Watch Auctions · Geneva Week 2026 · GPHG Preview
TL;DR
84 watches across 14 categories compete for the Aiguille d’Or on 7 November 2026 at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Geneva. The nominated pieces are on free display at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire from 29 October to 15 November. Jury of 24, chaired by Wei Koh; the Academy vote counts as 12 additional members. The most-watched names going in: Ferdinand Berthoud, Rexhep Rexhepi, Grand Seiko, and H. Moser & Cie.
The October auction month just closed its books. Next in the Geneva calendar: watchmaking’s own Academy Awards ceremony, sixteen days from now. The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2026 ceremony falls on 7 November — the same week that four auction houses open their viewing rooms and the most important auction week of the year begins. The overlap is not coincidental: Geneva in early November is now the single densest event cluster on the watch calendar.
What Is the GPHG?
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève has run annually since 2001 as an independent, non-commercial awards body supported by the Geneva cantonal government. A 24-member jury of collectors, retailers, watchmakers and media professionals evaluates every entry across 14 categories. The overall prize — the Aiguille d’Or, or Golden Hand — is voted separately from all 84 nominated pieces combined. The Academy, a body of former jurors and watch-world alumni, contributes a voting bloc equivalent to 12 jury members, so the total effective vote is 36. Under the GPHG rules, the previous year’s Aiguille d’Or winner holds a seat on the jury but its brand is ineligible for the prize: Breguet, winner in 2025, occupies that seat in 2026 and is absent from contention.
The 84 Nominees at a Glance
Six watches compete in each of the 14 categories. The table below covers the six categories most relevant to collectors and the secondary market; the complete 84-piece exhibition opens at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, on 29 October — eight days from now.
| Category | Nominees (six per category) |
|---|---|
| Time Only | Bvlgari Octo Finissimo 37; Chopard L.U.C 1860; Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin Beige; Naoya Hida & Co. NH Type8A; Parmigiani Toric Petite Seconde; Piaget Polo 79 Sodalite |
| Essential | Audemars Piguet Neo Frame Jumping Hour; Daniel Roth Extra Plat Skeleton; Grand Seiko SBGZ011 Hand-engraved Spring Drive; MB&F SP One Platinum; Parmigiani Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante; Stéphane Pierre L’Impétrant |
| Chronograph | Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo Flying Tourbillon Chronograph RD#5; H. Moser Endeavour Flyback Dual Time; Louis Moinet 1816 Chronograph; Parmigiani Tonda PF Chronographe Mystérieux; Rexhep Rexhepi Chronograph Flyback; TAG Heuer Monaco Evergraph |
| Mechanical Exception | Blancpain Grande Double Sonnerie; Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike; Christiaan van der Klaauw CVDK Grand Planetarium; Ferdinand Berthoud Naissance d’une Montre 3; H. Moser Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton; Konstantin Chaykin Thinking Mystery |
| Tourbillon | Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon 11; David Candaux DC6 Night Forest; Ferdinand Berthoud Chronomètre FB 2TV; Girard-Perregaux Laureato Fifty Three Gold Bridges; Louis Vuitton Escale Worldtime Flying Tourbillon; Sylvain Pinaud 30s Tourbillon |
| Sports | Chopard Zagato Lab One Concept; Grand Seiko Spring Drive U.F.A. Ushio 300 Diver; H. Moser Streamliner Pump; Hermès H08 Squelette; IWC Big Pilot’s Perpetual Calendar Ceralume; Laurent Ferrier Sport Traveller |
The Frontrunners
Ferdinand Berthoud — Naissance d’une Montre 3 (Mechanical Exception). Berthoud’s third collaborative “birth of a watch” project is a triple-axis tourbillon driven by a fusée-and-chain, two of the most demanding mechanisms in traditional watchmaking combined in a single case. It is the most technically ambitious entry in the full field and the class of piece the Aiguille d’Or jury has returned to repeatedly. If complexity sets the standard this year, Berthoud is the name to watch.
Rexhep Rexhepi — Chronograph Flyback (Chronograph). Rexhepi designed and finished his in-house flyback chronograph movement entirely in his Geneva atelier. In a category that also includes Audemars Piguet’s monumental RD#5 Royal Oak and an inventive Parmigiani entry, the RRCHF is the independent’s answer to industrial scale. The GPHG jury under Wei Koh has consistently favoured ateliers where a single craftsman’s hand is visible in every component, and no entry in 2026 fits that profile more completely.
Grand Seiko SBGZ011 (Essential). The Shizukuishi atelier’s hand-engraved dial paired with a Spring Drive movement is the most visible distillation of what Grand Seiko does that no Swiss house replicates. The Essential category rewards watches that do one thing supremely well. The SBGZ011’s combination of traditional Japanese engraving craft and a glide wheel escapement is a compelling case. The brand’s long insistence on building every core component in-house is the supporting argument the jury already knows well.
TAG Heuer — Monaco Evergraph (Chronograph). TAG’s Monaco Evergraph introduces a continuous seconds hand that never stops — the elapsed time display updates without the hand freezing at zero — alongside an entirely in-house column-wheel chronograph. The Monaco’s collector standing is already secure; the Evergraph adds a meaningful technical argument. It is the mainstream entry most capable of upsetting the independents in the Chronograph category.
Jury and Voting Structure
Twenty-four jurors are drawn from collectors, watchmakers, retailers and media. Wei Koh, Singapore-based founder of Revolution media, chairs the 2026 panel. Gregory Kissling, CEO of Breguet, holds the mandatory seat reserved for the prior-year Aiguille d’Or winner’s chief executive. The Academy bloc — former jurors and watch-world alumni — casts votes equal to 12 members, bringing the total weighted electorate to 36. An independent teller firm certifies the result before the ceremony; the winner is not known until it is announced on stage.
Ceremony and Exhibition Details
The 2026 ceremony takes place on Saturday, 7 November at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Geneva. Seating is by invitation from the GPHG Foundation; there are no public tickets. The prize-giving is streamed live on gphg.org from approximately 18:00 local time.
For those in or near Geneva: all 84 nominated pieces are on free display at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Rue Charles-Galland 2, Geneva) from 29 October to 15 November 2026. The museum is closed Mondays. No appointment or ticket is required. This is the only public opportunity to examine many of these pieces in person before — and for most, long after — the result is announced.
What a GPHG Win Moves in the Market
The Aiguille d’Or has a measurable, if uneven, effect on secondary prices. For independents, the impact is acute: a win can double an atelier’s waiting list overnight and add 15–30% to pre-owned grey-market prices within six months of the announcement. For established houses, the prestige is real but rarely creates meaningful supply pressure. Category prizes have a narrower effect, but for a brand taking its first GPHG win in any category, the immediate spike in search interest and secondary activity within 72 hours is well-documented. Collectors watching the auction calendar should note that a Berthoud or Rexhepi result on the evening of 7 November would land precisely as four auction houses open their Geneva viewing rooms the following morning — maximum attention, maximum liquidity, minimum inventory. For anyone already holding one of these pieces, the timing is notable.
Saturday, 7 November 2026, at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva. The result is streamed live on gphg.org from approximately 18:00 local time.
The ceremony is invitation-only — there are no public tickets. However, all 84 nominated watches are on free public display at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, from 29 October to 15 November 2026. Closed Mondays; no reservation required.
The Aiguille d’Or — Golden Hand — is the GPHG’s top prize. The 24-member jury and the Academy vote for it from all 84 nominees across all 14 categories. It is awarded to the watch considered the most outstanding piece of the year, regardless of category.
84 watches across 14 categories: Time Only, Essential, Complication, Mechanical Exception, Gemset, Tourbillon, Chronograph, Calendar and Astronomy, Sports, Jewellery, Artistic Crafts, Petite Aiguille, Challenge, and Mechanical Clock.
Yes, particularly for independents. An Aiguille d’Or win typically adds 15–30% to pre-owned market prices within six months and triggers an immediate increase in search interest and secondary market activity. The effect is smaller but still present for category prizes.
Wei Koh, Singapore-based founder of Revolution media. The full jury of 24 includes collectors, watchmakers, retailers and media professionals. Gregory Kissling (CEO, Breguet) holds the mandatory seat reserved for the prior-year Aiguille d’Or winner’s chief executive.
Sources: GPHG.org — 2026 nominated timepieces (updated 20 October 2026); Haute Time — GPHG 2026 finalists and jury (12 October 2026); The Hour Glass — full nominees list.
