GPHG 2025: The Aftermath — LVMH Is A Big Winner, But Breguet Takes Home The “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix
Nothing is as disputed as an award ceremony. The outcome of an opinion will always face another opinion, and people will have opinions on the ceremony itself. You know what they say about people and opinions, so I won’t elaborate on that. What I will elaborate on are some of the winners of the GPHG 2025. Let’s take a look at the surprising victors and the obvious winners. We’ll also try to gain a bit of perspective on what happened during the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
Before we dive deeper into the winners, non-winners, and absentees, here’s the full list of those who took home GPGH 2025 awards:
“Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix: Breguet Classique Souscription 2025
Chronometry Prize: Zenith G.F.J. Calibre 135
Horological Revelation Prize: Anton Suhanov St. Petersburg Easter Egg Tourbillon Clock
Audacity Prize: Fam Al Hut Möbius
Iconic Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar
Mechanical Exception Watch Prize: Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante
Chronograph Watch Prize: Angelus Chronographe Télémètre Yellow Gold
Tourbillon Watch Prize: Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon
Sports Watch Prize: Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF
Men’s Complication Watch Prize: Bovet 1822 Récital 30
Men’s Watch Prize: Urban Jürgensen UJ-2: Double wheel natural escapement
Time Only Watch Prize: Daniel Roth Extra Plat Rose Gold
Jewellery Watch Prize: Dior Montres La D de Dior Buisson Couture
Artistic Crafts Watch Prize: Voutilainen 28GML Souyou
Ladies’ Complication Watch Prize: Chopard Imperiale Four Seasons
Ladies’ Watch Prize: Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal
“Petite Aiguille” Watch Prize: M.A.D.Editions M.A.D.2 Green
Challenge Watch Prize: Dennison Natural Stone Tiger Eye In Gold
Mechanical Clock Prize: L’Épée 1839 × MB&F Albatross
Special Jury Prize: Alain Dominique Perrin, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
Best Young Student Prize: Edouard Le
Gregory Kissling (CEO of Breguet), Stephane Cheikh and Toby Sutton (Co-directors of Dennison), Maximilian Büsser (Owner and creative director of MB&F and M.A.D. Editions), Karl-Friedrich Scheufele (Co-president of Chopard), Caroline Scheufele (Co-president and artistic director of Chopard), Pascal Béchu (Managing director of Angelus), Ilaria Resta (CEO of Audemars Piguet), Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini (Master watchmakers and founders of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton), Kari Voutilainen (Owner and watchmaker of Voutilainen), Arnaud Nicolas (CEO and creative director of L’Épée), Dominic Backes (Dior General manager Central and Eastern Europe), Alex Rosenfield (Co-CEO of Urban Jürgensen), Pascal Raffy (President of Bovet 1822), Michel Nydegger (CEO of Greubel Forsey), Jean-Christophe Babin (CEO of Bvlgari and LVMH Watch Division), Arnaud Nicolas (CEO and creative director of L’Épée), Anton Suhanov (Founder and chief designer of Anton Suhanov), Dai Xinyan (Founder of Fam Al Hut,) and Benoît de Clerck (CEO of Zenith)
GPHG 2025 — Before, during, and after the award ceremony
There’s always much speculation before the official Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) award ceremony. Fratello also participated in that by picking our favorites from the 90 nominated timepieces in the different categories. We did pick/predict quite a few winners, but we also rooted for the losing team on occasion. Before entering the event venue, the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, a reconverted old hydraulic power station, rumors circulated that Breguet was going to take home the “Oscar of Watchmaking,” the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix, for its Classique Souscription 2025. The watch also received a nomination in the Iconic category, which was odd for two reasons. Although inspired by a significant event in Breguet’s history, the watch is a new creation and therefore lacks iconic status. The winner in the category, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar, is most definitely an iconic watch.
Winner of the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix, the Breguet Classique Souscription 2025
To have Breguet compete this year was already surprising. Some brands choose to compete in the GPHG, while others, like Rolex and Patek Philippe, don’t. Why that is and how the competition works is something for another article. Luckily, RJ did write that article about the ins and outs of the GPHG, so please help yourself. Swatch Group’s last notable participation in the GPHG was several years ago, as the recent editions list no major entries from the group. Omega’s last clear appearance and award at the GPHG came in 2014, when it won the Revival Prize. Other Swatch Group brands remained active for a few years afterward — Longines captured the Revival Prize in 2017, and Blancpain earned the Artistic Crafts Prize in 2015 — but by the late 2010s, Swatch Group’s presence had largely tapered off.
Breguet CEO Gregory Kissling posing with the award
And the “Oscar” goes to…
This year, marking the 250th anniversary of Breguet, an exception was made. It’s clear that the brand needs a major push, and the new CEO, Gregory Kissling, does a lot of pushing by being a dynamic ambassador for the age-old maison. This year, a string of celebratory watches debuted. The first was the Souscription 2025. This watch honors the original pocket watch concept that brought Breguet back to life after Abraham-Louis returned to France following its exile abroad.
The Souscription 2025 again is the “poster watch” of a revival. Competing in the GPHG is a relatively cost-friendly and risk-free marketing strategy. If the watch hadn’t made it through the selection, not many people would have noticed. And there’s also no shame in making it through to the finals and losing against a Royal Oak. Winning the “Oscar of Watchmaking,” the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix, is a big thing. Importantly, it puts the spotlight on a brand that needs it.
Breguet’s “perfect storm”
It seems Breguet is in the eye of a “perfect storm.” Just as a bank can be too big to fail, Breguet is too famous to fail. People with a passion for watches want the brand to succeed. Now, with Gregory Kissling at the helm, Breguet is more expressive and outgoing than ever. The “A Celebration of Breguet’s 250th Anniversary” auction at Sotheby’s on November 9th of this year was way more of a no-guts-no-glory move. It brought glory.
The auction ultimately raked in CHF 12,202,960. Lot 9, the Breguet No. 1890 — a four-minute tourbillon delivered to Monsieur Frédéric Frackman on May 16th, 1809, and then sold to Comte Alexis Razoumoffsky for 3,240 francs — sold for CHF 1,880,000, more than double the estimate, to Breguet fan and buyer François-Paul Journe. And since everything Monsieur Journe does is news nowadays, Breguet got extra attention. Well played, Breguet, well played.
The Daniel Roth Extra Plat Rose Gold won the Time Only category
Five awards for LVMH, two for Chopard, MB&F, and Kari Voutilainen, and zero for Richemont
At GPHG 2025, two people received an award. The Special Jury Prize went to Alain Dominique Perrin for Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, and the Best Young Student Prize went to Edouard Le. However, 19 awards went to mechanical constructions, and no fewer than five ended up with LVMH brands. The Zenith G.F.J. Calibre 135 won the Chronometry Prize. The best mechanical whirlwind was the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon. The Daniel Roth Extra Plat Rose Gold (surprisingly) beat the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Micro-Rotor Platinum in the Time Only category. Additionally, Dior and Gérald Genta won a prize. Winning five out of 19 is impressive, demonstrating the conglomerate’s determination to expand the watchmaking division and become a leader in the field of high-end watches.
Winner of the Sports Watch Prize, the Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF
Two Chopard watches winning was a good score for the family-owned maison. The limited-edition Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF won the Sports Watch Prize. However, the non-limited version of that watch debuted as early as 2024. The winner is lighter because it’s made of ceramized titanium, but it’s not exactly a new design. Maybe I’m nitpicking here, but it came to my mind. That also happened when the Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante won the Mechanical Exception Watch Prize. The 2025 white gold model is essentially the same as the 2024 model, except that it shows bright blue details on the dial and has a white gold bezel instead of a tantalum one.
The Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante won the Mechanical Exception Watch Prize
A double encore on stage
MB&F is a fan-favorite and a teacher’s pet, so the M.A.D.Editions M.A.D.2 Green winning the “Petite Aiguille” Watch Prize wasn’t too big of a surprise. However, if the Christopher Ward C12 Loco, Nomos Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer, or the Otsuka Lotec No. 5 Kai had taken the win, no one would have complained either, in my opinion. Max Büsser again came on stage to take credit for his part in the L’Épée 1839 × MB&F Albatross winning the Mechanical Clock Prize.
Kari Voutilainen also came on stage twice. He won Best Ladies’ Watch with the Voutilainen 28cg, and with the Urban Jürgensen UJ-2: Double wheel natural escapement, he won the Men’s Watch Prize.
The biggest loser of the night was Richemont. Last year, IWC won the top prize with its Portugieser Eternal Calendar. This year, five watches from Piaget and two Van Cleef & Arpels creations made it to the finals, but none won. No Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Cartier, Panerai, etc. had a chance of winning a prize, and that stands out when you see competitor LVMH take home five awards.
Last year’s winner of the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix, the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar
GPHG 2025: The Aftermath — Almost time to start discussing
Before you explain why you think your favorite watch was denied a rightful win and engage in a passionate debate, here’s some practical information. The 19 winning creations are on display at the Geneva Musée d’Art et d’Histoire until November 16th, 2025. The award-winning models will then be presented from the 19th to the 23rd as part of Dubai Watch Week. So, if you want to see what a winning watch looks like, you have a few chances. Now, take a look at a small selection of interesting winners, and after that, please share your thoughts on the competition and its victors.
