Laureates of the Gaïa Prize 2017

Richard Mille, Laurence Marti and Jean-Marc Wiederrrecht

At the end of August, the names of laureates of the Gaïa Prize 2017 were revealed. The winners were presented with their respective crystal globe trophies at the Club 44 on September 21st, in front of a crowd of watchmaking enthusiasts including both professionals and amateurs.

As each year, a number of nominations were submitted to the Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH) which presides over the awards. The proposed names must be submitted by third parties and relate to Swiss or foreign personalities from a variety of backgrounds including culture, journalism, science and the economy. Chaired by the curator of the MIH, Régis Huguenin-Dumittan, the jury then examines the nominations in an entirely neutral manner.

The award ceremony for this international distinction was held on September 21st at the Club 44 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The Director of Présence Suisse, Nicolas Bideau, honoured the event with his presence. In the Workmanship and Design category, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht was honoured for his inventive work in the realm of horological complications, combining functionality with aesthetics on behalf of numerous brands. In the field of History and Research, Laurence Marti was rewarded for her essential contribution to the knowledge of watchmaking’s social history by handling original sources and her resolutely independent spirit. And finally, Richard Mille was distinguished for Entrepreneurship, in recognition of the pivotal role played by the eponymous company in asserting the international profile of high-end Swiss watchmaking that is at once modern, bold and innovative through the use of original materials and the development of futuristic creations.

Craftsmanship and creation
Through his poetic creations, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht has taken the philosophy of horological complications to new heights.

Career
Born in 1950, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht graduated from the Geneva Watchmaking School in 1972. He spent the next three years working for Châtelain and set up his own business in 1978. In 1990, he began developing retrograde complications. His first bi-retrograde perpetual calendar, designed for the firm Harry Winston, was a world-first in the watchmaking industry. It also heralded the beginning of a special partnership between Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and the brand. In 1996, Jean-Marc and his wife Catherine founded Agenhor (an abbreviation of Atelier genevois d’horlogerie) a company dedicated to studying, developing and creating mechanical watches.

The 1990s were marked by many inventions, particularly his retrograde and eccentric displays, such as the Dual Time Zone, the Tri-retrograde, the Equation of time and Universal time. In 1996, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and his team began creating new complications, including the True North, the Opus 9 and the Golf Counter. Agenhor currently holds several patents, including one for gear without play.

Fascinated by “ultra-slim” watches, with their particular challenges and technical constraints, Wiederrecht’s first complication was a moon phase watch for Chopard, designed to fit into the same case as the original model without a moon phase. He created his first “poetic complication” in 2005 for Van Cleef & Arpels, calling it the Quantième de Saisons (Four Seasons Calendar). In the words of the creator himself, “I create poetic complications as they embody advanced watchmaking techniques which allow us to stop time, to talk and think about it”.

Discretion and simplicity are the watchwords encapsulating the philosophy of the company, which employs around thirty people in a building designed with ecology and sustainable development in mind. Agenhor SA produces hundreds of pieces every year for different brands. It is a family business which also employs Wiederrecht’s two sons.

Having won several accolades since 1996, he has regularly been awarded the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

Work
Play-free engagement gearing Gears without play ensure optimal transmission of force, correct display and stable hands; they have also resulted in several world-firsts.

Le Temps suspendu for Hermès This watch’s special feature is its ability to suspend the movement of the hour and minute hands for a set period – a fine metaphor for the value of passing time. Behind this simple and playful function hides a sophisticated mechanism capable of making you forget the time with a subtle set of cams, pinions and sectors. Covered by two patents – one for its architecture and the other for its play-compensating gear teeth – the piece features 24 jewels and includes three play-compensating wheels. The “running” and “suspend time” phases are co-ordinated by two synchronised column wheels (one for the hours, the other for the minutes coupled to the date). The 360° retrograde mechanism for the hours and minutes makes time disappear without interrupting the operation of the movement.

Quantième de Saisons for Van Cleef and Arpels This complex movement is designed to gradually reveal the parts at the back of the dial in succession. Its technical genius lies in its ability to rotate the heavy disc (made from aventurine glass or enamelled) at a rate of just one degree each day. The Quantième de Saison structures time ac-cording to the rhythm of the seasons.

Opus 9 for Harry Winston Combining a pure design with precision, the Opus 9 offers a different way to read the time. A signature timepiece from Harry Winston, it marries technical innovation with diamonds, but these are not merely decorative: they are an integral part of the watch’s time display mechanism. The hours and minutes are indicated by two parallel chains of diamonds. Each chain is adorned with 33 emerald-cut diamonds, in Harry Winston’s signature style. The piece is set with bright orange mandarin garnets to indicate the hours and minutes. Made from brass, the chains are designed to optimise mobility and reduce friction.

Agengraphe
In 2017, Agenhor unveiled the Agengraphe, a chronograph movement with central elapsed time indications.

History and research
At home in both her roles as historian and sociologist, Laurence Marti has carefully studied the key figures in the industrial and social history of watchmaking in the Swiss Jura Arc.

Career
Laurence Marti was born in Bévilard in the Bernese Jura. She studied sociology and history at the Universities of Lausanne and Lyon 2. From 1992 to 1996, she worked for the Groupe lyonnais de sociologie industrielle (the Lyon Group for Industrial Sociology), at the research laboratory of the CNRS (the National Centre for Scientific Research), where she specialised in analysing small and medium-sized businesses and studied for a doctorate. In 1997, she opened a private research bureau in Aubonne, in the Swiss canton of Vaud. She has since made her scientific skills available to businesses, institutions, associations, museums and private individuals by undertaking research projects, preparing exhibitions, creating commemorative works, etc.

In 2001, she helped to create the Centre jurassien d’archives et de recherches économiques (CEJARE – the Jura Archive and Economic Research Centre) in Saint-Imier, which she presided over from
2001 to 2008. In her work as a historian and sociologist, Laurence Marti has gained extensive experience in analysing a wide variety of sources; in particular, she developed specific skills in gathering and handling oral memories. Laurence Marti used a broad range of media to highlight her discoveries: books, brochures, articles, videos, exhibitions, educational modules, etc.

Along with her role as Chair of the Board of the Jura Archives Foundation (Conseil de fondation de Mémoires d’ici), the centre for research and documentation of the Bernese Jura in Saint-Imier, she also plays an active part in several other organisations. In 2011, she was awarded a distinction by the Council of the Bernese Jura in recognition of her outstanding work in the field of culture.

Laurence Marti has also written several books, including Le renouveau horloger (The renewal of the watch industry) published in 2016 by Editions Alphil.

Spirit of Enterprise
Richard Mille embodies a new vision of modern watchmaking and, thanks to his wealth of creative talents, offers bold, luxury timepieces at the forefront of innovation.

Career
Born in 1951 in Draguignan in the South of France, and passionate about mechanics, Richard Mille quickly made his mark on the Swiss watchmaking industry. After studying marketing in Besançon, he joined the Finhor watchmaking firm in 1974 as head of exports and, when Matra took over Finhor, he was made director for all watch brands. In 1994, he became President of the watchmaking division at Mauboussin and made his reputation in the luxury watchmaking industry. Four years later, he left Mauboussin to set up his own watch development consultancy business.

In 1999, he began production of his own line of watches. Inspired by the aviation and automotive industries, his timepieces are high-tech creations. In 2001, the Richard Mille collection was launched. The watchmaking centre was sited in Les Breuleux and produced its first timepiece, the RM 001.

Richard Mille has shown great entrepreneurial ambition enabling watchmaking to reach new horizons through three concepts: firstly, the best in technical innovation, secondly the best of architecture in watchmaking, and finally the best hand-finishing. Richard Mille stands out for his radical break with tradition; his timepieces are immediately recognisable. In 2007, the brand joined the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.

Thanks to his vision of watchmaking codes and his marked taste for challenges, Richard Mille has worked closely with the best Swiss watch manufacturers, and thus has developed a prestigious brand, sponsoring many top athletes in a wide range of sporting disciplines.

Key timepieces
RM 63-02 World Timer (2017)
The first watch in this series was successfully unveiled at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in 2013. Created for frequent travellers, it made a big impact with its complex yet easy-to-use minute track featuring the names of world cities. This new version was even more innovative with its new automatic movement, a titanium calibre and a rotating bezel showing the time zones.

RM 19-02 Tourbillon fleur (2015)
With this model, Richard Mille was revisiting the watchmaking tradition of automata, with a magnolia flower which opened and closed either as the minutes passed or on request. To accentuate the elegance of this flower which was created and painted by hand, the tourbillon opens and brings forward a diamond to imitate the blossoming of the flower. The mechanism which makes this floral ballet possible is very complex – five levers are hidden under the petals and the flying tourbillon is controlled by a pinion.

RM 27 Tourbillon (2010)
This is the world’s lightest mechanical timepiece with a tourbillon. Richard Mille created it for tennis star Rafael Nadal, who wore it during the tournaments he won at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. Following the creation of this timepiece, Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille went on to three further collaborations.

RM 07-01 My Fair Lady (2014)
This ladies’ watch responded to an exacting customer base, and married harmony, elegance and technical excellence. In fact, although this watch looked like a piece of jewellery with its many diamonds, it contained innovative mechanisms revealed by a skeleton movement. Richard Mille has since created several ladies’ versions, the most recent including a case carved from blocks of pink sapphire.

The jury
This year, the jury comprised two members of the MIH management: Régis Huguenin, Curator and Chairman of the jury, and Jean-Michel Piguet, Assistant Curator. The other jury members were: Henry John Belmont, watchmaking consultant; Patrick Dubois, President of the Laboratoire Dubois; Estelle Fallet, Chief Curator of the Geneva Museum of Art and History; Stephen Forsey, Chairman of Greubel Forsey SA; Joël Grandjean, journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Watchonis-ta.com; Morghan Mootoosamy, Curator of the Museum of Watchmaking, Château des Monts, in Le Locle; Dominique Mouret, restorer of pendulums; Nicolas Rossé, economic journalist with Swiss Radio and Television; Nathalie Tissot, professor of intellectual property at Neuchâtel University; Sylvain Varone, Head of the watch industry sector at the Interregional Training Centre for the Neuchâtel Mountain Region; and Janine Vuilleu-mier, Editor-in-Chief of the Revue FH.

October 19, 2017