News The eleventh edition of the Grand Prix d'horlogerie de Genève took place on 19 November this year at the Grand Théâtre in the City of Calvin. De Bethune received the supreme accolade, the Aiguille d'or.
More than 1,500 people gathered at Geneva’s Grand Théâtre to find out who would be the 2011 winners of the Grand Prix d'horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). Based on the theme of the cinema, the evening – interspersed with film clips, dance and tap-dancing performances – not only showcased the nominated brands, but also paid homage to those whose work goes unnoticed in the effort to give shape and form to ever more creative timepieces, be it in terms of technique, decoration or inventiveness.
For the first time, the GPHG was organised by the Foundation of the Grand Prix d'horlogerie de Genève, created on 31 May this year. Consisting of five members (Republic and Canton of Geneva, City of Geneva, International Watch Museum of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Timelab and the Edipresse Group), its aim is to extol the excellence of watches produced worldwide and to award a prize every year to the best designs and the most prominent personalities from the world of watchmaking.
This year, the Aiguille d'or, the event’s supreme accolade, went to De Bethune for its DB28 model. David Zanetta, Denis Flageollet and Pierre Jacques took to the stage to receive their Oscar. Boucheron was honoured with the Ladies’ Watch Prize for the Crazy Jungle Hathi. Hermès, already the holder of the Watch of the Year with its Temps Suspendu, won the Men’s Watch trophy. Urwerk’s highly technical and almost UFO-like UR-110 model won the Design Watch award. Van Cleef & Arpels transported the jury to its polar world with the Lady Arpels Polar Landscape Seal Deco, for which it received the prize for Best Jewel and Arts & Crafts Watch. The prize for best Grand Complication went to Zenith for its Academy Christophe Colomb Equation of Time. Once again, the Mikrotimer Flying 1000 from TAG Heuer created ripples of admiration in watchmaking circles by winning the award for best Sports Watch. Meanwhile Montblanc continues to set tongues wagging, winning the Petite Aiguille for its Star Worldtime GMT Automatic model. The jury also paid tribute with its Special Jury Prize to the Patek Philippe Museum, which retraces more than 500 years of watchmaking history.
The public was also able to choose from among the 70 shortlisted timepieces. Its favourite was the Millenary 4101 by Audemars Piguet. This bouquet of awards was rounded off by the prize for Best Watch Designer, which went to Vianney Halter, while the prize for Best Student at the Geneva School of Watchmaking was won by Benjamin Gacond.
As is the case every year, the trophies were presented to winners by Swiss personalities such as Stanislas Wawrinka, Frédéric Diefenthal, Kerstin Cook and Nicolas Bideau. Micheline Calmy-Rey, the President of the Confederation, brought the evening to a close by pledging the continued support of the Federal Council to those watch industry representatives in attendance.
November 22, 2011
