Welcome to the 2020 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève predictions in which the team picks favorites and explains why.

The panelists are:

Elizabeth Doerr (ED), co-founder and editor-in-chief

Ian Skellern (IS), co-founder and technical director

Joshua Munchow (JM), resident nerd writer

GaryG (GG), resident collector

Martin Green (MG), resident gentleman

Bhanu Chopra (BC), resident flieger expert

The GPHG foundation describes the Ladies Complication category for watches entered as “women’s watches that are remarkable in terms of their mechanical creativity and complexity. These watches may feature all kinds of classic and/or innovative complications and indications (like annual calendar, perpetual calendar, equation of time, complex moon phase, digital or retrograde time display, world time, second time zone, or others) and do not fit the definition of the Ladies and Mechanical Exception categories.”

GPHG 2020 nominated Ladies Complication watches: Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon, Charles Girardier Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel, Jacob & Co Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin Rainbow, Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace, Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon, Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant

GG: I’m quite enjoying this year’s set of finalists in this category! We have tourbillons (which I know are not strictly a complication, but I’ll let that slide), automata, music, retrograde time, a retrograde calendar, and even meshing heart-shaped gears. Who said creativity and craft were dead in watchmaking?

IS: Whereas contenders for the GPHG Ladies category should, in my opinion, have a focus on daily wearability, the watches in the Ladies Complication category are for more special occasions.

I’m a little disappointed with many of the nominated watches here as I don’t think that the majority are either complicated enough or inventive enough. It appears from some of the watches here that just a tourbillon (and ubiquitous diamonds) is enough. To be fair, though, that’s more the result of the GPHG rules for the Ladies category excluding a tourbillon, leaving no choice for brands to enter a beautiful, but relatively simple, ladies’ watch with a tourbillon escapement into the Complication category.

ED: And to be fair in that point, though, Ian, there aren’t that many ladies’ watches with tourbillons at all! So their entries here are justified – even if, as Gary said and horological tradition dictates, a tourbillon isn’t a complication because it adds no function.

MG: Especially in the last few years, I feel that brands unleash more of their creativity when it comes to complicated ladies’ watches. That said, I still find it interesting that four of the six nominated watches in this category feature a tourbillon. While a tourbillon makes a watch movement more complex, it is not a complication but a regulating device. I understand the motivation for the GPHG to include tourbillons in this category, but especially as an authority, the foundation might want to consider redefining this category.

BC: The Ladies Complication category offers some impressive and innovative mechanical complications. However, my vote goes to a watch where complication is showcased in a simple manner and there is no deviation from the overall aesthetics of the watch just to showcase technical prowess.

IS: I’d also like to state up front that while I’ve handled variations of a few of the watches here, I haven’t handled any of these specific watches, so my opinions may, or are even likely to, change if/when I do have an opportunity to see them in the metal.

And it’s worth highlighting that while the category is called “Ladies Complication,” the GPHG rules for these watches state, “women’s watches that are remarkable in terms of their mechanical creativity and complexity.” No mention of “complication,” so by that definition if a tourbillon is considered complex and creative enough, it would qualify.

JM: Unlike the basic Ladies category, the Ladies Complication category has a driving factor behind the judging: creativity and execution of mechanical complications. This allows other things like practicality or versatility to be overlooked in favor of mechanical awesomeness. Of course, I will still personally choose a more meaningful assembly of complications as it also highlights the ability to focus and provide value.

While the Mechanical Exception category is technically the place for highlighting the wildest mechanics, I still feel that some restraint and logical application is valuable for the Ladies Complication category.

ED: Good thought, Joshua. Just remember that last sentence when it comes to sizing, please. Watch manufacturers often forget that size and wearing comfort are especially important to women – well, to me anyway. But I doubt I’m alone in that.

Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon

ED: This watch is so incredibly wearable, purpose built, versatile in its variety of variations, and ranging from no diamonds to full diamonds as seen here. I also love the silky bracelet with its attractive snake scales. There isn’t much I don’t like about it. I have always loved the creative Serpenti collection, and the recently introduced Seduttori with simplified bracelet and now the tourbillon take something great and make it even better and more wearable. This new bracelet can also be traded in for a regular strap – though why anyone would do that is beyond me. The bracelet turns this watch into jewelry.

A pair in the hand: Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillons in white and pink gold variations

As for the “complication” aspect – while we here broadly agree that a tourbillon is not a complication in the strict horological sense, this category by default is where the feminine tourbillons land. So I find their inclusion to be perfectly justified. And the Bulgari is my personal favorite here because its tiny purpose-built tourbillon adds a demonstration of technical skill important to both the category and myself, and the perfect proportions of its size are ideal for a comfortable fit on a woman’s wrist. When I tried this watch on during LVMH Watch Week in Dubai, I barely registered it on my wrist, so comfortable it was.

MG: While I think Bulgari did an outstanding job with the Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon, fitting it with the smallest movement with a flying tourbillon currently available in the market, I cannot pick it to win because of the comment I made above. However, I think that the jury will generously overlook this fact. Otherwise, it would be slim pickings anyway, and that the Bulgari has an excellent chance to claim victory in this category. Given the movement and execution of the overall piece, I cannot blame them. For me, this watch was one of the highlights of the LVMH Watch Week in Dubai earlier this year. It is elegant without being old-fashioned and overall well proportioned. A great way for the brand to perpetuate its Serpenti saga.

JM: Bulgari has a history of providing excellent aesthetic and mechanical direction for both men’s and women’s watches, and the Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon is another great example of this ability. Outside of the stylistic choices and superb craftsmanship with the jeweling and goldsmithing on this watch, the tourbillon is fantastic with a sapphire crystal bridge and the smallest tourbillon size on the market.

I think that a lot of people will love this watch for a multitude of reasons, and I wouldn’’t blame them. Even so, I don’t think it is the best example of a complicated ladies watch in the category. So while it is an aesthetic favorite, it misses the top spot for me by lacking any real complication by the widely accepted standard of the word.

Full diamond-set Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon in white gold

GG: Second on my list is the Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon with its tiny, serpent head-shaped tourbillon movement. The diamond bracelet version seems a bit much perhaps, but both the red gold and white gold strap versions seem quite striking, at least in images, and I give Bulgari full points for creating an ultra-small, non-round tourbillon movement just for this piece.

ED: You’d be surprised, Gary, just how low-key the bracelet comes across due to its proportionate dimensions. It does not overpower in the least. And given the choice, I would prefer it on the bracelet – which indicates that (for me at least) it’s not too over the top.

BC: My winner is Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon. Bulgari’s watch department keeps pushing technical and design elements every year. The Serpenti Seduttori is a brilliantly designed watch, and the addition of the tourbillon fits so naturally into the overall aesthetics of the bejeweled watch.

IS: I love the shape of the Bulgari Serpenti, the 34 mm size makes for a very wearable watch, and the full diamond snow setting of the dial, case, bracelet, and clasp is certainly eye-catching but surprisingly non-ostentatious. The Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon is a watch that should easily fit at any dressy occasion. It’s a fantastic high-end ladies’ watch and perhaps the prettiest watch here, however a tourbillon just isn’t enough of a complication, or creatively complex, for me to consider it a winner.

Further reading: Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon: Precious Metal, Precious Stones, Precious Movement

Bulgari’s Beloved Serpenti: A Brief History

LVMH Watch Week 2020: A Round Table Discussion Of A New-Generation Group Fair And A Photofest Of New Watches From Zenith, Hublot And Bulgari

Quick Facts Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon
Case: 34 x 8.9 mm, white gold, set with a total of 558 diamonds (7.89 ct) on case, bezel, dial and bracelet
Movement: manual wind Caliber BVL150 with one-minute tourbillon with sapphire crystal bridge, power reserve 40 hours, 3 Hz/21,600 vph frequency
Functions: hours, minutes
Price: €165,000/CHF 165,000

Charles Girardier Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel

GG: The Charles Girardier Tourbillon Mystérieuse is appropriately named for me as it is quite a mystery. It’s a tourbillon watch with an odd rotating thingy at 12 o’clock in the form of the brand’s initials; a very brief video on the GPHG website of the mechanism in various positions doesn’t provide any confidence that it’s a useful addition. The movement is said to be provided by the “Timeless manufacture,” an organization that I could find no information about despite a lengthy online search. And an overall search suggests that there may be no one out there who has actually seen one of these pieces. Nonetheless, we find it among the finalists for a prize this year.

Charles Girardier Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel

ED: Precisely the point I was about to make, Gary! Remember when Beauregard entered the Dahlia in the 2018 edition of the GPHG? None of us knew that watch or the brand either. But it was voted into the final round on the strength of the photo and description provided. When judging day came, I was particularly excited to handle that piece, and as it turns out my excitement was justified: it was an absolute stunner of a wristwatch. Later, I got to know Alexandre Beauregard and understand the background of both brand and watch.

My point to those remarks are twofold: 1) it should be a lesson to brands, especially new or small brands, to do their press work diligently prior to an event such as the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève and become a bit better known; and 2) as much as we’d like to gloss over what we don’t know in our tiny watch industry, sometimes it’s worth taking a look. Like you, my first instinct was to disregard this watch as searches have turned up nothing and I have no idea who is behind this, but remembering my experience with Beauregard is enough for me to hold my tongue for now and hope that I get a chance to handle this watch sooner rather than later. The description and photos of it are interesting.

MG: I have never understood the need to have a monogram on an item. I am perfectly capable of knowing my name or identifying my own property. If I cannot do that anymore, I am ready for an elderly care home, where in many cases they put your name on what is yours. So the charming “monogram” complication is a bit lost on me. I am more taken by the diamond-set tourbillon cage and the gorgeously executed dial. Given the competition in this category, I doubt if it is enough for the win, though.

Charles Girardier Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel

JM: This watch is a terrific example of mechanical creativity and playfulness finding its way into a watch designed with women in mind. Demonstrating a “mysterious” signature on the dial, the Tourbillon Signature Mysterieuse distinctly lives up to its name. I love the concept and it’s clear the implementation is top notch with a true haute horlogerie movement. But I also don’t see a lot of value added (in a complication sense) with the automaton signature. It doesn’t provide any extra information beyond time so I can’t rightly choose it to win the category.

IS: The Charles Girardier Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel is nicely sized at 37 mm, a flying tourbillon is more complicated than a standard tourbillon, and the rotating mysterious signature disks (I think it’s both a stretch and inaccurate to describe them as an automaton) adds additional kinetic interest to that already amply supplied by the rotating diamond-set flying tourbillon cage. And I very much like the engraved, silver paillon-set, oven-fired, enamel dial. This is an extremely good-looking watch with visually interesting complications, but I don’t feel that it’s complicated enough to win this category.

Quick Facts Charles Girardier Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Fleur de Sel
Case: 37 x 11.8 mm, white gold, bezel set with 0.8 ct diamonds
Dial: high-fire enamel with paillons
Movement: automatic Caliber CG1809 (Timeless manufacture) with one-minute flying tourbillon and peripheral rotor, 46-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph/4 Hz frequency
Functions: hours, minutes; rotating disks with logo
Price: 90,000 Swiss francs

Jacob & Co. Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin Rainbow

ED: An exceedingly similar version of this watch called Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin set with pink sapphires instead of rainbow-colored sapphires was entered into the 2019 Ladies Complication category and made it through to the final round. While the gem selection and setting is outstanding on both of these watches, the truly astronomical proportions of this case – 21 mm in height!!!! – make it practically unwearable. I felt that way about this watch last year, and I still feel that way about it now.

However, as an objet d’art, it is irresistible, fascinating, and simply beautiful. In fact, this year’s “rainbow” sapphires make it even more appealing to me.

Jacob & Co. Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin Rainbow

GG: I really, really wanted to put the Jacob & Co. watch higher on the list, but it’s a rainbow-colored remake of last year’s violet-hued Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin watch so I knocked it down for that reason.

JM: This watch is the best demonstration of why this category needs to be split into two more explicit categories: namely, Ladies Complication and Ladies Mechanical Exception. This movement and three-dimensional mechanical ballet is visually marvelous and demonstrates complex mechanics rarely seen on a ladies’ timepiece. But it also does nothing to add usable information to the wearer, the functional intent of a complication, and so from my perspective it fails at the goal of a complicated timepiece. It has no equal in the category, but it also is all-show and no-go, which keeps it from winning in my mind.

Jacob & Co. Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin Rainbow

IS: The Jacob & Co. Astronomia is a sensational complication, and the Fleurs de Jardin Rainbow looks like an LSD-augmented theme park for the wrist. With its triple-axis tourbillon and colorful gem-set rotating flowers and counter-rotating levels, this is by far the most complicated watch in this field by a wide margin.

At 42.5 mm, it’s large, but not too large for many women to wear. And although its 21 mm height means that it’s unlikely to slip under cuffs, it’s not a watch you would want to cover up anyway. It’s far too over the top for my taste, but I love it! I think that the Astronomia Fleurs de Jardin Rainbow is a solid contender to win this category.

MG: Always count on Jacob & Co. to deliver a fun piece! I think that it has done exceedingly well in making the Astronomia more wearable, even for a lady. If you don’t mind the height, of course. In functional terms, the complications do not do much, but especially with the disco explosion of different colored gemstones is it such a fun piece. I could see this watch win the category because of it.

Further reading: Our Predictions In The Ladies Complication Category Of The 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG): Our Panel Is Unanimous!

Quick Facts Jacob & Co. Fleurs de Jardin Rainbow
Case: 42.5 x 21 mm, pink gold with colored sapphires
Movement: manually wound skeletonized Caliber JCAM31 with one-minute flying triple-axis tourbillon, power reserve 48 hours; 4 Hz/28,800 vph frequency, skeletonized
Functions: hours, minutes, animation with rotating flowers
Limitation: 101 pieces
Price: 390,000 Swiss francs
Remark: 7.63 total gemstone carat weight, including a 288-facet Jacob-cut green tsavorite

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace

MG: Jacob & Co doesn’t have the patent on fun ladies’ watches, though, as the Masterpiece Embrace competes brilliantly with two heart-shaped gears. It is somewhat gimmicky, but when I saw this watch during Geneva Watch Days I couldn’t help but concentrate on it. It is such a calming and mesmerizing motion, especially with a deep blue aventurine dial as a backdrop. Granted, it is quite the challenge at first to tell the exact date on the retrograde date complication, although the little dots help more than you suspect. Above the date, it says “I love you a little, a lot, madly!” in French, proving once more that absolutely everything sounds better in this language. For me, the winner of this category.

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace

JM: The Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace does something all the other watches in this category do: provide an interesting visual ballet for mechanical-minded people to follow. The heart-shaped gears are a clever and precise bit of engineering that Maurice Lacroix has implemented in various ways in the past to great success. But if that was all this watch did it would fall short of actually being a complicated timepiece. It also features a retrograde date mechanism, which, while being a second interesting bit of engineering usually found more in men’s watches, is also a useful complication, something that technically no other watch in this category can claim to have.

For that reason, if the jury members were to be sticklers about useful complications that provide extra information beyond basic time, this is the only piece that can even technically win. I have a feeling that the jury will be a bit more liberal in its adjudicating, so I won’t predict this one to win, but if I am to be that guy, it is the only one that should win out of the preselected watches as it is the only watch that displays extra information for the wearer.

IS: The Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace is another attractive ladies’ watch here that has been done a disservice by (to use a boxing analogy) being bumped up into a weight class in which it can’t compete. The aventurine dial looks great and I’m a fan of the retrograde date; however, while the cleverly meshing rotating hearts of the small seconds might look complicated, I don’t think it all adds up enough to be a serious contender.

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace

GG: Third for me is the Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace with its meshing hearts against an aventurine background and also featuring a subtle retrograde date indication. The romantic inscription on the dial is taken directly from the Christophe Claret Margot watch of several seasons ago, which diminished my enjoyment of the watch somewhat. But overall it seemed well thought out and is quite decently priced, too.

ED: Maurice Lacroix, as Joshua pointed out in Round, Schmround! The Maurice Lacroix Square Wheel Cube, does so much with gears these days. The two hearts in a perpetual rotating embrace is a reinterpretation of the brand’s square wheel concept and an enchanting use of the technology.

At 40 x 13 mm, it is chunky for a woman’s wrist, but it had to be as the meshing hearts and retrograde date are modules on top of the Sellita base movement. When I finally had the chance to try this watch on earlier this year, I was astounded at how well it fit despite its rather stately size. The straps and buckles at this brand are extremely well thought through, as are most things that this wonderful company does.

I am a sucker for both retrograde functions and aventurine dials, and it is refreshing to see a brand use this beautifying material without also adding diamonds. The price of this stainless steel watch is quite refreshing too. It is my runner up in this category.

Further reading: Round, Schmround! The Maurice Lacroix Square Wheel Cube

Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace: Embracing The Complexities Of Love

Quick Facts Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace
Case: 40 x 13 mm, stainless steel
Dial: aventurine with silver powder pad printing
Movement: automatic Caliber ML258 (Sellita SW200 base), 36-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph/4 Hz frequency
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds; retrograde date
Price: 6,900 Swiss francs

Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon

MG: Looking at the GPHG selections is somewhat of a challenge when some watches are, in essence, not that new, just a new configuration of an older model. In the case of this Altiplano Tourbillon, while technically superb, I have never gotten used to the dial arrangement. It feels quirky without a need for it, and I find the design on the mother-of-pearl dial also not tantalizing enough to distract me from this fact. As this Piaget also has nothing more to offer than a tourbillon, it is for me not the winner in this category.

Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon

BC: My runner up position goes to the Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon. It has been fun to watch the competition between Piaget and Bulgari for the world’s thinnest movements with various complications. Here Piaget has implemented a tourbillon complication into an already slim Altiplano case, and I really like the off-centered dial and tourbillon cage!

IS: While the Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon has a flying tourbillon, the real complication here for me is that it’s an ultra-thin watch, which the brand is renowned for. The movement is only 4.6 mm in height, but come on, Piaget, if one of your watches’ main attractions is its svelte thinness, why not provide a photo from the side so we can appreciate that fact?

This Altiplano Tourbillon would be a strong contender for me if there was a “Slightly Complicated” Ladies category. I consider ultra-thin to be a serious complication (although, like a tourbillon, it doesn’t technically qualify as a complication), but that’s still not quite strong enough for me here. That said, it’s very attractive and looks to be a very wearable watch in a wide range of occasions, and I give it top marks for that.

Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon

JM: The Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon is a fantastic watch with a clean and mechanically impressive ultra-thin tourbillon, showcasing Piaget’s skill in very thin mechanics. But like I’ve said for other watches, and something I want to hold as important for this category, a tourbillon isn’t enough to win the Ladies Complication category as it doesn’t provide any new information or, for many, even count as a complication in itself. Awesome watch, not the best “complicated” ladies’ watch unless that word doesn’t mean what it should.

ED: Piaget opted to give the flying tourbillon generous room to shine against this already shiny dial by making the subdial for the hours and minutes the same diameter as the tourbillon cutaway, giving the watch a certain sense of style that is only enhanced by its extreme thinness: Caliber 670P comes in at 4.6 mm in height! Nonetheless, with so many Piaget Altiplano Tourbillons introduced this year, it feels a lot less special than it should somehow.

GG: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon, but neither does it excite. The look to me is quite old-fashioned and not even the ultra-thinness of the tourbillon movement could overcome that for me.

Further reading: 3 New Tourbillons From Watches & Wonders 2020: A Pursuit Of Personal Passion

Quick Facts Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon
Case: 38 x 7.35 mm, pink gold, bezel set with 64 brilliant-cut diamonds (1.09 ct)
Dial: engraved mother-of-pearl
Movement: manual winding Caliber 670P with one-minute flying tourbillon, 48-hour power reserve, 3 Hz/21,600 vph frequency
Functions: hours, minutes
Limitation: 88 pieces
Price: 114,000 Swiss francs

Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant

ED: Van Cleef & Arpels continues its Poetic Complications with a set of three “musical ballerina” watches inspired by a 1960s three-part ballet called Jewels by choreographer George Balanchine, which he created after meeting Claude Arpels. Each of the three timepieces represents one of the existing schools of ballet – French, Russian, and American – which is revealed by the choice of precious stones (the other two are set with rubies and emeralds). The premise is enchanting and knowing Van Cleef & Arpels the execution is likely flawless.

However – and this is a huge however – this watch is blessed with completely unwearable sizing for females. So despite its extreme playfulness and serious mechanical chops, I must disregard it here.

The curtain opens on the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant and the ballet begins

IS: With its Poetic Complications collection, Van Cleef & Arpels basically invented the category of mechanically serious ladies’ watches, and it is still head and shoulders above most of the competition. VC&A doesn’t simply put existing complications into ladies’ watches, its complications are both poetic and tell stories. In these COVD-19 days of restricted travel and limited social occasions, the Ballerine Musicale Diamant offers a night out at the ballet without leaving the house. Although that would be a shame (and selfish) as it deserves a larger audience.

But to win the Ladies Complication category a watch has to offer more than emotional poetry and a night at the Bolshoi – and the Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant does just that: as well as the dancing ballerina automatons, we have retrograde hours, retrograde minutes, and music! And it’s the combined carillon and music box providing the melodic ballet theme tune that leads me to pick the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant as my winner of the 2020 GPHG Ladies Complication category.

GG: Top of my list among this group is the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant. A very subtle retrograde time indication arcs across the top of the proscenium of our theatre, and upon actuation the curtain opens to reveal ballerinas dancing to music from the ballet provided by a combination of carillon chimes and a music box. It’s pretty hard to argue with that combination, I’d say! The watch is both large in diameter and thick, but as a statement piece that is also technically fascinating this one is a winner in my book.

My only concern, as with several of the other entered watches, is whether a working example will be available for judging given the stated September 2020 delivery date. We shall see!

Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant

MG: What a stunning piece is this Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant! The diamond setting combined with the exquisite complication make it a watch that most certainly stands out. However, this is not the only way it stands out as it completely disqualifies itself by being a whopping 44.5 mm in diameter. Combine this with a height of 14.45 mm, and this watch simply too much of a good thing. Given its complication, it is very understandable that Van Cleef & Arpels needed the space to make it happen. As it is even for the majority of men already an oversized watch, it is simply too massive in my opinion to take home the prize in the Ladies’ Complication category.

ED: And right you are, Martin! As an object, like the Jacob & Co, this watch is fun. As a timepiece or even jewelry piece it would be too cumbersome to actually wear. My guess is that it is meant to be a safe queen anyway.

JM: This is the watch I predict to be the winner and it also sort of fails in my requirement of actually adding information for the wearer. But given what else it does, I think that will be overlooked and it will take the trophy this year. The Ballerine Musicale Diamant is a retrograde hours and retrograde minutes watch with a miniature automaton animation and a musical mechanism that plays a melody on demand.

Unlike other pieces, the thematic reasons for including the complex mechanisms make sense with the combination of automatons and musical mechanisms. Even though this watch lacks a complication that imparts information it does impart experience, and that is valuable as well. It also makes sense within its own reference frame: the automaton and music element are part of a whole and not just a curiosity added for the sake of complexity. Van Cleef & Arpels is well known for top-notch mechanical animations tied to time displays and other features, so it can also be safely assumed that this piece follows in those footsteps.

IS: It is worth repeating Joshua that the first sentence of the category rules state: “ . . . women’s watches that are remarkable in terms of their mechanical creativity and complexity.” It doesn’t actually say “complication.”

BC: My third place goes to the Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant. This brand has perfected the art of storytelling in a mechanical watch.

Quick Facts Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant
Case: 44.5 x 14.45 mm, white gold, bezel, case, dial and buckle set with brilliant-cut diamonds (7.92 ct)
Dial: miniature painting, set with diamonds
Movement: manual winding caliber, 52-hour power reserve, 3 Hz/21,600 vph frequency
Functions: retrograde hours, retrograde minutes; ballerina automaton, on-demand carillon and music box music
Price: 438,000 Swiss francs

For more information, please visit www.gphg.org/horlogerie/en/gphg-2020/nominated-watches#2020_COMPLICATION_DAME.

Predicted Winners

Elizabeth: Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon

Bhanu: Bulgari Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon

Ian: Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant

Joshua: Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant

Gary: Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Ballerine Musicale Diamant

Martin: Maurice Lacroix Masterpiece Embrace

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