Since the beginning of the year, the Fondation du Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève has been led by a new president, Raymond Loretan. He has made a few changes to the GPHG for his inaugural year. The biggest is the creation of the Challenge category, which is open to watches priced at under 4000 Swiss francs. With the Petite Aiguille category, which now has a modified price range of 4000 to 10,000 Swiss francs, this means there are now two categories (the only ones that accept connected watches, incidentally) for watches considered “affordable”.
In a recent interview for WorldTempus, GPHG Director Carine Maillard was quite candid about the fact that introducing the Challenge category, as well being in line with current watchmaking trends, was also intended to open up the competition to more brands. “The idea is to encourage new brands to take part in the competition, by giving everyone a chance to be recognised,” she said. “The Challenge Prize, which is for watches that retail for less than 4,000 francs, is intended to highlight the challenges inherent in creating high-quality watches at a low price.”
The challenge appears to have been met; while the total number of watches entered this year is only slightly above the 2017 figure (195 compared with 181), the number of participating brands has increased from 88 (86 in 2016) to 106 this year. With 35 entries, the Challenge category is the biggest, followed by Petite Aiguille and Men’s Watch, which both have 21. Unsurprisingly, many smaller, lesser-known watch brands, as well as niche and fashion labels (Ciga, DWISS, Gucci, WATCHe, Tockr, etc.) have taken up the challenge, but there are also plenty of well-established and prestigious brands (Seiko, Alpina, Frédérique Constant, Longines, Louis Vuitton, Montblanc, Nomos, TAG Heuer and Tudor, to name just a few).
The complete list of 195 entries is available on the GPHG website.
On 1 September the jury will announce the six pre-selected watches in each of the 12 categories, which will go through to compete for the ultimate prize. The winners will be announced at the 18th Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, on 9 November.
