just four numerals on its 1770 Haute Voltige featuring a balance-wheel and bridges gliding above the monochrome dial.

Mechanical Exception
With its multiple shapes and sharp angles, along with a tone-on-tone dial bearing one solitary numeral, the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater is the world’s slimmest minute repeater, while the Monsieur de Chanel provides a distinctive vertical and jumping display of the hours, minutes and seconds, in white, black and pink.

"Petite Aiguille"
While the Pilot Ton-Up by Zenith boasts an oversized crown, hands and predominantly slate gray numerals, the East West® Automatic Tiffany reverses time read-off on an extremely luminous dial framed by the only rectangular case of the entire 2016 selection.

Sports
The highly distinctive shape of the Heuer Monza Chronograph by TAG Heuer draws the eye as much as its red central hand evoking the world of motorsports, while Eberhard gives a nod to scuba diving with its Scafograf 300 on which steel, white and yellow touches enliven its predominantly black shade.

Jewellery
The Princess Butterfly secret watch by Graff spread its dainty wings adorned with baguette-cut gemstones, whereas the Big Bang Impact Bang from Hublot asserts the power of its tourbillon imprisoned by a disruptive setting created by the random assembly of gemstone fragments.

Artistic Crafts
The delightfully rounded Hermès Arceau Tigre testifies to expertise involving perfect harmony between the engraver and the enameling using the Email Ombrant (shaded enamel) technique; while the elegantly angular Piaget Protocole XXL "Secrets & Lights" Venise Micro-Mosaic is composed of 5,000 tiny glass tesserae.

You can see all 72 finalists at a glance on our dedicated page, where you have two voting possibilities: one takes you to the official site gphg.org, where you can take part in the draw for the Public Prize and win a one-week MSC Yacht Club Mediterranean cruise for two courtesy of MSC Cruises. The other is for our informal poll for the favourite watches in each category – choose your favourite watch and you will instantly see whether your choice is in line with the majority of our readers.