Every year, we take a look at our favourite watches from the winners of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) awards – known as the Oscars of the watchmaking world. Here are our picks of the watches we like the best from the 2022 winners.
MB&F Legacy Machine Sequential Evo
This year, the winner of the ‘Aiguille d’Or’ Grand Prix prize was this stunning machine from the MB&F brand. One of the most famous, and adventurous, when it comes to design and movement, upcoming brands, the MB&F brand has been making waves in the watchmaking world. Helmed by Max Busser, the brand is known for its out-of-the-box thinking and for making designs that are really distinctive. While the overall case of the LM Sequential Evo might be a traditional design, the rest of the details are anything but traditional. Featured with a black or orange dial, the Sequential Evo features not one, but two chronographs! And both chronographs can be started, stopped or reset independently of each other, using controls on both sides of the case. Made from Zirconium, the case is amply exotic, and the new movement developed for this edition features a power reserve of 72 hours. A worthy winner indeed of the biggest award of GPHG.
Tag Heuer Monaco X Gulf
Now, anyone who’s into cars knows all about the all-time classic Gulf paint scheme. Some of the most famous racing cars of the world looked stunning in the Gulf paint scheme – not to mention my favourite, the Porsche 917 – and the Tag Heuer Monaco too looks gorgeous in it. No wonder then, that it won the Iconic Watch prize at the awards. With the classic square case – made famous by none other than the prince of cool, Steve McQueen himself – the Gulf edition of the Monaco is a spectacular-looking watch. The blue sunburst dial is flanked by the orange and blue colours of the brand, while the seconds and the sub-dial hands are also finished in orange to give the design some interesting detailing. Powering the watch is Tag Heuer’s Calibre Heuer 02 with a power reserve of 80 hours.
H. Moser & Cie Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton
Another brand that I have quite a soft corner for – but not the budget to be able to afford one, unfortunately – is H. Moser, which has been given a new lease of life. Easily one of the most adventurous and daring manufacturers in the rather conservative Swiss watchmaking world, the Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton is another design masterpiece from the brand, which marries both cutting-edge design as well as technology. The blue fumed dial shows you the time in this timepiece, while the skeleton construction enables you to view the functioning of the one-minute Tourbillon mounted at six o’clock in absolute detail. With the combination of the cylindrical hairspring with the one-minute flying tourbillon at six o’clock guarantees the highest level of precision while offering a riveting spectacle of movement and contrast.
Voutilainen Ji-Ku
Kari Voutilainen is of course a very famous name in the watchmaking world and is especially known for the unusual and beautiful design of his watches, both in terms of dials and movements. And I personally think that the Ji-Ku is one of his best works yet. The dial of the Ji-Ku is simply a work of art and a worthy winner of the Artistic Crafts prize. The dial has been made by Japanese lacquer artist Tatsuo Kitamura, using the techniques of lacquering with Saiei Makie and Somata zaiku which take several months of work to complete. The raw materials used for the construction of the dial are: Kinpun (gold dust), Jyunkin-itakane (gold leaf), Yakou-gai (shell of great green turban) and Awabi-gai (abalone shell from New Zealand). And powering the Ji-Ku is Voutilainen’s in-house movement that also allows you to track the time in a second time zone. A true work of art, indeed.
Tudor Pelagos FXD
Now, you might say that I’m biased towards Tudor’s (I just bought my first Tudor, and the review is coming soon!) but you will have to admit that the Pelagos is a stunning-looking piece of design. Developed to a set of unique specifications created in collaboration with a specialist unit of the French Navy, the Pelagos FXD is aimed squarely at serious divers, but that doesn’t mean you can’t flaunt it in the office or at a party. Of course, for diving, the Pelagos features 200 metres of water resistance, as well as an oversized bezel which enables easy operation even while wearing gloves. The case of the Pelagos is made from titanium, and this makes it both light and yet extremely strong, while the 42mm size enables easy legibility. And surprisingly, the Pelagos FXD is excellent value for money – given its titanium construction and a high degree of water resistance – at just under three lakh rupees, making it one hell of a deal.
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