Horology

Grand Prix D’Horlogerie De Geneve

This is one of the many watches that was chosen by selected judges for the Grand Prix D’Horlogerie De Geneve (GPHG) that is being held at the Theatre du Leman in Geneva. This the Academy Award of watchmaking. This was first established in 2001. The competition is open to all brands within the industry. Each particular model entered has to meet certain criteria. For this year’s event, entries must have gone into production by March of last year and must be in distribution by October 31st.

There are twelve different prize categories. Main categories include standards like Best Men’s, Best Ladies’, or Best Sports Watch. Then there are general awards like Best-of-Show, Best Revival, or Best Innovation. The GPHG first announced the candidate watches for 2018 in July. This included 105 participating brands and grand total of 195 candidates. Some of the industry’s most influential brands like Rolex, Omega, and Patek Philippe are missing from this competition. The judeges narrowed each of the twelve prize categories down to just six watches. Bvlgari took the most nominations with a total of five watches in different categories. These include Best Jewelry, Best Men’s Complication, Best Ladies’, Best Ladies’ Complicaton, and Mechancial Exception.

Before the GPHG selects the winners in November, this group of 72 finalists will go on a global roadshow. The exibition goes on display in prominent cities around the world. It will stop in locations like Venice, Hong Kong, and Singapore then make its way back to Geneva for the award gala.

The Krayon Everywhere Horizon caught my eye because there is soo much going on here. This watch goes for 775,000 CHF (Swiss Franc) which with the current rate is $777,751. When I started reading about this watch I was fascinated with the fact that this company achieved something totaly unprecedented in watchmaking by making a watch with a universal mechanical calculator that gives the exact sunrise and sunset times where ever the wearer wishes.

> The outer dial materialises the whole day with its 24 hours scale sunrise and sunset times are read on it where the day and night sectors meets. As the seasons change, or at different locations, the number of daylight hours lengthens or shortens. The blue arrow, indicating the hours on this same dial describes the path of the sun as it travels through the sky. Everywhere Horizon reaches this seemingly simple result by combining the four parameters that influence sunrise and sunset calculations. First latitude and longitude, which geographically define a point on Earth, then the UTC time zone, and lastly the date and month. The watch’s wearer sets each one as required to then see the precise hour at which the sun will appear and disapper, in the place of his/her choice and on the day he/her wishes.

So we shall see in November if this watch wins an award, probably for the best complication. **KEEP ON TICKING**

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