Here’s What It’s Like Behind-the-Scenes at the Oscars of Watchmaking

As we made our way through the venue of the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) last night, it was clear why this annual awards show is known as the Oscars of watchmaking: every detail, from the red carpet to the hosts’ humour, and the opening of envelopes to reveal the recipients of gold trophies, mimics the Academy Awards.

The set-up is inevitably poised for entertaining glitches, and while no one slapped a host or tripped on their evening gown, it was the various breaks from the intended format that brought the audience to both awe and laughter.

As the house lights dimmed and the din of French gossip died down, we were treated to a gorgeous flute solo that surprisingly transformed into a beatbox performance by a 15-year-old. With the mood set, our hosts, Stéphane Bern and Arianne Alcorta, both famous television personalities, kicked off the requisite jovial banter.

It wasn’t a surprise that, almost three hours later, Rexhep Rexhepi took the grand prize, or Aiguille d’Or, as it’s known. That his flyback chronograph didn’t take the chronograph category served as a clue, but even before the event, his red carpet interview seemed to hint at the result—which, by the way, we feel is entirely deserved.

No, they do not. This was confirmed by one nominee I spoke with who was having trouble justifying around-the-world travel for a prize they might not win. Then, during the ceremony, Guillaume Liadet of Space One watches, which won the Challenge Prize (for affordable creations) with a compellingly avant-garde timepiece, noted humorously in his acceptance speech that he’d figured he’d have gotten “the call” if he’d won, and that he was genuinely surprised to be handed the gold trophy.

The audience laughed, and things seemed to loosen up even as various glitches in the program threw wrenches in the evening, causing even more laughter.

Instead of blaring theme music when a person at the podium drones on too long, the GPHG sounds the chime of a minute-repeater watch to say, “You’re done!” It’s a rather pleasant sound, given that the delicate chime’s role is to metaphorically put a shepherd’s hook around the speaker’s neck and yank them off stage.

There were a few instances of the chime interrupting acceptance speeches, none more humorous than when it interrupted Audemars Piguet CEO Ilaria Resta, who was elaborating at great length in her restrained Swiss-French on all 17 complications of the brand’s prize-winning 150 Heritage pocket watch. The room erupted in laughter when the little chime sounded. Then host Arianne Alcorta told Resta, “It’s time to say ‘thank you’,” and escorted her off stage.

When mayor of Geneva, Christina Kitsos, presented the Young Student Prize, awarded to two young watchmakers-in-training, she did what politicians always do; she spoke on and on. But there was no chime to disrupt her. One may interrupt a CEO, but one doesn’t, it appears, cut off the mayor! (Kitsos also presented the Aiguille d’Or to Rexhep Rexhepi later in the evening.)

Sounding the chime was an inconsistent policy. Others spoke freely at great length, including Dominique Renaud’s snail-paced acceptance of the Horological Revelation Prize for his Pulse60 Titanium Black. Somehow, even this prolonged thesis on independent horology eventually elicited roaring laughter from the audience, and no chime sounded.

Perhaps the oddest—and funniest—moment was when Piaget CEO Benjamin Comar loomed with a strange grin behind Stéphanie Sivrière, the brand’s artistic director, as she spoke about Piaget’s prize-winning gem-set Swinging Pebble. Was Comar slyly imitating Trump looming behind Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential debate? Whatever he was up to, the audience roared at what proved to be a rather awkward acceptance speech.

Two other hiccups proved charmingly serene, however.

When a category is presented, the multiple high-res video screens show stunning images of the nominated timepieces, and a godlike voice-over narrates with authority the significance of the watches being shown. When the sound failed during the video presentation of the Gem-Set category—which is new to GPHG this year as part of a strategy to break down gendered categories—the entire room was left to silently consider only the dazzling animated images on the screens. This seemed to cast a horological spell, in a moment that felt almost spiritual.

Improvising, Alcorta said, “They’re so beautiful that we needed to just take them in.”

This silent meditation happened again when the Mechanical Clock Prize was presented, once more setting the audience in a serene horological mindset. This prize went to the amazing Cosmo clock by La Vallée.

Before the final awards were presented, serenity and beauty returned to the stage when 14-year-old Dana Zhang performed Beethoven’s “Storm” (No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57). A mind-blowing performance, it was made all the more remarkable when the young performer told us that she drew on various emotions (anger, frustration, and release) to motivate her playing. Somehow, this seemed to connect as well as anything said last night to the wonders of horology being celebrated in Geneva this season.

Check out the full list of 2026 GPHG winners below:

“Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix: Rexhep Rexhepi, Chronograph Flyback
Iconic Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-thin Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph RD#5 “150^th Anniversary”
Special Jury Prize: Patek Philippe, Watch Art Grand Exhibition
Audacity Prize: Konstantin Chaykin, ThinKing Mystery
Chronometry Prize: Ferdinand Berthoud, Naissance d’une Montre 3
Horological Revelation Prize: Dominique Renaud, Pulse60 Titanium Black
Mechanical Exception Watch Prize: Blancpain, Grande Double Sonnerie
Complication Watch Prize: Cleguer, Inspiration One
Chronograph Watch Prize: Parmigiani Fleurier, Tonda PF Chronographe Mystérieux
Tourbillon Watch Prize: Ferdinand Berthoud, Chronomètre FB 2TV
Sports Watch Prize: Grand Seiko, Spring Drive U.F.A. Ushio 300 Diver
Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet, 150 Heritage
Essential Watch Prize: Daniel Roth, Extra Plat Rose Gold Skeleton
Time Only Watch Prize: Chopard, L.U.C 1860
Jewellery Watch Prize: Chopard, Mystery Nut
Artistic Crafts Watch Prize: Louis Vuitton, Tambour Taiko Arty Automata
Gemset Watch Prize: Piaget, Swinging Pebble
“Petite Aiguille” Watch Prize: Otsuka Lotec, No.8
Challenge Watch Prize: SpaceOne, SpaceOne X Baltic – Seconde Majeure
Mechanical Clock Prize: La Vallée, Cosmo

This article was originally published on Robb Report USA.

Cover photo: Nicolas Lieber via GPHG