The Quill & Pad panel reflects on watchmaking’s biggest night: the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, often described as the Oscars of watchmaking. In this segment, we chat about what we liked and what we didn’t like, which watches won and why we think they did.
We also express a bit of dismay at times.
Our panel members choose their winners in the Tourbillon category of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie between the Ulysse Nardin Executive Skeleton Tourbillon, Bovet 1822’s Ottantasei Flying Tourbillon, Girard-Perregaux’s La Esmeralda Tourbillon, Louis Moinet’s Sideralis Evo, the Rudis Sylva RS 16 Harmonious Oscillator, and the De Bethune DB28T Kind of Blue Tourbillon.
Welcome to the 2016 edition of Quill & Pad’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève predictions in which the team picks favorites and explains why. The pre-selected finalists are: Ulysse Nardin Skeleton Tourbillon Pearl, Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon Lumière, Christophe Claret Marguerite, Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Tourbillon with Gold Bridge, Louis Vuitton Tambour Color Blossom Spin Time, and Ludovic Ballouard Upside Down Art Deco.
Girard-Perregaux’s Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges is a relatively profound re-issue of an old favorite. While it retains the original codes and architecture of Constant Girard’s oeuvre, the major changes that have occurred have to do with the shape of the bridges, the crystal, and the completely redesigned caliber.
The evening of Thursday, October 29, 2015 played host to the red-carpet gala evening in Geneva for the presentation of prizes in the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. We will be sharing our thoughts and insights on the winners of the big night, and why those not so lucky may have missed out. But without further ado, here are the brands and watches that went home with a well-deserved trophy.
Welcome to the 2015 edition of Quill & Pad’s early Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) predictions in which we pick our favorites and explain why. The six pre-selected finalists in the Striking category are the A. Lange & Söhne Zeitwerk Minute Repeater, Akrivia Tourbillon Chiming Jump Hour, Christophe Claret Allegro, Franc Vila Inaccessible Tourbillon Minute Repeater, Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Tourbillon with Gold Bridges, and the Hublot Big Bang Alarm Repeater.
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) has just published the list of 2015’s pre-selected watches in the run-up to the big red carpet event in Geneva on October 29. The pre-selected watches will go on a world tour that includes stops in Hong Kong, Seoul, Dubai, Geneva, and London in October and November. But enough preamble, let’s have a look at the watches that are now in serious contention to take home big prizes this year.
The Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Tourbillon with Gold Bridges includes an extraordinary new version of the brand’s typical tourbillon and a chiming function – which is the star of the show here. The mechanical beauty of the watch’s skeletonized dial is dominated by three elements: the smaller bridge supporting the tourbillon, the larger bridge extending across the dial between 3 and 9 o’clock, and the repeater hammers at 12 o’clock. The shape of the hammers, which rest on jewels acting as ball bearings to reduce friction, was inspired by the first golden bridges registered in 1884.
On May 1, 2015, Hartmut Kraft took over as the brand-new president and CEO of Kering North America, a position that includes leading three very well established brands, Ulysse Nardin, JeanRichard, and Girard-Perregaux in the North American markets. With his unbroken enthusiasm for watches, he is not “just” another executive in the watch industry, but rather a true watch enthusiast with genuine respectful admiration for horology. Read on to hear what he has discovered in his first days at Kering.
This is the last in our three-part series on tourbillons from Baselworld 2014. It includes fantastic timepieces from Blancpain, Greubel Forsey, Girard-Perregaux, Hautlence and Vianney Halter I have stretched the criteria a little here: while I saw the Greubel Forsey and Vianney Halter watches during Baselworld, neither of them was actually exhibiting at the fair.
