Unique central 24-hour second time zone
Fully integrated movement
Elements of surprise

by Ian Skellern

It’s that time of year again when the list of watches entered in the next edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) is published. The GPHG is the “Oscars” of the watchmaking industry, and 2016 is the sixteenth edition of the red carpet evening.

This list comprises all of the watches competing in the first round of the competition from which the jury will preselect six in each of the 12 categories. These 72 preselected watches will then go on a worldwide presentation tour before going on display at the Cité du Temps in Geneva before the big event.

After the pre-selection process, the jury will discuss in secret before casting their ballots. The winning watches will be announced during the horologically star-studded ceremony on Thursday, November 10, 2016 in Geneva. You will be able to watch the ceremony in real time here on Quill & Pad.

Click for the list of this year’s jury members, which includes our own Elizabeth Doerr, and the full list of competing watches.

At this point, I’d like to draw your attention to some of the competing watches that we’ve already written about:

All “Ladies’” entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

In the Ladies’ category, you can read about the Chopard L.U.C. XP 35 mm Espirit de Fleurier Peony and the Fabergé Lady Levity in Best Of Baselworld 2016: The Top 5 Ladies’ Watches.

All “Ladies’ High-Mech” entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève

From the Ladies’ High-Mech category, our team discussed the Antoine Preziuso Stella Polare Tourbillon in our Baselworld 2016 Round Table: What We Liked And What We Didn’t Like. Elizabeth discussed the Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon Lumière in Best Of Baselworld 2016: The Top 5 Ladies’ Watches.

The Men’s category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

In the Men’s category, please read about the Hermès Slim d’Hermès Email in Introducing The Exquisite Slim d’Hermès Email Grand Feu; the Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral in Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral: A Well-Rounded Gentleman; the Corum Golden Bridge Ronde in Get Ready For Amazing: Corum’s Golden Bridge Ronde; the Czapek 33 bis Quai des Bergues in Calling On The Village: Czapek & Cie. And The Quai Des Bergues Collection; and the Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire in Grönefeld 1941 Remontoire In The Horological House Of Orange.

The HYT Skull Bad Boy is also listed in this category. Find about more about it in HYT’s Skull Bad Boy: Fluid Time-Telling Evolves Thanks To Swiss Engineering and Give Me Five! Skulls Grinning From Behind The Crystal At Baselworld 2016 Featuring Speake-Marin, Hautlence, Edelberg, HYT, And Hublot.

The Chronograph category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

In the Chronograph category, we have already written about the Hublot Big Bang Unico Sapphire in Give Me Five! Sapphire Crystal Cases At Baselworld 2016 From Hublot, 4N, Rebellion, MB&F, And Bell & Ross and Ulysse Nardin’s Marine Chronograph Annual Calendar in Celebrating 20 Years Of Ulysse Nardin’s Marine Line.

The Tourbillon category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

From the Tourbillon category, you can read about the Bovet 1822 Ottantasei Flying Tourbillon in Transparently Sublime Bovet Ottantasei By Pininfarina: Near Perfections, Bar One Tiny “Flaw.”

The Calendar category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève

In the Calendar category, see Andreas Strehler’s Lune Exacte in Objects Of Desire: Independent Watches At Baselworld 2016; the Chopard L.U.C. Perpetual Chrono in Chopard L.U.C. Perpetual Chrono: Who Do You See?; Christiaan Van Der Klaauw’s CVDK Real Moon Tides in Ebb And Flow: Christiaan Van Der Klaauw Real Moon Tides; the H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept Funky Blue in Extremely Funky Minimalism: H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Concept; and the MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual in Why Legacy Machine Perpetual Catapults MB&F Into The Big League.

And check out the genesis of Svend Andersen’s Perpetual Secular Calendar 20^th Anniversary Blue Gold Dial in Worldtimers, Erotic Watches, And Poker-Playing Dogs: A.H.C.I. Co-Founder Svend Andersen Has (Semi-)Retired, But His Brand Lives On.

All Travel Time category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

From the new Travel Time category, which replaces last year’s Striking category, please read about the De Bethune DB25 World Traveller in Displaying World Time “Mysteriously”: The De Bethune DB25 World Traveller; Fabergé’s Visionnaire DTZ in Fabergé’s Visionnaire DTZ: A Surprising Way To Display A Second Time Zone; the Louis Vuitton Escale Time Zone in Heraldry, Coats Of Arms; And The Louis Vuitton Escale Worldtime; and Manufacture Royale’s 1770 Haute Voltige in Why The Manufacture Royale 1770 Voltige Has No Need To ‘Humble Brag.’

The Mechanical Exception category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

The Mechanical Exception category is once again incredibly interesting. Therefore, it stands to reason that we’ve written about more than a few of these watches in the last year – such as the 4N Sapphire Planet in Give Me Five! Sapphire Crystal Cases At Baselworld 2016 From Hublot, 4N, Rebellion, MB&F, And Bell & Ross; the Bovet 1822 Récital 18 Shooting Star Tourbillon in Above And Beyond: Bovet Récital 18 Shooting Star; the Chanel Monsieur de Chanel in Surprising Ties That Bind: Chanel And Romain Gauthier; Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud’s FB1 in Ferdinand Berthoud Is Reborn With FB1 Thanks To Chopard’s Karl-Friedrich Scheufele; the Hautlence Vortex Bronze in Give Me Five! Bronze Watches At Baselworld 2016 From Hautlence, Urwerk, Bell & Ross, Tudor, And Oris; the HYT H2 Tradition in The HYT H2 Tradition: Timeless In A Surprisingly Steampunk Way; the MCT S210 in Reevaluation And Regrouping: MCT Sequential S210; Piaget’s Emperador Coussin XL 700P in Piaget Emperador Coussin XL 700P: Hybrid Performance, Piaget Perfection; and Urwerk’s UR-105 T-Rex in Jurassic Looks To Kill: The Patina Of Urwerk’s UR-105 T-Rex.

The Petite Aiguille category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

I appreciate the Petite Aiguille category because it brings to light some interesting timepieces that won’t necessarily break the bank with price tags under 8,000 Swiss francs. Some we’ve already examined include the Hermès Slim d’Hermès in Introducing Slim d’Hermès: The Elegant New Backbone Of The Hermès Collection; the Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze in Tudor Heritage Black Bay Bronze: An Attractive Diver’s Watch At Just The Right Price and in Give Me Five! Bronze Watches At Baselworld 2016 From Hautlence, Urwerk, Bell & Ross, Tudor, And Oris.

The Sports category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

In the Sports category, we have already written about the Ulysse Nardin Grand Deck Marine Tourbillon (though we’re not sure at all that this exceptional piece of haute horlogerie belongs in this category) in Boom Times! Ulysse Nardin Grand Deck Marine Tourbillon.

The Jewellery category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG)

The Jewelry category always brings a few exceedingly rare and unique timepieces out into the spotlight – like the Fabergé Lady Libertine I, which we wrote about in Fabergé & Gemfields’s Vertical Integration Results In Colorfully Synergistic Lady Libertine I.

The Artistic Crafts category entries in the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève

Finally, the Artistic Crafts category brings incredible artistry to light, used in interesting ways. The jury will not have an easy time with this year’s offerings. Some we have already spotlighted include the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked in The Power Of Two: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Double Balance Wheel Openworked; the Credor Fugaku Tourbillon in Seiko’s Credor Fugaku Tourbillon: A Masterpiece Of Horological Art; and the Hermès Arceau Tigre in Roaring Into Life At Full Gallop: Hermès Arceau Tigre Email Ombrant.

For more information, please visit www.gphg.org/horlogerie/en/grand-prix-dhorlogerie-de-geneve/2016.