As it does every autumn, the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) is set to honour the year's most outstanding timepieces. The 24th awards ceremony will take place on 13 November at the Théâtre du Léman and will be broadcast live on Euronews.com.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00♪
00:04As every autumn, the watchmaking planet meets on the shores of Lake Lehman
00:08to reward the most beautiful watchmakers of the year.
00:1190 of them are in competition at the Geneva Grand Prix of Watchmaking, where they are currently exhibited.
00:17It's more than a prize.
00:19Obviously, today we have the exhibition of the most beautiful watches in the world in 2024,
00:25but our mission goes beyond that.
00:27It is really the promotion of art, but above all the promotion of love for this art,
00:32by also awakening young people not only to the values that watchmaking represents,
00:38the values of tradition, innovation, creativity, precision,
00:42but also by calling for the vocation to rediscover the trades of watchmaking
00:48and that more and more young people are interested in making watches.
00:53At the time when the jury is about to elect the winners,
00:55Euronews takes you behind the scenes of the 12th art, the watchmaking art.
00:59♪
01:03Direction the mountains of the Jura Suisse, sanctuary of high watchmaking.
01:07This is where Beauvais won the prestigious Golden Needle in 2018.
01:12This year, the Bicentenary House presents the Prowess One,
01:15which revolutionizes the measurement of universal time,
01:18thanks to a system of rollers that adapts to the different time changes around the world.
01:23An innovation presented in the category of mechanical exceptions.
01:27♪
01:32It solves a problem that dates back several centuries.
01:36It contributes to the pleasure of the collector,
01:38since without needing any tool, by pressing this crown,
01:43these 25 cylinders that turn themselves,
01:46it is objectively a mechanical exception.
01:49At Beauvais, cutting-edge techniques are mixed with handcrafted work.
01:53The impression of the cities on the rollers, like the engraving of the bridges, a factory brand,
01:58are made by meticulous hands in the workshops.
02:01We are in a house that has several centuries.
02:04It has always contributed, tried to contribute, since Mr. Edouard Beauvais,
02:10but always with the defense of a decorative art.
02:13And keeping time is in its patrimonial dimension, through its craftsmen.
02:18And in the word craftsman, you have the word art.
02:21But to express art, it is a question of education, shared philosophy, value, tradition.
02:27Fashion is ephemeral, tradition will always remain.
02:30We keep time because we cherish it.
02:33And we know that in human life, what is more precious than time itself?
02:37Back to Geneva, to visit another factory, that of Frédéric Constant, which offers a whole other universe.
02:48The young house features two Grand Prix rooms,
02:51this perpetual quarry of manufacturing, with a dark frame, in collaboration with the watchmaker Peters Peak,
02:57and in the category of small needles, dedicated to the most affordable watches,
03:01this moon face, where the indexes of the hours are scattered around a manuscript logo.
03:06A watch designed by the French artist Seconde Seconde.
03:09I said to him, listen, you get from me, carte blanche, to do whatever you think is good.
03:14But, there's always a but.
03:16I said, I want you to do something around my manufacture message.
03:20Because we are a young watch brand.
03:22We do our manufacture conception fully in-house in a production.
03:26And we have always been challenged about that.
03:29I want you to challenge that message.
03:31And he came with this design.
03:33And I think it was spot on.
03:35Frédéric Constant, who celebrates the 20th anniversary of his first caliber manufacture,
03:39quickly made a choice in the very competitive Swiss watchmaking market,
03:43thanks to an approachable luxury positioning.
03:46So if you think about our mission, it's let more people enjoy luxury.
03:51It's by keeping the price accessible, even more accessible in the time where we are today,
03:56because many brands have been elevating the price,
03:58and differentiating with the manufacture complication,
04:01in that price range that nobody is doing.
04:06This industry works well and will continue to work well,
04:10because we do something that is out of time.
04:14We make a product, we take the time to do it, and we bring a real added value to it.
04:19It's not a consumer product like we have today in our society.
04:22It's really a product that we bring, that we create, that we develop.
04:26We take the time to do it, and we qualitatively see the work behind it, the detail.
04:32So I think it continues to touch people.
04:44That's it for this preview of the 2024 edition of the GPHG.
04:48Win prizes for the most beautiful watchmaking creations of the year,
04:52on November 13th at the Théâtre du Léman, here in Geneva.