2026 GPHG – Who Will Win at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève

The biggest night in watchmaking is almost here. The 2026 GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève), often called the Oscars of the watch industry, takes place on November 7 in Geneva, Switzerland. With 84 nominated timepieces competing across 14 categories, there’s plenty to look forward to, from classic dress watches to wildly complicated mechanical creations. Ahead of the ceremony, Luxury Bazaar CEO Roman Sharf has shared his predictions for this year’s winners, including his pick for the prestigious Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix. Here’s a look at all the nominees and the watches Roman thinks will take home the prizes.

What to Know About the 2026 GPHG

Established in 2001, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève celebrates excellence in watchmaking, recognizing everything from technical innovation to artistic craftsmanship. The 26th awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva, with a livestream available on the official GPHG website.

This year, the GPHG Academy selected 84 finalists from 320 entries submitted by 194 brands. The winners are determined through a combination of votes from the 24-member jury, chaired by Wei Koh, and the international GPHG Academy. The jury accounts for two-thirds of the final result, while the Academy contributes the remaining third.

For 2026, the GPHG has dropped its traditional Men’s and Ladies’ Watch categories, introducing Time Only, Essential, and Gemset instead. Personally, I think eliminating the gender-specific categories was a mistake, but nobody asked me. In addition to the 14 category awards, the GPHG presents the prestigious Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix, which recognizes the best overall timepiece in the competition.

You might notice that several of the top luxury watch brands, including Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Omega, and Richard Mille, are nowhere to be found among this year’s nominees. That’s because entering the GPHG is entirely voluntary, and these brands have chosen not to participate. Do they consider the awards unnecessary? Would losing be worse than not entering at all? Your guess is as good as ours.

Whatever their reasons, for the watchmakers who do enter, the GPHG offers an opportunity to earn recognition from their peers, collectors, and the watch industry at large.

2026 GPHG Nominees – Time Only

The GPHG Time Only category is reserved for watches that do exactly what the name suggests. They display the hours, minutes, and optionally seconds using two or three hands on a solid dial. No dates, additional complications, or gemstones are allowed.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Time Only Watch Prize are:

• Bulgari Octo Finissimo 37 Satin-Polished Titanium – A smaller, 37mm version of Bulgari’s ultra-thin titanium watch.
• Chopard L.U.C 1860 – A 36.5mm stainless steel dress watch with an 18-karat white gold guilloché dial in Areuse Blue.
• Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin Beige – A 40mm rose gold dress watch with a beige opaline dial and manual-winding movement.
• Naoya Hida & Co. NH Type8A – A 31mm Japanese dress watch with a German-silver dial and hand-engraved Breguet numerals.
• Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Petite Seconde – A 40.6mm platinum watch with a hand-hammered Morning Blue dial and signature knurled bezel.
• Piaget Polo 79 Sodalite – A 38mm white gold watch with a blue sodalite dial and matching integrated gold bracelet.

Roman‘s prediction: Chopard L.U.C 1860.

2026 GPHG Nominees – Essential

New for 2026, the Essential category covers watches that go beyond conventional time-only displays without venturing into more elaborate complications. Eligible watches can feature dates, power-reserve indicators, moon phases, or day/night displays, as well as unconventional digital and retrograde indications.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Essential Watch Prize are:

• Audemars Piguet Neo Frame Jumping Hour – A 34mm pink gold watch with a vintage-inspired rectangular case and jumping-hour display.
• Daniel Roth Extra Plat Rose Gold Skeleton – A 35.5mm rose gold watch with a skeletonized movement housed in the brand’s signature double-ellipse case.
• Grand Seiko Hand-engraved Manual-winding Spring Drive – A 40mm platinum watch with a hand-engraved dial and case inspired by Japan’s Tateshina Waterfall.
• MB&F SP One Platinum – A 38mm platinum watch with a three-dimensional movement featuring floating components beneath a domed sapphire crystal.
• Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante Arctic Rose – A 40mm steel watch with an Arctic Rose dial and a second minute hand that can be advanced in one- or five-minute increments.
• Stéphane Pierre L’Impétrant – A 39mm titanium watch with two retrograde hands displaying the hours and minutes across ceramic dials.

Roman’s prediction: Daniel Roth Extra Plat Rose Gold Skeleton.

2026 GPHG Nominees – Complication

The Complication category recognizes watches that demonstrate creativity and mechanical complexity, whether through traditional complications or inventive ways of displaying information. These watches go beyond the functions permitted in the Essential category, without falling into the more specialized Mechanical Exception category.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Complication Watch Prize are:

• Cleguer Inspiration One – A 38.5mm white gold watch featuring the innovative Innate escapement and an off-center grand feu enamel dial.
• Czapek Time Jumper – A retro-futuristic watch with a flying-saucer-inspired case and jumping-hour display.
• Dominique Renaud Pulse60 Titanium Black – A 40mm titanium watch with an exceptionally slow balance frequency of just 60 oscillations per minute.
• Lederer CIC 39 InVerto Titanium – A titanium watch with an inverted movement that puts its double remontoir d’égalité mechanism on display.
• Ulysse Nardin x Urwerk UR-FREAK – A 44mm titanium collaborative watch combining the Freak’s rotating movement architecture with Urwerk’s wandering-hour satellite display.
• Vianney Halter x Behrens KWH – An unconventional collaboration inspired by vintage electricity meters and the video games Snake and Tetris, featuring a Snake-inspired hour display.

Roman’s prediction: Ulysse Nardin x Urwerk UR-FREAK.

Mechanical Exception

The Mechanical Exception category celebrates some of the most ambitious creations in watchmaking. These are timepieces featuring unusual mechanisms, sophisticated displays, striking complications, special escapements, or other inventive mechanical concepts that push beyond conventional watchmaking.

The six nominees for the 2026 Mechanical Exception Watch Prize are:

• Blancpain Grande Double Sonnerie – A 47mm red gold grand complication featuring two selectable melodies, a perpetual calendar, and a flying tourbillon.
• Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike – A grand complication combining a grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, and minute repeater with sapphire crystal gongs.
• Christiaan van der Klaauw CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Silicium – An astronomical watch featuring a mechanical planetarium that displays the real-time orbits of all eight planets.
• Ferdinand Berthoud Naissance d’une Montre 3 – A 44.3mm white gold chronometer handcrafted using traditional tools, featuring a fusee-and-chain transmission and bimetallic balance.
• H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Cosmic Rain – A 40mm titanium minute repeater with a skeletonized movement, flying tourbillon, and aventurine dial with mother-of-pearl inlays.
• Konstantin Chaykin Thinking Mystery – An unconventional mechanical face-like watch with a mystery display that makes the hour and minute indicators appear to float in mid-air.

Roman’s prediction: H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Cosmic Rain.

Gemset

New for 2026, the Gemset category recognizes watches decorated with up to six carats of gemstones. Eligible watches can display the time, date, power reserve, or classic moon phases, while more extravagant gem-covered creations compete in the separate Jewellery category.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Gemset Watch Prize are:

• Bovet 1822 Récital 23 – A diamond-set red gold watch featuring Bovet’s inclined Writing Desk case, green dial, and precision moon-phase display.
• Bulgari Serpenti Aeterna – A rose gold bangle watch with a sleek, serpentine design and 293 brilliant-cut diamonds.
• Chopard L’Heure du Diamant – A 33mm white gold watch with a fluted gold dial, pear-shaped diamond bezel, and matching integrated bracelet.
• Franck Muller Round Triple Mystery Skeleton – A 36mm pink gold, diamond-set skeleton watch that uses three rotating discs instead of conventional hands to display the hours, minutes, and seconds.
• Piaget Swinging Pebble – A sculptural pendant watch featuring an asymmetrical ornamental-stone pebble, a matching pietersite dial, and a twisted gold chain.
• Tiffany & Co. Paradise Bird Toucan – A 36mm white gold watch inspired by Jean Schlumberger’s bird designs, featuring a gem-set toucan perched on purple chalcedony above an elaborate enamel dial.

Roman’s prediction: Tiffany & Co. Paradise Bird Toucan.

Tourbillon

The Tourbillon category is dedicated to mechanical watches equipped with a single tourbillon, a rotating mechanism originally developed to counteract the effects of gravity on a watch’s accuracy. Additional complications are allowed, so the nominees can range from relatively straightforward tourbillon watches to much more elaborate creations.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Tourbillon Watch Prize are:

• Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon 11 Platinum – A 41.5mm platinum watch featuring a tourbillon, constant-force mechanism, and hand-engraved gold dial.
• David Candaux DC6 Night Forest – Weighing just 45 grams, this carbon fiber and titanium watch features a flying tourbillon inclined at 30 degrees.
• Ferdinand Berthoud Chronomètre FB 2TV – A 44mm white gold chronometer featuring a large dial-side flying tourbillon, fusée-and-chain transmission, and zero-reset seconds mechanism.
• Girard-Perregaux Laureato Fifty Three Gold Bridges – A combination of the Laureato’s distinctive case design and the brand’s historic Three Gold Bridges movement architecture.
• Louis Vuitton Escale Worldtime Flying Tourbillon – A world-time watch featuring a centrally positioned flying tourbillon and a display covering 24 time zones.
• Sylvain Pinaud 30s Tourbillon – A 39mm platinum watch featuring a tourbillon that completes one revolution every 30 seconds, a 100-hour power reserve, and a zero-reset seconds mechanism.

Roman’s prediction: Ferdinand Berthoud Chronomètre FB 2TV.

Chronograph

The Chronograph category is open to mechanical watches equipped with a chronograph function for measuring elapsed time. Additional complications are permitted, which explains why this year’s contenders include everything from traditional chronographs to watches combining chronographs with tourbillons and other sophisticated mechanisms.

The six nominees for the 2026 Chronograph Watch Prize are:

• Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-thin Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph RD#5 “150th Anniversary” – A 39mm anniversary edition combining a flyback chronograph and flying tourbillon in a titanium and bulk metallic glass case.
• H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Flyback Chronograph Dual Time Date – A 42mm steel chronograph with a second time zone, date display, and central chronograph hands instead of conventional subdials.
• Louis Moinet 1816 Chronograph – A titanium chronograph celebrating 210 years since Louis Moinet’s original invention, featuring a champagne-colored dial and instantaneous 30-minute counter.
• Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Chronographe Mystérieux – A 40mm steel and platinum watch that appears to be a conventional three-hand timepiece until its chronograph function is activated.
• Rexhep Rexhepi Chronograph Flyback – A platinum flyback chronograph featuring a grand feu enamel dial, instantaneous minute counter, and extensively hand-finished movement.
• TAG Heuer Monaco Evergraph – A new interpretation of the square-cased Monaco featuring an innovative chronograph mechanism.

Roman’s prediction: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-thin Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph RD#5 “150th Anniversary”.

Calendar and Astronomy

The Calendar and Astronomy category covers mechanical watches with at least one calendar or astronomical complication, from annual and perpetual calendars to more elaborate displays of celestial phenomena. Additional complications are permitted, making this one of the more technically diverse categories at the GPHG.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize are:

• Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage – An exceptionally complicated pocket watch created for the brand’s 150th anniversary, featuring multiple calendar and astronomical indications.
• Berneron Quantième Annuel – A 38mm platinum annual calendar with four jumping apertures, a retrograde date display, and a five-day power reserve.
• Bovet 1822 Récital 31 – A titanium perpetual calendar with a retrograde date, spherical moon phase, and impressive 10-day power reserve.
• Christiaan van der Klaauw CVDK Venus Annual Calendar – A 38mm steel astronomical watch combining an annual calendar with rotating discs that track the orbits of Venus, Earth, and the Moon.
• Krayon Anyday Rose Gold – An inventive rose gold watch displaying the entire month at a glance, distinguishing weekdays from weekends and showing the first four days of the following month.
• Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Perpetual Calendar 30th Anniversary – A pink gold perpetual calendar with a hand-hammered rose gold dial and two subdials displaying the day, date, month, and leap year, limited to 30 pieces.

Roman’s prediction: Krayon Anyday Rose Gold.

Sports

The Sports category recognizes watches designed with physical activity in mind, whether through their functions, materials, or construction. This year’s nominees range from serious diving watches to unconventional designs that challenge traditional ideas of what a sports watch should look like.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Sports Watch Prize are:

• Chopard Zagato Lab One Concept – An automotive-inspired collaboration with Italian coachbuilder Zagato, featuring a 42mm ceramicized titanium case, tourbillon, and an exceptionally light 43.2-gram construction.
• Grand Seiko Spring Drive U.F.A. Ushio 300 Diver – A titanium dive watch with 300-meter water resistance and an ultra-precise Spring Drive movement accurate to ±20 seconds per year.
• H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Pump – A collaboration with Reebok featuring a forged quartz fiber case and an orange push-button winding system inspired by the famous Pump sneakers.
• Hermès H08 Squelette – A skeletonized version of the sporty H08, featuring an openworked dial and the collection’s distinctive cushion-shaped case.
• IWC Schaffhausen Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Ceralume – A 46.5mm perpetual calendar pilot’s watch with a luminous white ceramic case, matching luminous dial and strap, and seven-day power reserve.
• Laurent Ferrier Sport Traveller Slate Grey – A 42mm titanium sports watch with an integrated bracelet and dual-time function, featuring pushers that adjust the local hour forward or backward without stopping the movement.

Roman’s prediction: H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Pump.

Jewelry Watch

The Jewelry Watch category celebrates timepieces that showcase exceptional gem-setting and jewelry-making techniques, with particular attention paid to the choice of gemstones. Unlike the Gemset category, which limits watches to six carats of gemstones, this category is open to much more extravagant creations.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Jewelry Watch Prize are:

• Bulgari Tubogas Manchette – A wide yellow gold cuff watch inspired by a 1974 design, featuring a single-wrap Tubogas bracelet, diamonds, and colorful gemstones.
• Chopard Mystery Nut – An elaborate pendant watch shaped like a walnut that opens to reveal a moonphase display and a diamond-set dove carrying an olive branch.
• Dior Montres Dior Grand Bal Nuit des Indes – A diamond-set jewelry watch inspired by Parisian architecture and Indian decorative traditions, featuring a kaleidoscopic dial animated by an inverted oscillating weight.
• Franck Muller Vanguard Curvex Cut Flower – A pink gold watch featuring a skeletonized movement and floral arrangements of specially cut pink sapphires and other gemstones.
• Jacob & Co. Billionaire Double Tourbillon Angel-Cut Diamonds – A white gold watch featuring two flying tourbillons and 297 diamonds totaling approximately 80 carats, including the brand’s patented Angel Cut.
• Piaget Flowing Curves Cuff – A sculptural white gold cuff watch featuring hand-hammered gold surfaces and Australian black opals with vivid blue and green coloring.

Roman’s prediction: Piaget Flowing Curves Cuff.

Artistic Crafts

The Artistic Crafts category celebrates watches that showcase exceptional decorative techniques, including enameling, engraving, guilloché, marquetry, and skeletonization. Here, the emphasis is on the craftsmanship involved in creating the watch’s decorative elements, rather than its mechanical complications.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Artistic Crafts Watch Prize are:

• Andersen Genève Celestial Voyager VK Edition – A 37.8mm platinum worldtimer featuring a miniature-painted New York skyline on a Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial, part of a 14-piece series depicting different cities.
• Audemars Piguet Établisseurs Nomade – A titanium pocket watch that converts into a desk clock, featuring black onyx, meteorite, and a hand-skeletonized movement.
• Bovet 1822 Monsieur Bovet Tribute to Edouard Bovet – A red gold watch featuring a miniature-painted sailing ship, hand-engraved waves, and a reversible case that also converts into a pocket watch or table clock.
• Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi – A pink gold snake watch decorated with five colors of lacquer, with a hidden mother-of-pearl dial revealed by pressing the snake’s tongue.
• L. Leroy Vox Temporis – A 43mm platinum watch featuring a rotating blue guilloché dial, flying tourbillon, and minute repeater.
• Louis Vuitton Tambour Taiko Arty Automata – A colorful white gold automaton watch featuring 23 shades of champlevé enamel, seven animated effects, and a tourbillon shaped like a peace symbol.

Roman’s prediction: Louis Vuitton Tambour Taiko Arty Automata.

Petite Aiguille

The Petite Aiguille category is reserved for watches with retail prices between CHF 4,500 and CHF 10,000. It’s a competitive field where established Swiss brands go up against smaller independent watchmakers, with everything from classic dress watches to unconventional mechanical creations in the running.

The six nominees for the 2026 Petite Aiguille Watch Prize are:

• Christopher Ward Loco Classic – A 41mm steel dress watch with a domed ceramic time display, exposed balance wheel, and hand-wound movement offering a six-day power reserve.
• Frédérique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture – A 40mm steel worldtimer with a blue world-map dial, in-house FC-719 automatic movement, and a 72-hour power reserve.
• Massena LAB Noctograph by Massena LAB and Raúl Pagès – A 38.5mm steel dress watch with a vertically brushed blue dial, small seconds display, and a hand-wound movement developed with independent watchmaker Raúl Pagès.
• MING × J.N. Shapiro 37.06 Lightning – A 38mm steel watch featuring a hand-guilloché titanium dial individually heat-colored by Ming Thein, producing unique shades of blue, purple, and orange.
• Otsuka Lotec No.8 – A Japanese mechanical watch inspired by mixing consoles, featuring jumping hours, retrograde minutes, and a rotating seconds disc.
• TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph – A redesigned 39mm Monaco in grade 5 titanium, with a blue opaline dial, left-hand crown, and automatic TH20-11 chronograph movement.

Roman’s prediction: TAG Heuer Monaco Chronograph.

Challenge

The Challenge category is reserved for watches priced at CHF 4,500 or less, making it the most affordable category at the GPHG. The nominees demonstrate that interesting designs and mechanical watchmaking aren’t limited to five- or six-figure price tags.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Challenge Watch Prize are:

• Beaubleu La Pièce No.2 – A 39mm steel watch featuring Beaubleu’s signature circular hands and a silver-toned dial produced using traditional coin-striking techniques.
• Beda’a Angles Guichets – An ultra-thin watch with an eight-faceted steel case and a 24-hour aperture display featuring moving Sun and Moon indicators.
• Favre Leuba Chief Skeleton – A 40mm steel watch with a cushion-shaped case, blue rubber strap, and an openworked automatic movement with gold-colored components.
• Frédérique Constant Classics Moneta Handwinding – A 38.5mm steel dress watch with a smoked salmon gradient dial, manually wound movement, and a coin-edge-inspired inner rehaut.
• Seiko King Seiko VANAC – A titanium revival of the 1970s VANAC, featuring an angular 41mm case, purple dial, integrated bracelet, and automatic Caliber 8L45.
• SpaceOne x Baltic Seconde Majeure – A 38.5mm steel collaboration featuring a jumping-hour mechanism developed by Théo Auffret and an exposed dial construction made from German silver.

Roman’s prediction: Beda’a Angles Guichets.

Mechanical Clock

The Mechanical Clock category takes the competition beyond wristwatches, recognizing mechanical timekeeping creations such as table clocks and longcase clocks. With fewer restrictions on size and construction, these elaborate creations can incorporate everything from tourbillons and astronomical displays to striking mechanisms and automata.

The six nominees for the 2026 GPHG Mechanical Clock Prize are:

• Carl Suchy & Söhne Table Waltz Tourbillon Mirror Edition – A one-of-a-kind Austrian table clock featuring a tourbillon, hand-engraved crystal panels, and a mechanism that chimes on the hour.
• Chopard The Beehive Chiming Table Clock – A beehive-shaped creation developed with L’Epée 1839, featuring rotating glass discs, gemstone-set gold bees, and a chiming mechanism.
• L’Epée 1839 The Gekko – A gold-colored, gecko-shaped mechanical clock that can be displayed on a table or mounted on a wall, powered by an eight-day skeleton movement.
• La Vallée Cosmo – An astronomical clock with a magnetically suspended mechanism that rotates once per sidereal day and delivers an extraordinary 406-day power reserve.
• Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius – A mechanical clock with a starry-sky dial that automatically winds and adjusts its companion wristwatch when docked.
• Miki Eleta Frog Queen – A whimsical garden-themed automaton featuring frogs, a crane, and a flower that opens to reveal the Frog Queen, along with a hand-wound mechanical clock.

Roman’s prediction: La Vallée Cosmo.

Who Will Win the 2026 GPHG Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix?

There’s one prize everyone has their eye on. The Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix is the GPHG’s highest honor, awarded to the best overall timepiece in the competition. Roman Sharf is putting his money on Ferdinand Berthoud, predicting that either the Chronomètre FB 2TV or the Naissance d’une Montre 3 will take home the coveted prize.

Will Roman’s predictions hold up? We’ll find out on November 7, when the winners are announced in Geneva.

Be sure to check back after the ceremony, as we’ll update this article with all the 2026 GPHG winners and see how many Roman got right.