For the 10th consecutive year, the prize-giving ceremony of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (GPHG) will gather the elite of the international horology profession on November 18th, 2010, at the « Grand Théâtre » of Geneva.
Created in 2001, patronized by the City and by the State of Geneva, the GPHG is intended to greet the excellence of the world horology productions. It annually rewards the best creations and the most remarkable personalities of the watchmaking universe. Free and open to all watchmaking brands, the GPHG puts annually in competition several hundred watches marketed during the year and attributes the highest awards in this domain.
Showcasing the exceptional constantly evolving industry, this event represents for the horology world what « Oscars » represent for the cinema.
Prizes
Amongst the 300 watches in competition this year, the jury has preselected 10 watches in each of the 7 categories, corresponding to the prizes here under :
• Ladies' Watch Prize
• Men's Watch Prize
• Design Watch Prize
• Jewellery Watch Prize
• Complicated Watch Prize
• Sports Watch Prize
• « La Petite Aiguille » Watch Prize On the occasion of this 10th anniversary, the jury will award the « La Petite Aiguille » Prize to a watch whose price on the market is less than CHF 5'000.-.
• Discover the 70 preselected watches on www.gphg.org
• Vote HERE for your favourite watch and win a Vulcain Revolution GMT watch and a Geneva-Abu Dhabi flight.
Besides these 7 prizes, the GPHG also attributes 4 special awards:
• Public Prize
The Public Prize is awarded by the visitors of the exhibition in Geneva and the internet users choosing their favorite watch on the websites www.gphg.org or www.worldtempus.com.
• Best Watchmaker Prize
The award is attributed to the watchmaker whose work has marked the world of watchmaking this year.
• Special Jury Prize
The jury is free to attribute this award either to a watch, a brand, a personality, an innovation or to any major stakeholder of the world of watchmaking.
• The Grand Prize of «l'Aiguille d'Or»
The Grand Prize of « l'Aiguille d'Or » is the most prestigious prize of the GPHG; crowning the best watch overall of the year, all categories included.
In 2009, this award has been attributed to the watch Lange Zeitwerk from A. Lange & Söhne.
Exposition
The 70 preselected watches will be part of an itinerant exhibition, which enables the public to discover and admire the most beautiful watches of the year, some unique, specially assembled for the occasion.
• Singapour : 23-26 September 2010, Timeless Gallery, Ion Orchard Mall
• Zürich : 2-9 October 2010, Les Ambassadeurs, Bahnhofstrasse 64
• Geneva : 15 October - 17 november 2010, UBS Geneva, rue des Noirettes 35, Carouge
• Paris : 26-28 November 2010, Salon International de l'Horlogerie de Prestige, Belles Montres, Carrousel du Louvre. This exhibition, which follows the Prize-giving ceremony, will gather the 3 watches nominated in each of the seven categories and the prizewinning watches of the «L'Aiguille d'or» and the Public Prize.
Jury
The watches in competition are judged by an independent and international jury composed of recognized experts, collectors and journalists aficionados of the watchmaking world.
The 2010 edition Jury consists of the following personnalities:
• President
Sebastian Whitestone, historian of horology, director of Bobinet Ltd (London)
• Members
· Aurel Bacs, Christie's (Geneva)
· Jonathan Betts, National Maritime Museum (Greenwich)
· Gisbert Brunner, writer and journalist specialized in horology
· Bernard Cheong, collector and columnist specialized in horology
· Dominique Fléchon, director of the Research and Survey Center, Fondation de la
Haute Horlogerie (Geneva)
· Ludwig Oechslin, Musée international d'horlogerie (La Chaux-de-Fonds)
· Marcel Philippe, collector in horology
· Jean-Claude Sabrier, expert and historian of watchmaking (France)
· Alexey Tarhanov, journalist for Kommersant magazine (Moscow)
· Goro Yamada, journalist and historian of watchmaking (Tokyo)
· Eugenio Zigliotto, journalist, editor-in-chief of the seven international editions of
Orologi da Polso magazine (Italy)
· Walter Lange, A. Lange & Söhne
