The curtain has come down on the eighth edition of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix which saw François-Paul Journe crowned for the third time for its Centrigraphe Souverain.
On 13 November this year, the Grand Théâtre in Geneva was the setting for the eighth official ceremony of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix where actress Nancy Tate, Miss French-speaking Switzerland 2008 Marianne de Cocatrix and Geneva lawyer Christian Luscher were the evening’s hosts.
F.-P. Journe Centigraphe Souverain
Piaget Limelight Magic Hour
Concord C1 Tourbillon Gravity
Maurice Lacroix Starsite Eternal Moon
The supreme award, the Aiguille d'or, which last year left the shores of Lake Geneva, returned to the soil of Geneva. Richard Mille, the winner in 2007, in a speech peppered with humour, awarded the Aiguille d'or 2008 to François-Paul Journe, the winner of the prize on two previous occasions in 2004 and in 2006 for his Centigraphe Souverain, a mechanical chronograph which measures time to one hundredth of a second (see photo). François-Paul Journe is not only a watchmaker of genius, but also a big-hearted individual. Indeed, 30% of profits from the sale of each Centrigraphe Souverain will be paid to the ICM Institute in Paris for research into diseases of the brain and the spinal cord.
The honours list selected by a jury composed of connoisseurs and international experts was of the highest standard. The prize for best ladies’ watch went to Piaget for its Limelight Magic Hour model – already named Ladies’ Watch of the Year by the jury of the magazine Montres Passion – which changes its appearance according to the mood of its owner. Meanwhile the prize for best men’s watch went to Vacheron Constantin for its very handsome Quai de l'Ile automatic day-date and power reserve.
The award for the best Design Watch passed from Geneva to Bienne, the headquarters of Concord, which celebrates its revival with the C1 Tourbillon Gravity (see photo), while for the second year running Audemars Piguet was awarded two prizes. The first for the best jewel watch, an unusual departure for the firm as pointed out by its delighted CEO Georges-Henri Meylan, with the Millenary Pianoforte, and the second for the best full calendar watch, with the Jules Audemars skeleton equation of time.
As in 2006, TAG Heuer won the Sports Watch prize, this year with the Grand Carrera Calibre 36RS2 Caliper Chronograph. Meanwhile the prize for best complication went naturally enough to Jaeger-LeCoultre for the Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2, which at the first edition of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in Singapore was also named "GPHG Asia Edition Watch of the Year". The new CEO of Maurice Lacroix, Martin Bachmann, visibly moved, for his part received the Public Prize for the Starside Eternal Moon.
This year, the special jury prize did not go as usual to a watch model but to an institution working for the watch industry, the Luxury Watchmaking Foundation (FHH), for its contribution to the culture and expertise of luxury watchmaking. Awarded for the second time, the prize for best watch designer went to Giulio Papi, a car racing enthusiast who chose watchmaking to “indulge” his love of engineering.
This long list of prizes would not be complete without mention of the prize to the best first-year student at the Geneva School of Watchmaking, which went to Glenn Thomkins, to whom Montblanc presented a watch and also an invitation to spend six months on its new premises at the Minerva Watch Research Institute in Villeret with a view to adding to his knowledge of the industry.
Source: Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry
Tags: Geneva Grand Prix F.P.Journe
