Over these last five years – and indeed since Elizabeth has been writing about watches! – the large fairs and exhibitions have played central roles in seeing any year’s crop of new timepieces. At the moment, the position of the fairs seems to be in some jeopardy, but for now it’s business as usual for the media. Here are a few highlights from five years of Quill & Pad at the SIHH.
As our regular readers know by now, GaryG and a few watch pals have made it a regular practice to trek to Geneva for each year’s November watch auction weekend, do some bidding, and perhaps return home with a treasure or two. This year was no exception, but with the bonus of him being a jury member of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève as well. Here Gary shares how it all played out.
The ninth edition of Poland’s Watch of the Year by CH24.PL included all timepieces introduced in 2018 competing across six categories. Elizabeth Doerr shares the night’s big winners here.
In this final round table discussion, we discuss the amazing evening of November 9, 2018 and what we thought of the big night’s winners (hint: it was a great night).
The 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) has just finished and here are the brands, watches, and personalities that went home with well-deserved trophies.
The 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève is scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm Central European Time. Follow the big night on Quill & Pad and let us know your thoughts on the winners (and losers).
The GPHG defines the Aiguille d’Or category as, “a prize rewarding the best overall watch among all categories and is the most prestigious award.” Judging that is no easy task, and our panel has predicted four possible winners: the De Bethune DB25 Starry Varius Chronomètre Tourbillon, Ulysse Nardin Freak Vision, Habring2 Doppel-Felix, and Akrivia Chronomètre Contemporain. Read on to see why.
Adding diamonds and other gemstones to a watch is not that complicated, but to do it in such a way that there is synergy requires an exponential amount of craftsmanship and expertise. The lineup in the Jewellery category of the 2018 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève is extraordinary, and our panel finds that its tastes differ.
It is easier to judge watches based on their ability to perform under a set type of circumstances than it is to judge whether a watch is better for a human than another. Being “sporty” doesn’t necessarily mean it is capable, so one still needs to assess the inherent qualities behind construction, legibility, and durability. Here we share our diverse predictions for the GPHG’s best sports watch of 2018.
The Artistic Crafts category of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève is for watches, “ . . . demonstrating exceptional mastery of one or several artistic techniques such as enameling, lacquering, engraving, guilloche (engine-turning), skeletonizing, and more.” Our panel picks its favorites to win the category while discovering how much taste can vary. Which one do you prefer?