The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), considered the “Oscars of Watchmaking,” is the watch industry’s most prominent award. Every summer, like clockwork (heh), the organization reveals a long list of candidates — a whopping 195 this year — to be judged in twelve separate categories, ranging from best general men’s watch to categories for specific complications to categories that consider value. Additionally, there are prizes that all watches from every group are eligible for, including the Aiguille d’Or (best-of-show), the Revival prize for best reissue and the Audacity price — awarded to oddball and non-conformist approaches to watchmaking, a new award for this year.
Speaking of audacity, this year smartwatches will be eligible for competition, and TAG Heuer’s ceramic-cased Connected smartwatch and Hublot’s World Cup Referee smartwatch will both be competing, and there’s a possibility either could take home that award. Similarly, a new “Challenge” category was introduced this year, with a focus on watches that cost 4,000 Swiss francs ($4,010) or less.
As to who will win what, that’s for a jury of 31 watch experts to decide come November. We don’t get to have an official say, but we can sure as hell have opinions. Were we to choose, these would be eight of our winners. You can also see the full list of watches here.
Men’s: Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight
This could battle under the Sports Watch category (and win), but it’s also a contender for best overall men’s watch. When we reviewed it earlier this summer, we loved the authentic vintage styling, the movement and most importantly, the absolutely perfect proportions. Given that the Fifty-Eight brings back some of the tactile glory of vintage Submariners, there’s a good chance this could win the Revival prize, as well.
