News 
The first edition of the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives was won by Raúl Pagès. Awarded on 6 February this year at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, the prize celebrates watchmaking and excellence in craftsmanship. The initiative supported by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton aims to highlight independent watchmakers who defy the present and push the boundaries of time in the world of fine watchmaking.
Based in a small village near Neuchâtel, Raúl Pagès learned his trade as a restorer of watchmaking masterpieces before becoming an independent watchmaker in 2012. Today, he creates about four timepieces a year, crafting them entirely by hand, from design and development of the mechanism to manufacturing, assembly and finishes. His winning design, the RP1 – Régulateur à détente is a manual winding wristwatch in stainless steel featuring a unique construction involving a movement.
Raúl Pagès was awarded a graceful, spiral-shaped silver trophy inspired by the one found on a balance wheel, the essential component for precision in a timepiece. The trophy serves as a metaphor for the ascension of independent watchmaking. It was engraved with the winning watchmaker’s name by a master engraver from La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton.
The Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives is open to independent watch designers, artisans and entrepreneurs from all around the world. For its first edition, the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives attracted nearly 1,000 submissions. The creations are evaluated by an international committee of watch experts, including retailers, collectors, specialised journalists, artists, artisans, designers and other watch enthusiasts. Their evaluations were based on five essential criteria: Design & Aesthetics, Creativity & Audacity, Technical Innovation, Details & Finishings and Complexity.
February 22, 2024