Originally appeared on Euronews Living

“Be alive, be audacious, do beautiful things together”

The 19th edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) announced its winners last night during a glamorous awards ceremony in Geneva’s Théâtre du Léman. The main prize, the Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix, was won by Audemars Piguet and its groundbreaking and almost unfathomably-slender Royal Oak Self-winding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin watch. Outspoken CEO François-Henry Bennahmias also picked up the Men’s Complication Watch and Iconic Watch Prizes for the brand, on what will be a memorable night for even as storied and respected a watchmaker as Audemars Piguet.

Arguably the most opulent category, the Jewellery Watch Prize, was won by Bulgari’s sumptuous Serpenti Misteriosi Romani. Jean-Christophe Babin, Bulgari CEO, commented on the timepiece’s ultra-lavish nature while addressing the crowd of watchmakers, collectors and journalists, but concluded on a defiant tone: “We all respect each other, but we all want to win. Be daring, audacious, break the rules. Break the mould.”

The small, the new and the brave were also rewarded. Kari Voutilainen’s eponymous brand went home with two prizes, his 28ti winning best men’s watch and the stunning Starry Night Vine winning the Artistic Crafts Watch Prize by bringing together the design traditions of the East and West in one unique timepiece. The Mechanical Watch Exception Prize was won by Genus with its GNS1.2, a coup for a home-grown company in its infancy, and one that is proof of Geneva’s continued importance in elite watchmaking.

A popular winner was Urwerk and the AMC, which snapped up the refreshingly-titled Audacity Prize. The AMC uses a 35kg atomic master clock to rewind the wristwatch, set it to the correct time and, if necessary, adjust its rate. The watch rests in a cradle within the atomic clock itself, a symbol of watchmaking’s dedication - bordering on obsession - to the pursuit of the new. The Urwerk team embodied this better than most with a speech-finishing rallying cry of “long live the insanity of the modern watchmaking world!”

During the ceremony, and on the eve of its 20th birthday, GPHG announced the upcoming creation of a watchmaking academy, set to open in Spring 2020. Supported by the City and Canton of Geneva, the academy will be made up of a wide network of ambassadors, each taking part in the various stages of watch selection in order to promote the art of watchmaking worldwide.

Finally, the night’s Special Jury Prize was awarded to Luc Pettavino, founder and organiser of Only Watch, a biennial auction of 50 one-off timepieces made by the finest manufacturers. Pattavino founded Only Watch in 2004, inspired by his son, Paul, who had been diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. In collaboration with Prince Albert II of Monaco, all proceeds from the auction (the eighth edition is this Saturday, 8th November) go towards researching and finding a cure for DMD - the charity has so far raised more than 40 million Swiss Francs. Pattavino ended his speech with the lessons he’d learned from his son, saying that Paul had “taught us to be alive, be audacious, and do beautiful things together”. Sitting in the Théâtre du Léman on the watch world’s most prestigious evening, it seemed no group of people could reflect this approach to life more perfectly than the one that celebrates the art, science and joy of creating beautiful watches.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS:

Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix: Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin

Ladies’ Watch Prize: Chanel, J12 Calibre 12.1

Ladies’ Complication Watch Prize: MB&F, Legacy Machine FlyingT

Men’s Watch Prize: Voutilainen, 28ti

Men’s Complication Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet, Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Minute Repeater Supersonnerie

Iconic Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak "Jumbo" Extra-thin

Chronometry Watch Prize: Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud, Carburised steel regulator

Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize: Hermès, Arceau L'heure de la lune

Mechanical Exception Watch Prize: Genus, GNS1.2

Chronograph Watch Prize: Bvlgari, Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic

Diver’s Watch Prize: Seiko, Prospex LX line diver's

Jewellery Watch Prize: Bvlgari, Serpenti Misteriosi Romani

Artistic Crafts Watch Prize: Voutilainen, Starry Night Vine

Petite Aiguille Prize: Kudoke, Kudoke 2

Challenge Watch Prize: Tudor, Black Bay P01

Innovation Prize: Vacheron Constantin, Traditionnelle Twin Beat perpetual calendar

Audacity Prize: Urwerk, AMC

“Horological Revelation” Prize: Ming, 17.06 Copper

Special Jury Prize: Luc Pettavino, Founder and Organiser of Only Watch

Originally appeared on Living by Euronews

High-end watchmaking is an industry steeped in tradition and proud heritage, which can prove to be a problem when the modern world comes knocking. However, at this year's Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, tradition met tech in a much-needed boost to the industry.

The 29th edition brought together the best watchmakers in the world for four days to show off their latest creations.

SIHH kicked off on Sunday night at the inauguration party, with all 35 brand CEOs gathering for the annual photo to talk shop and let their hair down for the evening. The show continued in kind, with evening cocktail parties at various stands and Champagne as a well-deserved treat for industry professionals - and writers - at the end of each day.

For the second year running, SIHH was also open to everyone on the final day, giving the public a chance to be among the first to see the latest in the enigmatic world of luxury timepieces. Here are the highlights from Geneva’s world of superwatches.

Call of the sea

A major new partnership was unveiled by Panerai, straight out of the traps on day one. In support of its homeland, the Italian brand has become the official sponsor of Luna Rossa, the Italian yacht and crew looking to compete in the 36th America’s Cup. Panerai joins Prada and Pirelli to create a trinity of P’s for the Italian team, and skipper Max Sirena doesn’t underestimate how important the new partnership could turn out to be: “This is the period where we are taking strategic and important decisions, which is going to give us a result in a few years’ time.”

In tribute to the agreement, Panerai has released the Submersible Luna Rossa 47mm. The case, like the boat’s hull, is made of carbon fibre, and sailcloth has been applied to the dials, adding the finishing touches to a professional diving watch water-resistant up to 300 metres.

L’heure de la lune

Hermès made an impression with its brooding entrance design. Conceived by London-based Hideki Yoshimoto, the imposing sphere was inspired by Hermès’ latest release, the Arceau L’heure de la Lune. The new watch displays the moon’s phases in both northern and southern hemispheres simultaneously, leading Yoshimoto to create his own interpretation of the double moon concept: “There aren’t two moons, but two moon faces.

“It’s about sharing. We have billions of viewpoints of the Earth in the history of humankind. We were all born here, all of us have spent our lives here, and everyone has looked at the same moon. That’s the beauty of the double moon concept. What we wanted to feature is not the moon but the Earth.”

Another in the new collection is also a contestant for best name at SIHH 2019 - the watch with a wolf howling at a crescent moon is aptly titled the Arceau Awooooo. Yes, that’s five o’s.

Tech with tradition

While haute horology doesn’t have the strongest record accepting the fast-paced world of technology, this year’s SIHH had a decidedly futuristic addition. The SIHH LAB, an ongoing research and development incubator, included innovations from the worlds of craft, augmented reality - and cocktail making - to showcase the tech at the forefront of watchmaking.

Fabienne Lupo, Managing Director of the Foundation de la Haute Horlogerie, sees the LAB as an important new development for the show: “We are a really innovative, contemporary, modern and dynamic industry. We wanted to show that, and also attract new talent.”

A highlight of the LAB (alongside the unarguably attractive cocktail-making installation) included Leap Motion gesture recognition. Simply place a special strap around your wrist, and through your phone not only see how any watch looks on you, but also interact with the timepiece.

Hey Lambo…

Lambo Italiano. Roger Dubuis has a reputation for the dramatic, which came as no surprise to anyone who took a look at the Lamborghini installed at the front of the Maison’s installation. Roger Dubuis’ creative team has designed a unique timepiece, the Excalibur One-Off, inspired by the recently unveiled Lamborghini SC18 Alston supercar. Like the watch, the SC18 Alston is Lamborghini’s first ever one-off hypercar.

Collaborating with the car manufacturer - and tyre godfather Pirelli for the strap - Roger Dubuis has packed as many technical novelties into the Excalibur as seems to be humanly possible, including a completely unnecessary but very fun function selector. Like a supercar mode selector, choose between ‘W' for watch winding and ’S’ for setting the time. Ridiculous and brilliant.

Cartier Privé

Cartier had a huge presence at this year’s SIHH. One particularly special part, however, was the Cartier Privé collection, the latest in a line of capsules celebrating the evolution of watches throughout history’s fashions and technological developments. At SIHH, Cartier chose to release updated versions of the 1906 Tonneau. The original had an unusual shape, a mix between rectangle and oval. This was to fit better on the wrist and was a precursor to a more modern shape.

Cartier has released two new versions of this seminal timepiece. The hours and minutes model sticks close to the original, with slight contemporary changes. The second piece, a skeleton dual time zone model, has incorporated what was originally two separate mechanisms - one for each time zone - into one movement, retaining the Tonneau’s original aesthetic.

Lange-versary

It’s an important year for A. Lange & Söhne. The manufacture has developed 63 calibres since founder Walter Lange and his partner Günter Blümlein presented four new wristwatches on October 24th 1994, marking a renaissance for the company. A quarter of a century later, the most famous of these remains the LANGE 1.

As you’ve probably guessed, the manufacture is celebrating the milestone by releasing an update of the original LANGE 1. The white gold version is limited to 250 pieces and features a deep blue printed argenté dial and a hinged cuvette (the back of the watch) with an engraving of Lange’s headquarters in the town of Glashütte, the birthplace of German watchmaking.

Candy Land

Richard Mille has tried to sweeten the deal for its customers by releasing the Bonbon collection, a range of confectionary-related timepieces. Cécile Guenat, artistic director of the collection, based the ten pieces on three existing models, revisiting them with a palette of 60 colours. The attention to detail even comes down to the crowns of some pieces being shaped like cupcakes and ice cream. The RM 07-03 Marshmallow is incredibly realistic thanks to modern enamelwork, while 3,000 miniature sculptures are integrated into the three pieces in the Fruit line, which includes the see-it-from-across-the-room bright lemon and strawberry (RM 16-01 Citron et Fraise).

Naughty Nardin

There’s always one. Ulysse Nardin, known for its maritime watches, has teamed up with Italian erotic comic book artist Milo Manara to create a series of ten watches that stretch from mildly titillating to downright graphic. Illustrating a love story between ‘Ulyssa' the mermaid and ‘Nadia’ the human, Manara’s work takes us on a journey into what the brand calls “a timeless, nautical reverie”.

Manara’s collection of ten images has been transferred onto the watch face through a technique known as micropainting, meaning the reproduction is as intricate as the original. Ten pieces per drawing will be made, both in stainless steel and rose gold, limiting the series to 200. Manara says of the collection “I am sure that mermaids do exist”. If they’re anything like this, I’m going sailing more often.

Le Carré des Horlogers

Just off the show’s main thoroughfare is the Carré des Horlogers, a selection of 17 smaller brands dedicated to craftsmanship and bespoke projects. Armin Strom, for instance, specialises in skeletonisation - where the intricate inner workings of the timepiece are visible - while futurist brand Urwerk takes its name from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur, where our entire system of measuring time originated.

It’s here that many horological advances find their home. Belgian brand Ressence recently released the Type 2, the first watch to have a smart crown. The light-powered e-Crown digitally registers the manually-set time and automatically checks and readjusts. Even after three months of inactivity, once the owner taps the crown, it will set the watch to the right time.

Also in the Carré des Horlogers was the Time Æon Foundation, which safeguards traditional watchmaking knowledge and skills while encouraging technological developments. Supporters include Greubel Forsey, Urwerk and Ferdinand Berthoud, modern brands that all have a reverence for tradition.