Excellence, innovation and watchmaking expertise were duly rewarded on this Friday October 31st in the Grand Théâtre de Genève, on the occasion of the 14^th Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) prize-giving ceremony. The international jury of this edition 2014 of the GPHG handed out 16 prizes, including the supreme “Aiguille d’Or”, distinction, awarded to Breguet for the Classic Chronométrie model. This prize was officially presented on-stage by the Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, who praised the vitality of the Swiss watch industry.

Jointly hosted by Melanie Winiger and Frédéric Beigbeder, the ceremony was attended by around 1,500 guests including influential figures from the world of watchmaking, finance and politics, who congregated in Geneva for this annual celebration of the 12^th art.

This 14^th edition of the GPHG registered a record participation with representation from all the major watchmaking groups as well as a number of independent companies.

The Prize winners of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2014  :

Bart and Tim Grönefeld (Co-founders of Grönefeld), Kari Voutilainen (Founder of Voutilainen), Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei (Co-founders of Urwerk), Pierre Jacques (CEO of De Bethune), Walter Lange (Founder of A. Lange & Söhne), Christophe Claret (Founder and president of Christophe Claret), Aldo Magada (President & CEO of Zenith), Dr Helmut Crott (Owner of Urban Jürgensen & Sonner), Johann Schneider-Ammann (Federal Counsellor), Jean-Christophe Babin (CEO of Bulgari), Jean-Charles Zufferey (Vice-president of Breguet), Ricardo Guadalupe (CEO of Hublot), Carlo Lamprecht (President of the  Fondation of GPHG), Ryuhei Maeda (His Excellency Ambassador of Japan to in Switzerland) et Naoko Maeda, Wilhelm Schmid (CEO of A. Lange & Söhne), Pierre Maudet (State Councillor in Geneva), Stephen Urquhart (CEO of Omega), Susumu Kawanishi (Senior Vice-président of Seiko), Vincent Becchia (Product Director of Blancpain)

Simultaneously translated into English for fans worldwide, the ceremony was broadcast live on Euronews.com, Worldtempus.com, Hodinkee.com and on the official GPHG website, Gphg.org. Local TV channel Leman bleu also covered the event.

After New Delhi and Beijing, the exhibition of the watches pre-selected by the jury is still on show at the Cité du Temps in Geneva until November 2^nd. In the final stage of this roadshow, the prize-winning watches in this 2014 edition will be presented in London at the SalonQP from November 6^th to 8^th.

Created in 2001 and intended as an annual salute to the excellence of worldwide watchmaking creations, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève fosters the reputation and influence of this art and its values around the globe. Values that are shared by the main partner of the Foundation of the GPHG, the Edmond de Rothschild group, which since 2011 has regularly rewarded the best young student at the Geneva Watchmaking School by awarding a scholarship.