Blame Marie Curie For the Loss of the Chiming Watch

Once upon a time, the most-common complicated watches would ring out the time on demand. Why are they so rare today? It’s not because they were too complex to build and maintain or too difficult to build; many companies were working on these issues even in the 1890s. And the chiming pocket watch met a special market need, allowing the owner to tell the time in the dark. But the popularity of luminous dials, painted with Marie Curie’s radium salts, allowed everyone to tell the time in the dark. Competition pushed the chiming watch into obscurity, where it remains today.

Buyers of fine watches had a multitude of choices as the 20th century arrived, with fantastic upscale makers from Breguet to Paul Buhré to Patek Philippe to Audemars Piguet and many more. Then as now, high-end watchmakers sought to differentiate their offerings with complications like calendars, chronographs, and especially chimes. Though these additional functions had been developing for a century or more, the one that caught the attention of the rising moneyed gentleman was the so-called repeating watch, which rang out the time on command.

At the same time, industrialized production and the automated cutting machines made it possible for firms across Switzerland, Germany, and France to produce reliable, accurate, and affordable watches. This lead to broad availability of chiming watches from mainstream brands like Le Phare, Invicta, Vulcain, and Angélus. But just as chiming movements were becoming more common and affordable, the entire genre collapsed. This is the story of the fall of a complication and the rise of radium.

The Four Complications

Anything added to a basic watch movement is called a complication, and these fall into a few general categories:

• Automatic winding is the most common today. Some would not even consider this to be a complication, but it was certainly included on the list in historic times and took over a century to perfect.
• Calendar functions, and particularly a date window, are also familiar enough to be taken for granted. This category includes related complications like 24 hour hands, GMT, second timezone, and world time indicators, and astronomical displays.
• The chronograph and stopwatch are perhaps the most recognizable complications today, and still command a premium price. These too took a century to perfect.
• Few modern watch buyers are even familiar with the chiming watch, but sonnerie, répétition, and réveil were the defining achievement of generations of watchmakers before the modern era. Today only the alarm watch is produced in any volume, and even this is a rarity.

This situation was entirely reversed at the turn of the 20th century. Chiming watches, and repeaters in particular, were the most common and popular complication. Various calendar functions were well-known, but customers saw little need for them. The chronograph was still in its infancy, though it had found customers in military and sporting circles. And automatic winding would still take a few decades to appear.

The most popular form of chiming watch was the repeater, which rings the time on demand. Most used a pushbutton that both powered and triggered the chime, which rang the hours, quarters, and five or even one minute count. Many people use the term “minute repeater” generically to refer to all such watches, but it refers only to watches that specifically chime to the minute. Five-minute or simply quarter repetition was far more common a century ago.

There are two other categories of chiming watches:

• A sonnerie chimes the hour or the quarters autonomously (“en passant”), as is common in a grandfather or church clock. A grande sonnerie chimes the quarters, while a petite sonnerie chimes only the hour.
• A réveil operates like an alarm clock, ringing at a pre-set time in the future. These have been produced for centuries but were never in great demand until the 1950s and rapidly fell out of favor.

Anxiety About Time

We live in a culture obsessed with time, but this was not the case before the 20th century. Most people lived communally and rose, ate, worked, and played along with those around them rather than on the whims of a clock. Extended families lived together, and beds were shared with family members and even strangers. There was very little need to set an alarm to wake at a certain time when the whole house arose together. Since the week was tightly associated with the schedules of the church, no one needed to know the date. Very few activities needed precise time measurement.

All this changed as industrialization allowed more people access to the comforts of life that had previously been reserved for the ownership class. The expanding middle class began moving to larger houses with more bedrooms and experiencing a new feeling: Privacy. Unused to sleeping alone they likely woke in the middle of the night, wondering how much longer they could stay in bed.

At the same time, workers and managers alike began commuting to workshops and factories, even taking trains to other towns and villages. By the turn of the 20th century, anxiety had a risen about waking and schedules, even among the working class. Many of these were served by bells, increasingly attached to factories rather than churches, that alerted them when to arrive at work.

The Repeating Chime Craze

Repeating watches solve a problem: Rather than feeling for the position of the hands or waiting for a chime en passant, a repeater could “speak” the time even in pitch dark. In the 1890s, once industrialization and invention made them more practical, demand for repeating watches exploded.

A few watchmakers deserve special credit for the repeating watch craze. These were centered in the Swiss Jura and the Vallée de Joux.

Le Locle, Ponts-de-Martel, and La Chaux-de-Fonds brought us Le Phare, Martel, Angélus, and Invicta:

• Charles Barbezat-Baillot (1846-1938) went from apprentice to partner of Henri Guye (1838-1877) of Le Locle in the 1870s, taking over the company after his early death. His Barbezat-Baillot watch factory was formed in 1888 to capitalize on a patented repeating watch design, sold as Le Phare (“the lighthouse”) by 1896. This would become the leading producer of repeating watches in the era until it was taken over by Jämes Favre of Zenith in 1914.
• Georges Pellaton-Steudler (1865-1950) invented the Le Phare movement. He formed his own company in Le Locle in 1910 before moving to Ponts-de-Martel to establish the Martel Watch Company there. Georges was the son of Albert Pellaton-Favre (1832-1914), inventor of the practical tourbillon, and brother of Jämes-César Pellaton (1873-1954), who continued his father’s work at the Le Locle watchmaking school. The Martel factory became a leading producer of chronographs after the repeating watch bust, eventually creating the El Primero for Zenith!
• Edmond Mathey-Tissot (1858-1929) was already producing complicated watches in Ponts-de-Martel with Albert Guye (1867-1952) when Georges Pellaton-Steudler arrived. The three watchmakers worked closely together, promoting the repeater as well as the chronograph.
• Henri Barbezat-Bôle was a specialist in the finest watches and complications. Working in Le Locle, he was likely related to Charles Barbezat-Baillot. His firm was founded a bit earlier and continued longer, merging with Paul Buhré in 1928. Barbezat-Bôle had a patented minute repeater with four hammers.
• Stolz Frères of Le Locle rapidly expanded their factory, producing the Angélus repeating pocket watch there. Like Excelsior Park and Martel, Angélus was able to pivot from the repeater to the chronograph and became a successful producer of clocks in the 20th century.
• The Invicta brand was originally specific to a repeating watch manufactured by Fils de R. Picard of La Chaux-de-Fonds. It was manufactured alongside the company’s Military Watch using standardized and mass-produced components. The factory took the Invicta name in 1908 and this remains one of the most famous brands in watchmaking.

The Vallée de Joux was long a center for complicated watchmaking and some of these firms produced larger quantities of repeating watches:

• Henri Magnenat-Lecoultre formed a specialized company in Le Sentier to manufacture minute repeaters of his own design in 1887. He sold the company to Jeanneret-Brehm, maker of Excelsior Park chronographs, in 1910. They closed the Le Sentier factory in 1917 after the repeater bubble burst.
• John-W. Meylan (1877-1938) was born into watchmaking in the Vallée de Joux, patenting a pusher mechanism to wind and trigger the chime. He partnered with Charles Aubert and supplied many high-end watch brands with repeating movements, including Audemars Piguet.
• Alfred Lugrin (1858-1920) produced complicated watches in l’Orient in the Vallée de Joux, including chronographs and repeaters. He sold these using the Lemania brand exclusively until the repeater watch lost favor. His factory joined SSIH, the holding company for Omega and Tissot, in 1932 and is today known as Manufacture Breguet.

There are many others who could be included on this list, but it should be clear that the repeating watch was a major industry trend from the 1890s through the beginning of World War I. But it should also be noted that most of these watchmakers went out of business or switched to chronographs around this time.

Though forgotten today, the reason for the collapse of the repeating watch market was well known at the time: Luminous radium dials allowed one to tell the time at night without a complex chiming mechanism.

Radium: The Miraculous New Material

Marie Curie and her husband Pierre were inspired by the work of Röntgen and Becquerel to search for new elements in their Paris laboratory in the late 1890s. She focused on pitchblende and chalcolite ores, noting that they were “much more active than uranium.” In 1898 the Curies published papers announcing the existence of polonium and radium, coining the word “radioactivity” but not understanding the dangers.

The Curies’ discovery caused a worldwide sensation, with speculation about the application for “the luminous glow and spontaneous heat” of radium salts. The watch industry buzzed about the new element, with one article speculating about a “radium watch” that could be powered for life by a small lump of radium rather than a spring. More intriguing was the suggestion in Revue Horlogére and others that radium was a “philosopher’s stone” that could transmute corrundum into topaz or ruby. The potential to combine radium and phosphorous to produce lasting luminance was also noted, though this was one of many potential uses.

Perhaps the oddest result of the radium craze was the trend to name completely-unrelated things after the new material. A quick search of products using the name include a type of silk fabric, a movie theater, cigarette paper, and a brand of watches: The struggling Moutier Watch Company used the Radium brand name on watches as early as 1903, receiving a trademark on the word in October. This was five years before a luminous radium painted dial would be produced! It didn’t save the Société d’Horlogerie de Moutier, however; The company was bankrupt by the end of 1913.

Junghans, LIP, and Utinam

Radium was incredibly rare and expensive, requiring tons of ore to produce a single gram of radium salts. At first, access was limited to scientists and companies associated with the major French and German academies, and this is likely how the Junghans brothers of Schramberg in the German Kingdom of Württemberg became the first to produce a dial with luminous radium paint. On June 27, 1907 Arthur Junghans applied for a patent that covered the use of “improved luminous substance for indicators containing radium … of a clock, speed-gauge, or the like.”

The Junghans patent was granted in Germany, France, and America, and the German factory began producing an alarm clock with a radium painted dial in 1908. The “Darling” alarm clock included the company’s patented alarm movement and had luminous radium painted numerals and hands, allowing it to be seen in the dark. The early Darling clock did not use much of the precious radium salts, but it didn’t need to be very bright to be read at night.

Desiring to take advantage their “first mover” advantage, Junghans purchased advertisements in major newspapers in 1910 announcing that they would protect their patents vigorously, even requesting that any other radium-painted watch or clock be seized by the authorities. Needless to say, this did not go well with their competitors, especially LIP, which was already preparing to release a radium painted alarm clock of their own.

The validity of the Junghans patent was challenged with centuries of prior art for the use of luminous material in watchmaking and was quickly overturned. But LIP and others were quick to point out that there were patentable elements, from the formula and mixing, application technique, and the physical properties of the hands and dials. Indeed, the same people involved in the patent controversy quickly registered patents of their own, including Arthur Junghans.

LIP was next to market, announcing in November 1909 that their latest watches show “time in the dark with Radium luminous dials and hands.” Swiss/French brand Utinam made a similar announcement later that same month, perhaps using LIP as a supplier. And Junghans continued refining their technology, releasing a pocket alarm watch with a radium dial that was ten times brighter.

The Radium Watch Craze

By 1914 nearly every watchmaking firm was offering luminous painted hands and numerals powered by radium. This same period saw an explosion of interest in alarm clocks, many of which included glowing dials as well. And the price of radium came down dramatically as demand grew and mixing techniques improved. Soon, even so-called economic watches would have glowing hands and dials.

This boom spelled the end of the repeating watch, however. Although the pushbutton chime was undoubtedly a joy, these complex watches were far more expensive than a simple alarm clock, even one with a radium dial. Demand crashed, with nearly every chiming watch specialist closing or changing hands between 1910 and 1920. The best were able to pivot to chronographs, compact watches for ladies, wristwatches, or other trends. But many, including specialists like John-W. Meylan and Henri Magnenat-Lecoultre, simply vanished into obscurity.

One of the most remarkable new luminous radium dial watches introduced in this period used a compact 13 ligne alarm movement from Schild Frères. Sold under the Eterna brand as a tiny pocket watch, it was also available with a novel wrist strap and matching attachment for use in an automobile. This was the first mass-produced alarm wristwatch, and would remain in production for three decades. Incredibly, production stopped just two years short of the introduction of the trend-setting Vulcain Cricket!

Customers weren’t ready to carry an alarm watch, however. They saw the utility in cheaper fixed alarm clocks, and these rose in popularity among factory workers and managers alike. And they loved the glowing radium numerals, especially once prices came down. A post-war boom and bust, followed by the Great Depression and World War II limited the market for complicated watches generally. It wasn’t until watchmakers tried to find novelty in the 1950s that calendars and automatic winding, and to a lesser extent chronographs and alarm watches, came back. But the repeater remained dormant for decades.

The Radium Girls

The radium craze had a darker side as well. Although it was well known at the time that there were powerful rays emanating from radium and other materials, the impact of radiation on the human body was not understood. Marie Curie would ultimately die of radiation exposure, as would dozens of so-called “radium girls” in America who pointed their brushes by touching them to their lips. The health effects of radium exposure was known but hidden from these workers, leading to lawsuits and a revolution in workplace safety regulations.

Radium-related illnesses were much less common in Europe. Junghans, LIP, and Swiss makers used glass pens and rods rather than camel hair brushes to apply the paint, and the technique and mixture was different. This resulted in far less exposure than the “lip, dip, paint” method taught to the American workers. And the Swiss workers in particular had social funds to provide medical care rather than being forced to sue the corporation.

Once the American radium dial companies adopted basic safety standards the health impact of radium was dramatically reduced. Although it is likely that some workers still succumbed to radium poisoning in America and Europe, the widespread illnesses suffered by the Radium Girls in the 1920s did not reoccur in the five decades of radium dial painting that followed.

I strongly recommend reading the 2018 book, “Radium Girls” by Kate Moore to learn more. Sadly, the 2020 film adaptation is poorly-written and full of anachronisms and non-sequiturs.

The Return of the Repeater

Although he is usually remembered for other innovations, it was Gérald Genta that brought the repeating watch back from its slumber in the 1970s: His 1978 gem-crusted grande complication pocket watch reminded the world what Swiss watchmakers were capable of producing. IWC and Audemars Piguet also brought the repeater back in exclusive pocket watches at the end of that bruising decade.

In the 1980s, Swiss watchmakers realized that complicated watches could be a path forward for the industry. Blancpain introduced an exclusive minute repeater at Basel in 1986 and paired it with a perpetual calendar the following year. IWC combined a minute repeater with a perpetual calendar and chronograph for the 1992 Il Destriero grande complication. Jaeger-LeCoultre even brought a minute repeater to the Reverso in 1994.

The Grail Watch Perspective: The Loss of a Charming Complication

Chiming watches are charming to the un-initiated. When I ring my Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox movement everyone stops to listen. And the AMVOX and Reverso are the only watches in my collection that my kids took an interest in. Given this kind of appeal, and the fact that modern manufacturing makes chiming watches practical once again, one would think they would be more common. But chimes have remained exclusive and limited.

This changed in 2022 when Christopher Ward introduced the GPHG-winning C1 Bel Canto. Priced under $4,000, the Bel Canto is the first repeater to come close to the widespread appeal of the turn of the century repeating watches from Invicta, Le Phare, and Vulcain. My friend owns one, and it’s just as charming as I imagined. Enough to tempt me to consider buying another watch!

"Black Velvet" is a song written by Canadian songwriters #ChristopherWard and #DavidTyson and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter #AlannahMyles. It was released in July 1989 as the second single from Myles' first studio album, Alannah Myles (1989), by #AtlanticRecords. "Black Velvet" became a number-one hit on the US #Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, as well as number 10 in Myles' native Canada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT4d1LQy4es

My Predictions and Picks for GPHG 2025

The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) winners will be announced tomorrow, so I thought I would get a jump on things by picking the winners today. Now I don’t want to guess I’ll be 100% correct in my predictions, but it’s always fun to try. And I’ll re-visit this post after the ceremony to show where I was right and where I missed the mark!

Ladies’ and Jewellery Watches

I don’t know nearly as much about ladies and jewellery watches as some, but I’ve been watching the GPHG for a number of years and have spotted a few trends in the vote: The jury tends to pick watches that catch the eye with innovative designs and spectacular finishing, while also focusing on a few popular brands. With that in mind, here are my predictions for the winners in these categories.

Ladies’ Watch

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Mini Frosted Gold Quartz will win. Yeah it’s got a quartz movement, but my wife at least prefers that. The Royal Oak is a 7-times winner at the GPHG but incredibly no smaller models have taken the prize. AP’s frosted gold is just luscious, making this tiny Royal Oak one of my favorites from the brand.

If I was on the jury I would choose the Tiffany & Co. Bird on a Rock Legacy Tanzanite for its incredible combination of craftsmanship and style. But Tiffany has never won an award at the GPHG, and it’s always hard to beat AP!

Ladies’ Complication Watch

I’m betting that the Franck Muller Round Triple Mystery takes the award. It has a lot going for it, with the skeletonized discs of diamonds and emeralds, but Franck Muller hasn’t won a GPHG award in two decades.

My vote would go to the Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon, but despite two recent wins I don’t think the market has warmed to the Code 11.59 design like I have.

Jewellery Watch

I can’t see anything other than the Bulgari Serpenti Aeterna taking this prize. The Serpenti has incredible buzz, and this watch is gorgeous. It would get my vote, too, even though my wife prefers the Chopard and I’m thrilled to see a sautoir in the running.

Artistic Crafts Watch

I’m really torn between the Piaget Altiplano Skeleton, Tiffany & Co. Bird on a Flying Tourbillon, and Voutilainen 28GML SOUYOU, but I’m going to give the nod to the Piaget. They’re one of the winningest brands in the history of the GPHG and this particular example is just lovely: A perfect balance of art and craft and a really compelling watch!

Time, Men’s, Iconic, and Sports

I know a lot more about men’s watches, and the next four categories are a lot tougher. There are many incredible entries, and I’m not entirely sure which one will win out! But I’ll take a stab at it, again focusing on what I think the jury and the market will prefer.

Time Only Watch

Ming won the Sports prize last year, and they’re back with the incredible Project 21. This would be my pick of this crop too, thanks in large part to the famous Frédéric Piguet Cal. FP21 beating inside. This movement was the thinnest ever made when it was introduced in 1925 and held that record for 21 years. It was used by Blancpain and Patek Philippe, and now Ming has adopted it!

Men’s Watch

This is a very tough category, but I think it comes down to the Grand Seiko Spring Drive U.F.A. and Zenith G.F.J. Calibre 135. Ultimately I think the Zenith will get the nod, thanks to its more-distinctive looks and legendary movement, now in serial production.

Grand Seiko has been more successful lately. My vote would be with the Grand Seiko Spring Drive U.F.A.!

Iconic Watch

This is my category, since I focus on watchmaking history. The Breguet Classique Souscription 2025 is really excellent and hyped, but I think the award will ultimately go to the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. The incredible new Cal. 7138, with all adjustments through the crown, deserves a win on its own, and it comes in a flawless package! But this might end up taking the top prize, leaving Breguet to swipe a win.

My vote would definitely go to the excellent and important Andersen Genève Communication 45, but the jury has not been kind to this brand: They have never won, despite 10 nominations!

Sports Watch

Audemars Piguet entered an Offshore in this category, so I think Grand Seiko will sneak in a win here with the Tokyo Lion Tentagraph. It’s weird and ugly to my eyes, but the movement is so good. And Grand Seiko has so much buzz from collectors for this watch.

My vote would go to the Ressence GMT Sport-Chic Watch Type 7, but I really don’t think it stands a chance in this category. Although they’re cool, Ressence has very little hype and has suffered reputational damage from leaking oil-filled cases and electro-mechanical ideas that never took off.

Complicated Watches

Now we get to some more elite categories. Prices for the complicated watches are stratospheric, and most categories are packed with worthy entrants. But the jury has to pick one, and so do I!

Chronograph

I was lucky enough to see an H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Alpine Drivers Edition in the flesh, and it’s every bit as good as I thought it would be. Although the other contenders in the Chronograph category are worth a look, only the Louis Moinet revival stands a chance. I would have voted for the Moser too, and would buy one if I had the spare cash!

Men’s Complication Watch

Chalk up another win for Audemars Piguet! I will be shocked if the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar “150th Anniversary” Openworked doesn’t take the award. It marks the swan song of the old Cal. 5135 and offers so much to love (apart from the nearly-$200k price tag).

My vote would go to the Chopard L.U.C Lunar One, which finally gives the excellent L.U.C Calibre 96.13-L a proper home. And it’s a bargain at half the price!

Tourbillon

I see the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon running away with a win. This line has won 5 GPHG awards, including a 2017 win in this same category (then called the Tourbillon and Escapement Watch Prize) for the direct ancestor of this watch. But this one is even better. I want Urban Jürgensen to win something, but I just can’t see their UJ-1 beating the Bulgari.

Mechanical Exception

How do you beat a $3 million watch? Louis Vuitton is about to find out, as the modestly-priced (in comparison) $500k Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante takes this prize. Now a real watch rather than an experiment, the nanomechanical marvel is a jaw-dropping tour-de-force (if you’ll forgive the pun) with a foudroyante hand to show just how slick it is.

I would have voted for the $95k Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance Manufacture Edition. It’s lovely, mechanically exceptional, and a great value, but it honestly has no chance of winning in this crowd.

Price-Based Categories

The next two categories are based on price bands. I love that there’s space for lower-priced entries to win, and that these categories attract so many interesting newcomers and alternative brands. But this makes it even harder to break through – it takes a very special watch to win the “Petite Aiguille”, let alone the Challenge prize!

Challenge Watch

The “Challenge Watch Prize” goes to a watch that retails under 3,000 Swiss Francs, the most-affordable price brand. This limits the “Swiss” content, not to mention the finishing and movement selections, so it’s always a pleasure to see some interesting entrants.

Christopher Ward has been doing some phenomenal work lately, and their collaboration with Mr. Jones ought to take the prize. The C1 Celestial Moonphase x Mr Jones uses a Sellita SW220-1 with additional components to create a whimsical animated dial showing the phase of the moon, with the time marked by two birds. Yet somehow the result is charming rather than gimicky.

China is deeply involved in watchmaking, but the contributions of the factories there are rarely celebrated. It’s time to set that right. The Atelier Wen Millésime 2024 睦 (MÙ) is a remarkable watch with real craftsmanship, including a hand-turned guilloche dial, lovely design, and a thin automatic Liaoning Peacock movement. I would have wanted to examine it in person, but suspect it would have earned my vote.

“Petite Aiguille” Watch

The “Petite Aiguille” prize goes to a watch in the middle price band, between 3,000 and 10,000 francs. This ought to be the richest territory for watches with mass appeal, but the entrants this year are uniformly odd.

In 2022, M.A.D. Editions won the Challenge prize for their highly sought-after M.A.D.1, and they are the clear favorites to win the next prize with the M.A.D.2 Green. It’s priced just over the limit at 3,135 francs, but is frankly a much more appealing design. The turntable-inspired aesthetic might be lost on you, but the overall look is remarkably balanced and interesting.

I love the Christopher Ward C12, but I’m a Moser guy so my vote would have gone to the H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Alpine Mechanics Edition. But I do wonder if it should even be listed here, since it’s not generally available for purchase, and smartwatches are supposed to be limited to the Challenge category. Still, I would drop 4,500 francs on this beauty tomorrow if only the Meylan family would cash my check!

The Big Prize (and the Others)

The winner of the Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix is drawn from the entrants in the other categories, are the discretionary prizes. This makes it much harder to predict which watch will win, and confounds the above predictions since my pick could be bumped for a bigger prize. Still, let’s take a look and consider who might win.

Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix

It is incredibly difficult to pick the best watch among the 90 nominated entries, but we can limit things a bit. It is unlikely that a clock, Challenge, or “Petite Aiguille” would win, so we can reduce the field to 75. And the overall winner is usually a complicated model for men rather than a ladies’ or jewellery watch. The Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix usually goes to a model that is important, complicated, and pioneering, as it should.

My prediction, and my choice, is simple: No watch on this list is more important, in-demand, and iconic than the new Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar. If it takes the top prize, I suspect that Breguet will take home the Iconic Watch prize with their Breguet Classique Souscription 2025.

What else could win? Theoretically any of my winners could take the prize, but the most likely is the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon. Its cousin, the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, took home the top award in 2021, and this offering is even better. But I’m not sure who wins the Tourbillon award in that case: Czapek or Urban Jürgensen, I suppose.

Discretionary Prizes

Although they don’t have to give any award in the discretionary categories (thus the name), the jury only skipped one prize in the last few years. So it is likely that these will also shake up the ceremony!

Audacity Prize

The Audacity Prize recognizes “a non-conformist, offbeat approach to watchmaking.” Last year it was won by the Berneron Mirage, which ought to have taken the Horological Revelation prize if I had been on the jury.

A look at past winners shows that the jury truly values unusual design, and we have that in spades this year. While I’d love to see the prize go to Behrens, Otsuka Lotec, or Amida, these lower-priced oddballs are unlikely to be rewarded. The same is true of the offbeat Artistic Crafts entries from Louis Vuitton and Hermès. Instead, my pick for Audacity is the Bvlgari x MB&F Serpenti: No other watch combines haute horology, iconic design, and sheer funkiness like this wild little arm-biter. Audacity barely does it justice!

Horological Revelation Prize

Is there a young brand (less than 10 years old) that deserves recognition among this crowded roster? This prize was skipped last year, and is the most-skipped discretionary award of all. It previously went to Simon Brette, Sylvain Pinaud, Furlan Mari, Petermann Bédat, Ming, Laurent Ferrier, and Ressence.

This list might include Raúl Pagès, Otsuka Lotec, Fam Al Hut, Tasaki, Garrick, Hazemann & Monnin, and Luca Soprana. Of these, only Pagès has yet contributed enough to be considered. Companies like Amida and Czapek position themselves as re-launches of historic brands, which is too bad since Czapek fits the bill perfectly on their 10th anniversary. Ultimately, I think this award will again be skipped for 2025.

Eco-Innovation Prize

The Innovation Prize became the Eco-Innovation Prize last year, recognizing “significant developments linked to sustainability: traceability, ethics, materials, etc.” Chopard took home the first trophy for their L.U.C Qualité Fleurier, but I’m not sure who might get it this time around: None of the entries seem particularly eco-friendly. Perhaps the jury skips this one in just its second year!

Chronometry Prize

The Chronometry Prize recognizes a watch that is officially certified and stands out for its remarkable precision timekeeping. Grand Seiko won it in 2022 for their constant-force tourbillon, then Ferdinand Berthoud in 2023, followed by the perfectly-fit Bernhard Lederer 3 Times Certified Observatory Chronometer.

Eligible models include the Chopard L.U.C Quattro Mark IV and the Armin Strom Dual Time GMT Resonance. Sadly, it appears that the Urban Jürgensen watches are not chronometer certified, exempting them from eligibility. And it’s tragic that Seiko’s Spring Drive Caliber 9RB2 (with a rate of 20 seconds per year) isn’t certified either. If I was on the jury I would give the award to the audacious Armin Strom, but I wonder if they will pick Chopard (one of their historic favorites) over that never-awarded brand.

The Grail Watch Perspective

By the time you read this, it is likely that the 2025 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève will be finished and all of my picks and predictions will be wasted. But this won’t be the last time I write about the GPHG this year: I’ll publish a response to the awards soon, and I have more in the works: A deeper look at the history of the awards and an analysis of the most-frequent winners and losers.

#arminStrom #atelierWen #audemarsPiguet #bulgari #chopard #christopherWard #franckMuller #gphg #grandPrixDhorlogerieDeGeneve #grandSeiko #greubelForsey #hMoserCie #ming #piaget

"Black Velvet" is a song written by Canadian songwriters #ChristopherWard and #DavidTyson and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter #AlannahMyles. It was released in July 1989 as the second single from Myles' first studio album, Alannah Myles (1989), by #AtlanticRecords. It became a number-one hit on the US #Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, as well as number 10 in Myles' native Canada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT4d1LQy4es

"Black Velvet" is a song written by Canadian songwriters #ChristopherWard and #DavidTyson and performed by Canadian singer-songwriter #AlannahMyles. It was released in July 1989 as the second single from Myles' first studio album, Alannah Myles (1989), by #AtlanticRecords. It became a number-one hit on the US #Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, as well as number 10 in Myles' native Canada.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnDK39eqZ8I