The 2025 GPHG: Breguet Wins The Aiguille d'Or

The 2025 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), the watch industry’s top awards show, where the best and brightest watchmakers in the world are showcased, just wrapped up in Geneva. Staged at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices (a former hydro power generating station), it served as the backdrop for an elegant and enthusiastic celebration of the year’s achievements in watchmaking. And let’s get right to the big news. Breguet won the top prize “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix, for the Classique Souscription 2025, underscoring the brand’s successful efforts in the year of its 250th anniversary. 

To be sure, the GPHG remains an imperfect awards show, but it’s still the best showcase the industry has to highlight the year’s best in watchmaking (despite some notable absences and unspoken political tensions and rivalries). 

There is no Patek Philippe nor Rolex in the GPHG program, and there are very few watches from the Swatch Group, or from most Richemont brands. But that doesn’t diminish the achievements of this year’s nominees and winners, who each triumphed in producing best-in-class work recognized by their peers among a wide range of seriously competitive categories. Click here if you need a quick refresher on the categories and finalists for this year’s outing of the award show. 

The evening also served as a farewell tribute to Nick Foulkes (seen on stage below), who, after five years as the president of the GPHG jury, will end his tenure as the head of the most important group of deciders in horology. It was a night that reminded all in attendance how small sparks and gestures can spread the passion of watches. 

While accepting the prize for ‘Mechanical Exception’ on behalf of his entire staff of 130 employees, Greubel Forsey CEO Michel Nydegger also gave a shout-out to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for wearing a Greubel and appreciating mechanical watchmaking at a time when electronic technology is dominating the world.

It was an exciting evening in the heart of Geneva as a massive crowd gathered to celebrate watches and watchmaking. Here is a rundown of the winners for each category. 

Aiguille d’Or: Breguet Classique Souscription 2025

The top prize went to Brequet and the Classique Souscription 2025 on the brand’s 250th anniversary. The award was accepted by CEO Gregory Kissling, who recalled the birth of the first souscription pocket watch by the legendary Abraham-Louis Breguet. A blend of tradition and modernity inhabits the brand and that collective spirit that will continue, he said. Here’s Rich Fordon’s story on the watch.

This category, which pulls from the entire roster of finalist models, had some incredible competition, and it’s a remarkable win for the Breguet, which was a finalist in the Iconic Prize category. 

Time Only: Daniel Roth Extra Plat Rose Gold

Another hard-fought category with competition that spanned price points and wholly different case shapes (from Ming to Raúl Pagès and Piaget). The beautifully simple Roth Extra Plat took home the honors. Navas and Barbasini returned to the stage to say how important and challenging it was for Fabrique du Temps to successfully create a time-only watch. 

The win signaled an impressive year for LVMH’s watch divisions and a bit of a trend for the evening. To learn more about this new model from the storied brand, click here for our previous coverage.

Men’s: Urban Jürgensen UJ-2: Double Wheel Natural Escapement

The crowded category (which included heavy hitters from Chopard, Grand Seiko, Zenith, and more) went to the Urban Júrgensen and Kari Voutilainen, the watchmaker overseeing and driving the revived brand. He said the aim was to create a timeless but also modern watch with the UJ-2. 

The win is significant recognition for the independent brand, and the UJ-2 stood out for its technically focused dual-wheel natural escapement and its clean, traditional execution. To learn more about the UJ-2, check out Mark’s story covering the brand’s return.

Men’s Complication: Bovet 1822 Récital 30

This is a huge win for Bovet, as the playing field included some exceptionally complicated heavy-hitters, including a quartet of QPs from AP, UJ, Chopard, and Parmigani. The Bovet Récital 30 set itself apart with an unusually practical and technically advanced approach to world-time. 

Rather than relying on a static city ring, Bovet uses a set of 24 city rollers paired with an additional roller that accounts for shifting Daylight Saving Time conventions. The result is a world timer that can display accurate local time anywhere in the world year-round, which is something that most traditional world-time mechanisms can’t offer.

Ladies’: Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal

The winner of the best women’s watch (or Ladies’ watch, as they say at the GPHG) is the Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin Fire Opal. Named after the spiky sea urchin the case resembles, here’s Malaika’s take on the timepiece. The prize was accepted by La Fabrique du Temps principals Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, who both worked with Genta himself. 

Ladies’ Complication: Chopard Imperiale Four Seasons

With competing entries from AP, Jacob & Co., Hermes, and more, this was a hotly contested category, and Chopard took home the prize. It wasn’t a big surprise in the room as Chopard’s co-president, Caroline Scheufele, who oversees the jewelry part of Chopard, was invited to take the stage before the award was announced, and she was later joined by her brother and co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, who leads the watchmaking division at Chopard.

Offering a truly romantic complication, the Chopard Imperiale Four Seasons uses a rotating disc on the dial to display the progression of the seasons over the course of a full year. As time passes, the disc slowly advances to indicate spring, summer, autumn, or winter. Offered in real time, this once-a-year complication ties the watch’s display directly to the natural calendar rather than a traditional windowed date or calendar complication. 

Iconic: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar

In the always nebulous ‘Iconic’ category, the latest generation of Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar took the prize with its new perpetual calendar movement, offering a particularly complicated take on the classic Royal Oak design. 

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar launched for 2025 represents a major evolution of one of the brand’s most iconic complications. What sets it apart is the new caliber—Calibre 7138—which allows all calendar functions (date, day, month, leap year, week, moonphase) to be adjusted via the crown alone. If you want to learn more, check out this story and video that digs into the evolution of the new movement. “It is simple, beautiful, but complicated,” said CEO Ilaria Resta in her acceptance speech.

Tourbillon: Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon

This is always a hot category, but the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon remains a remarkable achievement in watchmaking, and it’s a deserving recipient of the award. While you can read more here, the main takeaway is that at 1.85mm thick overall (case, movement, crystal, and bracelet), it still delivers a traditional flying tourbillon and a legible time display.

Despite the competition from some very special watches from Louis Vuitton, Fam Al Hut, and more, this watch is nothing short of a magic trick if you ever get to see it in person. 

Chronograph: Angelus Chronographe Télémètre Yellow Gold

A popular category with some great watches in the running, including those from AP, Louis Monet, Ming, Moser, and Andersen Geneve, Angelus took the nod with its handsome Télèmètre chrono in yellow gold. For more on the Angelus, take a look at our coverage of the La Joux-Perret manufacture from earlier this year. 

The monopusher chronograph made quite an impression at Watches and Wonders this year and carried the momentum right through to the GPHG, marking a big win for the brand. The CEO of the brand, Pascal Béchu, in his acceptance speech, said the watch was made for true enthusiasts and collectors.

Sports: Chopard Alpine Eagle Cadence 8HF

This category was also tough and hard-fought. The prize went to this 250-piece limited edition from Chopard, a bold edition of the brand’s integrated bracelet sports watch. What sets this model apart is its material and technical execution. The case and mainplate are in one of the lightest ceramicised titanium builds ever seen in this category, yet it still houses a tech-forward, high-frequency 8 Hz automatic movement. 

This is a strong showing for Chopard, especially given the exceptionally sporty offering that this specific take on the Alpine Eagle offers. Co-president Karl-Frederic Scheufele accepted the prize with a brief thank-you speech. For more, check out TanTan’s story from earlier this year. 

Jewellery: Dior Montres La D de Dior Buisson Couture

Some gorgeous work on display here as Dior snatched the victory. Imbued with intricate jewelry setting, the watch serves as a tribute to garlands from the French fashion brand that continues to up its watch game. 

Petite Aiguille: M.A.D. Editions M.A.D.2 Green

Reserved for watches priced between CHF 3,000 and CHF 10,000, this prize went to Max Büsser and his MAD Editions M.A.D. 2 Green. The watch introduces a jumping-hour and trailing-minutes module developed in-house (based on a La Joux-Perret calibre) that we covered on its release earlier this year. 

This category had some fierce competition, including the Nomos Club Sport Worldtimer, and shows the appeal of the watchmaking and price point offered by the M.A.D. Editions. In his acceptance speech, Büsser thanked long-time collaborator and designer Eric Giroud. 

Challenge: Dennison Natural Stone Tiger Eye in Gold

A hard-fought contest for watches priced at or under CHF 3,000. Dennison won this category with a watch that has experienced sustained popularity since its release (and recent evolution into a dual time model). 

CEO Stéphane Cheikh singled out Lead Designer Emmanuel Gueit to take a bow from his seat in the audience, amid a round of applause for the retro-cool, entry-priced quartz-driven timepiece.

Mechanical Exception: Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante

This is one of the coolest and most interesting watches to come out in 2025, and with it, Greubel Forsey took home the Mechanical Exception prize. The Nano Foudroyante stands out primarily because it condenses several major complications into a surprisingly wearable size: a 37.9 mm case and a thickness of just 10.49 mm. That’s remarkably slim for a watch that combines a monopusher chronograph, a flying tourbillon, and a foudroyante (or “lightning seconds”) dial feature.

What’s more, the foudroyante mechanism is directly driven by the tourbillon cage, keeping the hand continuously moving and visually tied to the heart of the movement. If you want to learn a lot more about the Nano Foudroyante, check out Mark’s Hands-On from last year. 

Other Winners

• Artistic Crafts: Voutilainen 28GML SOYOU
• Mechanical Clock: L’Epée 1839 Albatross L’Epée 1839 x MB&F
• Horological Revelation Prize: Anton Suhanov, St. Petersburg Easter Egg Tourbillon Clock
• Audicity Prize: Fam Al Hut Möbius
• Chronometry Prize: Zenith G.F.J. Calibre 135
• Special Jury Prize: Alain Dominique Perrin, Fondation Cartier