The three laureates of Gaïa Prize 2021

For the first time since its creation, a female watchmaker has received this distinction; and for the third time, the Horizon Gaïa scholarship was awarded to a young student.

A highlight of the watchmaking year, the Gaïa Awards ceremony was held on September 16^th at the Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH) in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Frédéric Maire, director of the Cinémathèque Suisse, was the guest of honour at this event, which welcomed numerous passionate enthusiasts of the industry.

This year, the Prix Gaïa jury, comprising 12 figures active in the watchmaking field, rewarded: Carole Kasapi won the Craftsmanship and Creation category, for conceiving and developing mechanisms that brilliantly combine design, function and reliability, for her involvement in many areas of the watchmaking industry and for her generosity in sharing her passion. Anthony Turner was the winner in the History and Research category, for his exceptional career as an independent consultant in watchmaking research and heritage, and for his historical and technical knowledge of horological objects and valuing collections. Eric Klein was honoured in the Spirit of Enterprise category, for his visionary character, his ability to understand the watch industry on a systemic level and his implementation of innovative and dynamic industrial processes aimed at guaranteeing excellence in product manufacturing and quality.

Craftsmanship and creation: Carole Kasapi
Born in France and educated in Paris, Carole Kasapi has been fascinated by mechanical watchmaking since childhood. She studied at the watchmaking school in La Chaux-de-Fonds, obtaining a federal certificate as a watchmaker-repairer in 1988. Following a further two years’ training, she qualified as a watchmaking constructor, obtaining the highest grade point average for the diploma. In 1990, she joined Conseilray SA in La Chaux-de-Fonds, where she spent three years designing mechanical movements. Her accomplishments included developing the Elite movement for Zenith, which propelled the Le Locle-based brand into the world of proprietary movement manufacture. In 1993, she was employed by Renaud & Papi in Le Locle, where for six years she was head of the Design Office and Prototyping.

In 2000, after a brief spell with Ulysse Nardin, Carole Kasapi joined the Richemont Group, leading the development of movements for Cartier, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels and Officine Panerai.

Between 2003 and 2018 she focused exclusively on the Cartier brand, managing the creation of movements for Cartier Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Passionate about developing products in line with the philosophy of the brand for which she is working, Carole Kasapi leads a team of mainly engineers while working closely with designers and marketers. This means she plays a pivotal role in positioning the Cartier brand in the high-end technical watchmaking sector, and has been responsible for numerous patents.

As well as overseeing the creation of the fascinating Astrorégulateur, Astrotourbillon and Astrocalendaire, she was heavily involved in developing and designing the ID Two watch. She further perfected her technical skills with the development of more poetic watches as part of the Panthère collection.

In 2018, Carole Kasapi broadened her remit with the Richemont Group, providing creative and technical support to the Group’s companies.

A new chapter of her career began in 2020, when she joined TAG Heuer (LVMH) as Movements Director responsible for developing proprietary movements.

Awarded the Best Watchmaker prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (2012), Carole Kasapi is also keen to promote and share her watchmaking expertise. She occupies a prominent role in the Société Suisse de Chronométrie (Swiss chronometry society).

History and research: Anthony Turner
Born in 1946 in England, Anthony Turner read History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford University’s Wadham College from 1965 to 1969. From 1970 to 1972, he worked as a research assistant at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

In 1972, he embarked on a self-employed career as a researcher, collector of antique books, consultant and exhibition designer. He became a specialist in the history of scientific instruments, clocks, watches, sundials, astrolabes and precision in general. He has worked with the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, the Science Museum in London, the Musée Gassendi in Digne-les-Bains, the Palace of Versailles, the Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) and the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris, among others.

A consultant in scientific instruments for Sotheby’s and Bonhams auction houses, and in scientific and horological instruments for Artcurial, Anthony Turner also works as an expert for Drouot auctioneers in Paris. In this capacity, he has created around 80 auction catalogues, mainly for watches and clocks.

Over the last 20 years, alongside Paolo Brenni and Denis Beaudouinhe, he has helped to create and develop an online dictionary of French and Swiss scientific instruments from 1430 and 1960. To date, this contains some 3,500 entries.

His publications in horological and academic journals (Antiquarian Horological Society, British Sundial Society), numerous auction catalogues, as well as the exhibitions and conferences he has organised, attest to his authority and commitment over several decades to disseminating knowledge in the field of time measurement.

In 2018, he was awarded the Paul Bunge Prize for his contribution to the history of scientific instruments. A tireless researcher and author, Anthony Turner is currently overseeing the publication of a world encyclopaedia of horological history covering the measurement and distribution of time from Antiquity to the 20^th century. A General History of Horology will be published by Oxford University Press in late autumn 2021.

Spirit of Enterprise: Eric Klein
Eric Klein was born in Neuchâtel in 1949. In 1973, he obtained his Engineering Master Degree in microtechnology from the Institute of Physics at the University of Neuchâtel, where he then worked for a year as an assistant professor. In 1974, he joined Ebauches SA, working as an engineer at the research centre to develop a micromotor for quartz watches. In 1976, he was employed by Fabrique d’Horlogerie de Fontainemelon (FHF), where he was involved in converting mechanical watches to quartz technology. He joined Ronda in 1982 as part of the development, assembly and quality department, where he oversaw a five-fold increase in movement production. In 1985, following the death of founder and owner William Mosset, Eric Klein joined the company management along with the heirs to the business. In this role, he helped to establish a number of industrial plants to produce windings for stepper motors (Swisstronic Hong Kong, 30 employees) and assemble Swiss Parts movements (400 employees in Bangkok and 200 employees in Stabio in the Swiss canton of Ticino).

In 1994 he joined the Richemont Group. Cartier appointed him to move the development and production of quartz movements in-house, and he also managed the Manufacture Piaget in La Côte-aux-Fées.

From 1995, he created and ran a centralised movement department in Neuchâtel to develop and produce movements for Cartier, Piaget, Panerai and Montblanc, among others. This later became the ValFleurier watch Manufacture.

Between 2000 and 2005, he was managing director of the Richemont industrial Manufactures. It was during this time that, following a request from Jan Rupert and assisted by Henri John Belmont, he designed the ValFleurier Manufacture, which he ran until 2011. He built a new factory in Buttes (500 employees) to confirm Richemont’s independence from the Swatch Group in producing mechanical movement components.

Moving out of the operational sphere in 2012, Eric Klein retained a role as movement strategy manager with the Richemont Group, with responsibility for sourcing at Swatch (2012-2017). He worked in a support capacity for research projects until 2018, when he decided to devote himself fully to his other passion: boccia.

Occupying a multidisciplinary role in the watch industry, Eric Klein has always been skilled at transferring his expertise and vision to his teams, successfully engaging management in the roll-out of vital brand projects while contributing in a sustainable way to the local economy. Despite working behind the scenes in a career spanning more than 40 years, Eric Klein has had a major impact on the watch industry.

Horizon Gaïa grant: Nathanaëlle Delachaux
Alongside the three categories used to honour leading figures in the watchmaking world, Horizon Gaïa, an incentive grant made possible thanks to the generosity of the Watch Academy Foundation, is being awarded to encourage new talent in the fields recognised by the Prix Gaïa: Craftsmanship and Creation, History and Research, along with the Spirit of Enterprise. The grant will finance all or part of an individual project.

The 2021 Horizon Gaïa incentive grant has been awarded to Nathanaëlle Delachaux, a student about to complete her studies in the history of art and ethnology at the University of Neuchâtel. Born in 1993, she now lives in the canton of Neuchâtel and has significant experience of museum work.

Her individual project reflects the recent inscription on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List of the craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics, and examines the value of document collections concerning training and the transmission of expertise cultivated by the MIH.

MIH Gaïa Watch II
Following the success of the MIH Gaïa watch – put up for subscription in 2019 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Gaïa Prize in a 200-piece limited edition and which is now sold out – the MIH took the opportunity of the 2021 Prix Gaîa ceremony to unveil the MIH Gaïa II Watch, with a black sunburst dial. This new version was also entirely designed within the museum and produced with the help of local craftsmen and companies. It pursues the same objectives as its predecessor, namely the restoration and study of major pieces in the MIH collection.

September 23, 2021