It’s wristwatch award season at the moment and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, also known as the GPHG, has announced their short list for 2023. They’ve gone for the ‘expert panel making decisions behind closed doors’ approach, but hey, so do the Oscars via the Academy. At Oracle Time we prefer a more open, community focussed awards, which is why for the Oracle Time Watch Awards 2023 we’re asking you, our readers, to nominate in the Reader’s Shortlist Pre-Selection and lastly vote for your favourites later this year. For now though, let’s take a quick look at the GPHG shortlist.
Studio Underd0g Watermel0n
Rather than go through the entire shortlist (which you can view on their website) let’s focus on a few of the key watches that have been nominated. First of which, we simply have to mention one the British brands who have been included. Studio Underd0g’s Watermel0n chronograph has been nominated in the Challenge category, which is the section for watches with a price below CHF 2,000. The £500 Watermel0n certainly qualifies and even just a quick search on watch retail platforms like Chrono24 will show just how popular this watch is, commanding pre-owned prices of £700 – £1,200. In fact, at a recent EveryWatch charity auction a 1-of-1 blue colourway known as the Blueberry sold for £16,000.
Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto
Studio Underd0g isn’t the only British interest in the awards because in the Petite Aiguille category, for watches priced CHF 2,000 – CHF 8,000, is the Christopher Ward Bel Canto (read our review here). It has stiff competition from the likes of the Tudor Black Bay and Bulgari Octo Roma Automatic but I actually think it has a really good chance of winning. It caused a real stir when it was released because quite frankly no one had ever seen a chiming complication watch for £3,000 before.
Other prominent watches to look out for in the nominations include the Tag Heuer Carrera, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The Parmigiani Tonda PF Minute Repeater Rattrapante, which was the darling of Watches and Wonders back in spring. And last but by no means least, the Laurent Ferrier Grand Sport Tourbillon, which is just one of my personal favourite watches from the last 12 months.
If you want to see any of the nominated watches in the metal, they’ll be taking part in a world tour from September – December taking in Macao, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Geneva, Dubai and Zurich. Sadly no trip to London this time around.
More details at GPHG.
Oracle Time