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🏆 Industry · Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix · Annual

GPHG

The Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. The Oscars of the watch industry: an annual award for the year's best watches across categories from Best Mechanical to Best Tourbillon to Best Innovation.

The GPHG (Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève) is the annual Swiss watch-industry awards programme, founded in 2001. Each year a jury awards 'Best Of' across ~14-18 categories: Best Mechanical Watch, Best Chronograph, Best Tourbillon, Best Calendar / Astronomical, Best Diver, Best Innovation, plus the supreme Aiguille d'Or ('Golden Hand') for the year's overall winner. Brands self-nominate; selected watches are exhibited; winners announced at a Geneva ceremony in November. Considered the watch industry's most-prestigious annual award.

Founded2001
Categories~14-18 per year
Top awardAiguille d'Or (Golden Hand)
CeremonyNovember, Geneva
WristBuzz Articles290
GPHG

Photo: Revolution · Jun 29, 2026

2001Founded
GenevaLocation
Aiguille d'OrTop prize
NovCeremony
290WristBuzz Articles

The GPHG Story

The GPHG was established in Geneva in 2001 to recognise the best Swiss watchmaking of each year. The format: brands self-nominate watches into specific categories (Mechanical, Diver, Tourbillon, Chronograph, Calendar, etc.); a pre-selected jury of industry experts reviews them; a public exhibition tours major Swiss cities through autumn; the awards ceremony is held at the Théâtre du Léman in Geneva each November. The supreme award is the Aiguille d'Or ('Golden Hand'), the year's overall best watch.

Notable winners include Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire (Men's Watch Prize 2016), Greubel Forsey Hand-Made 1 (Aiguille d'Or 2020), Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon (Aiguille d'Or 2018), and modern winners across the Patek/AP/Lange/independents tier. The GPHG has expanded to include categories for women's watches, smartwatches (briefly), and innovation; modern critics note the awards are biased toward independents and small-volume haute-horlogerie rather than industrial Swiss watchmaking.

Notable GPHG Winners

2016 · Grönefeld
1941 Remontoire
1941 Remontoire

Men's Watch Prize 2016. Dutch independents at the GPHG top tier.

Men's Watch 2016
2020 · Greubel Forsey
Hand-Made 1
Hand-Made 1

Aiguille d'Or 2020. ~95% hand-made watch including hairspring.

Aiguille d'Or

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Comments 2

  1. Kevin O.
    I appreciate the overview, but I'd push back a bit on treating the Aiguille d'Or as the automatic highlight every year. The category winners often show more interesting innovation than the grand prize, which can feel like a political nod to established names. I've followed these awards since 2005, and the real gems are buried in those 14-18 categories.
  2. Karam
    Does GPHG publish COSC or METAS certification data for nominees? Or is it more subjective judging, design focused. Would help understand the rigor behind selections.

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