The Quill & Pad panel reflects on watchmaking’s biggest night: the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, often described as the Oscars of watchmaking. In this segment, we chat about what we liked and what we didn’t like, which watches won and why we think they did.
We also express a bit of dismay at times.
The first timepiece to emerge from the new Ferdinand Berthoud brand is called FB 1. “It has to be something special,” said the man behind the reborn brand, Chopard’s Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. And special it was: so special that the FB 1 took the Aiguille d’Or, the top prize at the 2016 GPHG. Read on to discover why.
Just like the media and entertainment industry, the watchmaking world also has its awards, in the name of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève or GPHG 2016 – also known as the Watchmaking World’s Academy Awards. Last year, the Grand Prix was given to Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, with their Tourbillon 24 Secondes Inclined Vision, and a Jury Award for Watchmaking was given to Vacheron Constantin’s three master watchmakers who created what is the most complicated watch in the world, the 57260. This year, we have our own Xavier Markl attending the show and me, behind my keyboard, writing live so you can have the results as soon the ceremony finishes. And this year, the Ferdinand Berthoud Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud FB1 is awarded with the Grand Prix / “Aiguille d’Or”.