GPHG 2025 Results Analysis (Rob Loses His Mind)

Summary

The Real Time Show: GPHG 2025 Results Analysis (Rob Loses His Mind)

Hosts: Rob Nudds & Alon Ben Joseph
Episode Date: November 16, 2025

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Main Theme and Purpose

This episode delivers a no-holds-barred breakdown of the 2025 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) results. Hosts Rob and Alon dissect each category, debate the selections, and candidly raise questions about transparency, narratives, and potential biases in the industry's most prestigious awards ceremony. Throughout, they maintain their characteristic blend of passion, expertise, and humor, with Rob, in particular, expressing strong opinions on the state of the industry and the legitimacy of the awards.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Hype and the Controversy

• The GPHG ceremony generates excitement both for its results and the social aspect, with watch communities engaging on multiple channels, including a Real Time Show listener voting game.
  Alon: “We had Nick in the crowd, VIP section posting us all the winners. You obviously had the live stream up. So it's fun to see how much people enjoy not only the ceremony, but the ramp up to the event...” (00:32)
• Rob comes out swinging, declaring the results “a fucking travesty” and questioning the integrity of the process.
  Rob: “I believe palms have been lined with silver. I do not believe that this is a genuine open competition. I'm furious. I'm disappointed. I'm very angry.” (01:43)

2. Notable Wins and Surprises (or Lack Thereof)

Challenge Category – Denison’s Budget Victory (02:41)

• Hosts celebrate Denison’s win in the Challenge Category for watches under CHF 3,000, praising the brand for triumphing with a watch priced under CHF 1,000. Rob: “Denison comes in and steals it using less than a third of the available budget... They should be very proud of themselves but they also deserve it.” (02:41)

Chronometry Prize – Zenith Caliber 135 (04:19)

• Alon highlights the chronometric legacy of Zenith’s caliber and wishes for a return of old-school chronometry competitions.

Ladies' Category – “Narrative Building” and the Gerald Genta (06:32)

• Alon and Rob acknowledge the “out there” choice of the Urchin, argue its merit, and point out the recurring presence of a few key brands:
  Rob: “GPHG is putting on a masterclass of narrative building... Four or five brands that will come up and you will be like, what the fuck is this for a result. And it's just a question of... which order they're going to come in.” (06:32)

Ladies' Complication – Chopard's Win and Brand Patterns (08:04)

• Both hosts question whether Chopard deserved the win or benefitted from industry politics—Rob more skeptically than Alon. Rob: “I just find it so hard, so hard to believe that that model is the one that came out on top. But that's what we're being told. So that's what we will believe and swallow with a smile on our faces.” (08:04)

Time Only – Daniel Roth’s Narrative (11:17)

• Daniel Roth wins with a watch described as handsome but not a true novelty; both hosts question whether the win was more about “narrative” than merit.

Men's Category – Urban Jurgensen (12:32)

• Hosts predictably see Urban Jurgensen win after a brand revamp, reflecting on how some brands seem destined to collect awards by design. Alon: “Basically, they've revamped the whole collection, so. Rightfully so. Yes. In my humble opinion.” (13:07)

Men’s Complication – Bovet's Streak (15:10)

• A passionate segment on how Bovet has now won in three successive years, despite being rarely mentioned by the enthusiast community. Rob and Alon discuss patterns and political undercurrents. Rob: “5% of the awards in the last three years have been won by Bovet and Bovet alone. That is curious for me.” (16:11)

Greater Issues: Payment, Entry, and Transparency (21:05)

• The conversation turns to the makeup of the GPHG, the pay-to-play structure, the opacity of jury selection, and the voting mechanism. Both hosts advocate for much greater transparency—Alon suggesting publishing the voting methodology, Rob proposing a Eurovision-style public vote.
  Rob: “I'd like to see a Eurovision style contest where the public can also vote and maybe even live on the night. How cool would that be?” (25:00)

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3. Category-by-Category Quickfire Analysis

Iconic – Breguet vs. Bulgari MB&F (28:14)

• Breguet wins the ‘Golden Hand’, but both hosts are underwhelmed. Rob: “I find it a bit underwhelming. I think Breguet does better things... It's a well made watch, it's an attractive watch. It's fine. I find it a bit underwhelming. I think Breguet does better things.” (28:14)
• Both preferred Bulgari MB&F for its future icon potential.

Tourbillon – Bulgari's Repeat Win (32:54)

• Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon wins, but both hosts feel déjà vu and lament lack of genuine novelty.

Mechanical Exception – Greubel Forsey (38:23)

• Strong technical showings, but Greubel Forsey is a deserved, if predictable, winner.

Chronograph – Angelus (40:08)

• Angelus is called a “handsome model” and strong winner; Ming and Louis Moinet were strong contenders.

Sports – Chopard (41:21)

• Chopard wins for the Alpine Eagle Orange. Both approve but would have liked more innovation/narrative recognition (e.g., Renaissance GMT).

Jewelry – Dior's LVMH Factor (43:11)

• Hosts are shocked Dior won and dissect the LVMH “forgotten child” hypothesis. Alon: “If it was not political, it would have gone probably to Simon Brett or Chopard, because those are independent. Dior is lvmh. Van Clef. Piaget is Richemont. I thought there were a lot of Piaget nominees this year. I thought one would go to Piaget, at least if it was politicized.“ (43:17)

Artistic Crafts – Voutilainen (45:38)

• Both agree this was the obvious, deserving winner: “as easy a pick as they come.”

Petite Aiguille & Challenge – MAD Editions and Denison (46:51/49:01)

• MAD Editions' MAD2Green wins the under CHF 8k segment. Both see logic and joy in the choice but champion Nomos for overall value.
• Denison is welcomed as a fresh, deserved winner in the Challenge/pure entry-level category.

Mechanical Clock – Desk Clocks and Corporate Ownership (49:18)

• Anton Surinov’s egg-clock wins, surprising both. They discuss shifts in desk clock popularity and point out LVMH’s acquisition of notable clock brands.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Rob’s opening rant:
  “I thought it's a fucking travesty not to mince my words, but I’m absolutely sick of it. I think it's disgusting. This is the worst set of results that we've had.” (01:43)

• Alon on Jury Patterns:
  “You have to pay to participate. We all know that that makes it already less objective. It's very subjective. You don't pay, you don't play.” (18:18)

• Rob proposing public voting:
  “Imagine if a jury cast their votes and it counted for up to 50%... and then you go to the public vote and it's people... on an online poll. It's not that difficult... It would be the night of the year, it would be wild.” (25:00)

• On Dior’s jewelry win:
  Alon: “I'm scared to say your conspiracy theory is going to the next level.” (43:15)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Opening & Rob’s “Travesty” Rant: 00:06–01:43
• Denison Challenge Category Win: 02:41–03:55
• Zenith Chronometry Prize: 04:19
• Ladies’ Category & Narrative Building: 05:39–07:25
• Chopard in Ladies’ Complication: 07:25–10:42
• Time Only – Daniel Roth: 10:44–12:09
• Men’s & Complication – Urban Jurgensen, Bovet: 12:32–18:18
• Analysis of GPHG Process, Transparency: 21:05–25:00
• Iconic – Breguet & Bulgari MB&F: 27:02–29:03
• Tourbillon – Bulgari: 32:16–34:01
• Mechanical Exception – Greubel Forsey: 36:33–39:16
• Chronograph Category: 39:16–41:15
• Sports Category: 41:15–42:22
• Jewelry – Dior’s Win: 42:22–44:19
• Artistic Crafts – Voutilainen: 45:38
• Petite Aiguille & Challenge: 46:37–49:15
• Mechanical Clocks & Wrap-up: 49:18–52:06

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Tone & Language

The episode is lively and unsparing, with Rob’s frustration providing color and Alon’s measured industry knowledge offering balance. There’s frequent use of humor and inside jokes, but the commentary remains accessible to enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Both hosts use plain language, occasional expletives, and lots of skepticism about industry processes, but also deep love and respect for watchmaking artistry.

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Final Thoughts

Rob and Alon deliver an entertaining, critical, and insightful review of the GPHG 2025. They temper their industry criticisms with enthusiasm for deserving winners and innovative watchmaking, and raise substantial questions about how awards are determined and how they might evolve.

Recommended for: Watch enthusiasts, industry insiders, and anyone curious about the intersection of commerce, artistry, and politics in luxury horology.

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For more interactive discussion and to join future GPHG games, listeners are encouraged to connect with The Real Time Show community.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome back to the Real Time Show. Today, Alon and I will be tackling the GPHG results that came in last night. We're recording Friday morning. It's coming out Sunday, this episode, so it's only two days away from being hot off the press. I hope you're as excited as we are because we have a lot to discuss. I'm sure there will be some fiery opinions shared online today. I know I've got a few. Alon, how are you feeling about this episode?

[A]

I'm very excited. It was fun. It happened last night on multiple channels. We had live reviewing of what's going on. We had Nick in the crowd, VIP section posting us all the winners. You obviously had the live stream up. You'll see those socials. So it's fun to see how much people enjoy not only the ceremony, but the ramp up to the event, the Oscars of the watchmaking, as some people call it. Obviously the Real Time show started with this game that you and I play with the GPHG award ceremony. We've done it four times and again in the WhatsApp community. There was a lot of chatter, interaction. We actually, for the second time in a row, dear members, emulated our game. So they had, they made an online form where everybody could vote. So it's very cool, it's fun. I must say, though, Rob, my first vibe is there weren't like huge surprises in there. How, how would you summarize it before you and I run down all the winners?

[B]

I thought it's a fucking travesty not to, not to mince my words, but I'm absolutely sick of it. I think it's disgusting. This is the worst set of results that we've had. I went back and checked all the previous prizes to see if I was just suffering from recency bias. I guess because I'm in a bad mood. But I'm in a bad mood because there are decisions here that make sense only one way as far as I see it. And I believe palms have been lined with silver. I do not believe that this is a genuine open competition. I'm furious. I'm disappointed. I'm very angry. Let's get going, shall we?

[A]

Well. Interesting, interesting. Very interesting. I. I want to, I want to, before we start yesterday, one of the first winners. I'm like, oh, Rob is going to be so happy. So I want you just to give before we run down one that you were happy about to start on a positive note after your fucking rant. So did I guess correctly? It had a tiger Eye.

[B]

Yeah. I was absolutely over the moon that Dennison won over the moon. And to be honest, when I look at that category again, I'm really impressed. We both picked him to win but let's be honest, we both picked him to win more because we wanted him to win than we were sure they were going to take home the gong because that was a tough category winning that given the fact. Here's the thing that really gets me about this win. That's the challenge category. That's sub 3,000 francs. Dennis is not just sub 3,000 francs, it's sub 1,000 francs. So what that means is there's another two times the value of that watch of equity for the brands competing against Denison to play with. So you can have a watch in there that's worth 2,999 francs. They maybe even let you get away with 3,000 on the nose. And Denison comes in and steals it using less than a third of the available budget. So to me it was remarkable. I'm thrilled for Stefan, thrilled for Toby. It was great seeing him on the stage receiving the award. If you got the big GPHG shot that they always take, you can see Toby right in the bottom right hand corner and a couple people to the left of him is Stefan with the award. And you know, they should be very proud of themselves but they also deserve it. So it's a really nice end to what's been a brilliant year for one of the most exciting new brands on the scene.

[A]

Well said. Well said. And I, I wasn't jumping for joy because as you said, it was a bit boring.

[B]

That's not what I said.

[A]

Well, trav A travesty sound bite.

[B]

Travesty.

[A]

I it's a bit of a boring watch but what I enjoyed is that the Zenith g f j caliber 135 won a chronometry prize. And that's cool because it has such a lineage of winning chronometry prizes back in the day and I think that's cool. What I would like to see in the future more of these actual chronometer competitions like bring them back. What do you think, Rob?

[B]

Yeah, I think that'd be really, really good and I think it'd help us refocus on the fact that we're talking about watches here rather than just objects of beau. There's a lot to dissect here because we want to go through every category. I'm sure we're going to have takeaways on each. I'm just, as we talk, pouring over the results from 2022, 2023 and 2024, which I believe are the three editions that we've already covered on the show. And I stand by what I said. If you look at the lineup of the winners from previous years, there's some absolute stunners in there. And there just isn't really that much in this selection that grabs me. But let's go through it from the top. But let's start in the order that GPHG has presented these results to us. And we start with the ladies category. Now, you, I think, picked this correctly, did you not?

[A]

I chose the Urchin and yeah, I picked it correctly. I don't think it's about right or wrong. I think that you and I should choose if it was a rightful winner, because the game we play, we choose the Watch do we like best, which is very subjective. And now we're maybe putting on a more median hat or one that we say, okay, if you take an average, it's a rightful winner in that category. You had the Adamar Piquet with the Mini Frost. You had a Vuitton, Piaget, Tiffany and Voutilainen. I think the jury did well because it's out there, it's different. Although it's a RE edition, so it's not innovative. I would not be surprised if the jury would have gone with the Tiffany. So Bird on the Rock.

[B]

Yeah, I think this was a really good choice. I think it's a positive and progressive choice from the Watch's perspective. Of course, you can't get away from the fact that it's the Gerald Genta and this. You will notice as we go through this results list that the GPHG is putting on a masterclass of narrative building. Like it's keeping the same names in your ears. On an annual basis, there are four or five brands that will come up and you will be like, what the fuck is this for a result. And it's just a question of not whether or not XYZ brand is going to win an award. It's like just which order they're going to come in. And we'll see that throughout this competition. Genta is one of those names which has an inside track anyway. This is a good model to have won because it's totally wild and really cool and exactly what it should be about. So, yeah, this is. This is positive. I'm happy about this. Anything else to say before we move on to the ladies complication?

[A]

No, let's go quickly. We stay with the ladies. Ladies complication. You and I were Unanimous on our vote because you and I both went for the cut by Hermes. Yeah, that's the only one that didn't have diamonds. Interestingly, from the six options available, I thought the jury would go for technical product. I don't need the Chopard one. Okay. The Imperial Four Seasons. I actually don't know what the complication is there. It surprised me. Okay, you please tell us what the complication was and tell us if it was actually so. Yeah.

[B]

Okay, so this is the four seasons model and what that is is a 365 day rotating disc that illustrates all four seasons. You can see the different colors there. So we've got obviously, I suppose, autumn, winter and spring showing on the dial at the moment in that order. And this disc creeps around the dial. Look. It's an artful, elegant, attractive complication. It's not too bad. But this watch won because it has Chopard on the dial. And Chopard is one of those brands which I think is hugely underrated in the industry. But come on, every year there's at least one winner. It's almost guaranteed. You cannot find a GPHG photo without Carl Friedrich Schiffler on it somewhere. I don't buy it, is what I'm gonna say. Because like, if you had, if you had a jury of five people, maybe I could imagine that three of them would pick this or maybe two would pick this and the other three would all pick something different. I could imagine that. But with the numbers of people voting on these timepieces, I just find it so hard, so hard to believe that that model is the one that came out on top. But that's what we're being told. So that's what we will believe and swallow with a smile on our faces. And this Chopard takes home the ladies complication. Price alon. Do you think it was deserved the famous sigh?

[A]

I, I, I think it's poetic. It's nice. Is it really a complication? Yeah. So they gave 365 or 66 ratchets to that colorful disc. But the category is a complication. I thought they would go either for Audemars Piguet because as you said, and AP needs to win at least one every year. I thought that Jacob and co would be a very, very good contender. I don't actually know how many prizes Jacob Co has won, but you've now provoked, you've poked a bear. And I'm challenging our, our resident provocateur David Vaucher to make a backlog of seeing what brand has won the most prizes and to see if we can recognize a pattern. If this is. Do I dare to say rigged or politicized? Because that's where you drive today. Okay.

[B]

I mean, to be honest, this is not. There's nothing that we can't be the Real Time show if we don't at least say this looks fricking suspicious. You know, this is fishy. I just. I'm sorry. Like, it's. It's almost too clear to be anything but biased politically, shall we say, at the very least, if not rigged, if not bribed, you know, but come on. I mean, we can all see what's happening. We're not blind. Moving on. Where do we go next?

[A]

We're going to time only. Time only.

[B]

Time only. Okay. Time only prize. I suppose this is sort of. This is kind of just inferred to be a implied to be a men's category, isn't it? But there's nothing that actually says men's time only as far as I remember. The winner anyway was Daniel Roth. The extra Platt rose gold. And it's an extremely handsome model. One that I think we both have quite a lot of love for. So where do you come down on this? Because your choice was the Ming and I think I went for the RA in the end.

[A]

Correct. Yeah. Do we say, hey, they wanted to give an award to LVMH and or Daniel Roth because they participated in two categories, if I'm not mistaken. And is it a politicized decision? I really hoped they would go to the artisanal side of things, where they had three options. Ming, Pajes and Tasaki. Whom are three independents. Fiona Kruger designed the Tasaki. If the Ming wasn't there, I would have chosen the Tasaki. But I personally want the Ming Project 21. So that's why I voted. Although I love the rages, I wouldn't have given to Daniel Roth because it's not new. There's nothing new about it. It's in re edition of an old Roth. So I want to leave it at that. Maybe pick up a bit of speed and jump to the men's. If you agree, Rob.

[B]

Only thing to say on that Daniel Roth is that it is narrative building. That's what it is. The glorious return of an old master. So sorry, but too perfect for my liking. Yeah, Men's category. So we picked all over the map here. I think I had the Chopard. Maybe you had the zenith. And the winner turns out to be. Do you want to announce it, Alain?

[A]

Yeah, sure thing. The urban Jurgensen. The UJ2.

[B]

Okay, so we knew that Khari was gonna win at least one award, and he started off early. So what do you think about this one?

[A]

Well, you know what? I'm happy for him, for them. They've been pushing hard. And if you're seeing narrative, apparently the. The. The. The. The. The. The. The horological overlords that are driving. I don't call your thing a conspiracy theory, but your hunch. Apparently they're backing this. They're saying Urban Jurgensen needs to be there, whatever their means. So tumbling down that route of Zenith, they gave them the consolation prize by giving them the Chronoma 3 prize, because that's LVMH. And does Zenith deserve one? Yeah. Are they building a narrative? Yeah, I think Zen has won a few, not too many. Chopard already gave one, so they dealt with that. I guess Garrick is too much of an outsider, and they have given Japanese watchmakers awards in the past, but I don't think they would have won this category nowhere in their. In their. In. In their lifetime. So the newcomer on the block is Urban Jurgensen. Basically, they've revamped the whole collection, so. Rightfully so. Yes. In my humble opinion.

[B]

Okay, well, that's good to hear. I'm okay with it as well. I think I like these Urban Jurgensens maybe a little more than you do, because I'm not so turned off by the Roman numerals. But I do feel like the word mark is very, very huddled against the power reserve, and I find it just disappointingly cramped. I would have done something about that. Perhaps I could see the. The word mark being somewhere else or maybe just a UJ around the 9 o' clock mark to sort of balance off that lovely sub dial. But, yeah, it's. It's almost all there for me, but not quite. I don't dislike it. I think it's a fair winner. There had to be an Urban Jurgensen winning this year. We knew that was coming. And maybe I'm surprised at this one, but to be honest, we were quite underwhelmed by the remaining watchers in this category. And enough. Let's get the UJ out of the way so we can free up some space for other exciting competitions like the one that took place in the men's complication collection. We had Audemars Piguet going up against Bove, Chopard, Louis Vuitton, Parmesan, Fleurier, and again, Urban Jurgensen. And the winner was. Bove Discuss.

[A]

Disappointing. You and I were unanimous about the prom. Jenny Fluier Interestingly enough, for this complication category, all of them had a complicated calendar, which is. Well, it's not completely true because the Beauvais was actually. No, I stand correct. The Beauvais was the only one who wasn't a complicated calendar. Ish vibes. Although the Louis Vuitton with Voutilainen had a power reserve and a day night indicator. Okay, so I understand why they went there because it's an interesting world timer, because that's basically what it is. I'm happy they went for an indie brand. I think Bovet needs the support and backing. So if they did a good deed gphg, then they have done that. Not a watch I would have bought. I'm happy for Bovet. Nothing against Bovet and I really wish them a lot of success. Oh yeah, fine.

[B]

You pretty horrified by the result, to be honest. I mean, let me just make something clicky. I. I don't dislike what Bovet does. I actually kind of like some of their stuff. It's kind of cool. But here's an interesting thing that I noticed. 21 awards were handed out this year. 21 awards. That's 21 awards. That's including everything, including the grand jury prize, including all of the special categories, including the individual prize as well, which this year went to Alain Dominic Perrin. So congratulations, Alan. That's very nice to see. But that's 20 watches in the industry that have been gifted these beautiful accolades. Last year there was I think 22 awards given out. Okay, the year before, maybe 23. And you know what? Last year and the year before and this year, one of those watches was a Bove. Three years in a row, Bove has won a GPHG award. Now, call me crazy, but I don't hear Bovet coming off the lips of our community all that often. I don't hear Bove being spoken about as one of the watchers in the top 20 grands in the industry. 5% of the awards in the last three years have been won by Bovet and Bovet alone. That is curious for me. And it's always against brands that you would think or watches you would think are maybe a bit more deserving. Like, this is not a bad watch. Don't get me wrong, Bovet don't make bad products. They do make good stuff. I'm just questioning if there is like genuinely this level of positive feeling towards them. I mean, there's an AP in there. AP sometimes wins. There's a Chopard in there. Chopard always wins something. There's a uj. We knew UJ was going to win something. There's a Louis Vuitton with Vuitter Lenen who always wins something. And then the best watch of the bunch in our opinion, I think is the Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Quantien Perpetual. And that's just been kicked to the curb by this Beauvais 1822 recital 30. And I find it troubling. I don't know, Alan, I just think it's a bit odd. Those stats don't add up to me.

[A]

Okay, so two things I want to say here and while listening to you and you are making a lot of sense and I concur with you. Two watches that should have won are the Urban Jurgensen, who what is completely new, or the Louis Vuitton Voutelainen because an annual award ceremony needs to award either novelties, something that was really new that year or something that will never be there again. So the Urban Unions is complete new, new case, new design, new caliber, etc. But okay, they gave one already, so fair enough. Then it should have gone to the Louis Vuitton Voutiline because that watch will never be made again. Oh, and again, I don't know enough about bovet. I assume this bovet existed already because I don't think it's launched this year. I'm not talking about colorways, a new color strap or a new dial. I'm talking about new caliber, new case, new family, new model. So in that sense I'm disappointed the Toric existed. This is a new color. So fair enough, they didn't win. But you and I both agree that less is more. And the art of reduction is maybe the most difficult thing in the world. And it's amazing what Michel together with Guido Terrini has done with that Toric qp. Now I want to end it there, but I wanted to save it for the end row. But you, now you're provoking me. So you keep on pushing on your conspiracy theory. What do you think it is though? Because you have to pay to participate. We all know that that makes it already less objective. It's very subjective. You don't pay, you don't play. Okay, but that's almost every award ceremony red dot is the same if design awards are the same. And I understand why, because it's not charity and they need to cover costs. We don't know if they make profit or not. Gphg. Let's assume they don't then. Initially, up until the year 2020, there was a closed Baltage selection committee who can be on the jury and not. And it was a black box because we didn't know how the voting took place. Then they tried to democratize the whole process and they created the GPHG Academy. So the first year ever was 2020 of which I got invited. I think there were 150 people. Today there may be 1000, 2000. Fantastic. The more the merrier, the more democratic it becomes. But the Academy is only eligible to put in their watches. They want to be nominated to pay. So you can put forward watches if they make the cut. You need to pay the first invoice, so some brands don't. And if you pay, you can get to round two and then you have to pay again correctly. Rob, correct me if I'm wrong. If you pay, the second batch you.

[B]

Have when you're nominated, not nominated, or when you're long listed, you pay about 800 francs to be considered for nomination for the top six. And if you are nominated, the fee is about 7 to 8,000 francs, which I've always defended as like, very good value for any brand because you just automatically feature on basically every website, podcast, Instagram, channel. So, yeah, it's fair. It's fair enough money, yeah, you've got to pay to be in there. But I don't mind that as much because, you know, GPHG's got to be organized and I'd rather the money came from the participating brands themselves at the same level, than being funded by existing brands that themselves participate in the competition, because that's where a bias could, could come from. Now you say, what is it? I don't know and I don't want to even speculate because that it's just reckless to sort of say, oh, there's money changing hands behind closed doors. Because like you say, it's a vote with loads and loads of people, so it doesn't really make sense. I would guess that what. What strikes me as odd is the coordination of it, right? Because that's the thing that I find difficult to reconcile in my head. Maybe last year is a good example of how it is a genuine vote. When you see some brands winning multiple awards, which would be a bit of a mistake if it was paid, right? Because it would look too obvious. That's almost. That defends it being an organic thing. What I would say is these are people that are voting for these watches and obviously everyone's got their own biases and connections to brands and feel fondly about certain brands. So I guess what is happening is that the brands that win repeatedly are identifying the voting members of a GPHG and treating them exceptionally well. Like if I'm Beauvais and I'm thinking I want to be known and in the news and talked about by everybody, despite the fact that, you know, it's a very small volume producer of watches with a very, very, very narrow target audience. I would identify who's, who's going to make the decisions for the GPHG and I would wine and dine them, fly them out to Switzerland, take them skiing, take them to the coast, take them on a yacht, and I would just try and build a connection so that they feel in some way indebted to the brand. And this is obviously what happens with a lot of journalists. You, you form these connections for whatever reason. I'm not above it, of course. I'm not. Like the experiences I've had, the personal experiences I've had with brands like Fortis and Straum have changed my life and they have biased me in favor of those brands because when you're that intimately acquainted with the endeavor behind the products, it's understandable that you would want them to do well. So I'd say that maybe that what we're seeing is more of a coordinated push by the brands that frequently enter these competitions, wine, dine and get on sides, the decision makers in the industry. Is it corrupt? I don't think that's really that bad. But it does raise questions, doesn't it? It is something that we have to discuss. And when the results are so consistently similar, you maybe find yourself asking not is this fair, but is it valuable? Does the GPHG have the same value to the industry when it's not a closed shop, but very few new brands popping up on the prize list year after year?

[A]

Yeah, interesting. So to finish off, if you make the from the long list to the short list, Academy members can vote. And then the third round is by a closed voting session, which takes a few days, I believe by a jury that is selected by the gphe committee, which is a black box as well. Some are permanent jury members and then you have some swing members that change every year and we don't know what's going on there. We don't even know how they vote. Do they give weights to every vote? So maybe GPHG should modernize, adapt some transparency and explain how this voting is done.

[B]

So, you know, I'd like to see a Eurovision style contest where the public can also vote and maybe even live on the night. How cool would that be? Because we have the technology now. Imagine if a jury cast their votes and it counted for up to 50% of the final vote. And you see the numbers on the screen and let's not talk about the shambles that is the organization of the show itself, because how hard is it to find somebody that can present an award ceremony? I don't know. Just get Ricky Gervais to do it or whatever. I'll do it if you want. It can't. It can't be that difficult to. To not mess up multiple times a night. But you're on the st. You've got a big screen behind you, you've got results in from the jury and then you go to the public vote and it's people. People in the audience could vote, you know, they could have little clickers. People online could cast votes on an online poll. It's not that difficult to organize. It would be incredibly exciting. We would see, like, we could even then sort of like, have more stats to talk about, because we could have. Oh, these were the jury choice, just like we have in Eurovision. It's like, oh, you know, oh, Switzerland top the jury choice, but the public have chosen Ukraine. You know, this is how it works. That would be so cool, seeing it go back and forth and have. It would be even better, in my opinion, if the preference was given to the public vote. I think that would be great. That would absolutely engage the industry. Nobody would have any questions of unfairness. You can have, like, your jury biased as they may be, whatever. But then the public should have the possibility to overturn that. You can give, give, give the guys that are giving you nice trips abroad and great bottles of wine and caviar at Christmas. Give them a little bit of head start if you want. But if the public had an. It would be the night of the year, it would be wild. You could expand it even further. You could have, like, a. An outside area in Geneva where they close off the street and have a street party where people are voting live, watching the results come in. It would. It would be incredible. Let's pitch it to gphg. Let's take over the.

[A]

Well, you. You've done it now, so another stroke of genius. So I agree. Good idea. Let's go quickly.

[B]

All right. Yeah, sorry.

[A]

To the iconic category.

[B]

Well, it's iconic. And let's just preface this by saying that one of the watches within this category, the Breguet Classique Subscription 2025, actually won the evening. So that one's out of the running because they decide those independent special awards before they decide the group. So it's not the Leftovers that are chosen from actually those individual awards are anointed first. So that's why the Zenith maybe didn't win in the time. Only because that won the Chronometry prize. And we'll get down to the Tourbill in a moment because there's one watch from that category that everybody expected to win the Tourbillon category, and it didn't because it won something else.

[A]

Yeah, so Rob is referring to the Golden Hand Award, the Agui d'. Eau. So that's the overall watch that Berneron took last year. No, I am actually.

[B]

No, no, no, no, don't. Oh, you didn't elevated it. He won the Audacity Prize last year. The IWC Perpetual Calendar. Won the correct. Yeah, won the.

[A]

Thank you for correcting me there. He should have won the Golden Hat.

[B]

But okay, the Audacity is a cool prize to win, isn't it? I mean that's, that's like as well maybe the coolest.

[A]

So do you, do, do you think that Breguet deserves the Golden Hand this year with the Susquehanna?

[B]

Well, you know, I mean, I don't think it doesn't deserve it. I was pretty underwhelmed by this Breguet. I think I made that quite clear in our rundown and I'm not sure where I put it on the list, but I believe it was towards the bottom, maybe fifth out of the six or something. So that would suggest that I don't think it deserves it. But no, I mean it's a well made watch, it's an attractive watch. It's fine. I find it a bit underwhelming. I think Breguet does better things. I was wearing a Breguet last night at dinner. A Breguet tradition. Gold, beautiful, beautiful watches. The best thing you can get on the secondhand market in my opinion. In terms of horology, bang for Buck, the Breguet is fine. The crazy thing is there's at least two more watches in this own category and I'm talking about the Bulgari and MB and F collaboration and the Anderson Geneve that I would say are more interesting and more deserving. But. But yeah, it's okay.

[A]

You and I both voted for the Bulgari MB&F, although we both said it's not per se iconic yet because you need decades to become iconic. But we quite sure this will become iconic and it's so special and unique. That's why we voted for it on paper. I believe the Breguet isn't iconic because it's a New watch inspired by an old pocket watch. But it's not new, so it can't be iconic. There are only three watches here that are really iconic, which is the Anderson, Genevieve, Audemars, Piquet and Piaget. The Parmigiani Fleurier is becoming iconic because the Tonda is already have been around for more than two decades. So it's getting there and I think they deserve to become iconic now. I have not had that Anderson Geneve in my hands. When we did the voting game, I met Pierre Alexandre Ashleyman, the owner of Anderson Geneve, in London last week. I fell off my chair of what they're doing today because I hadn't had an Anderson watch in my hands for a very long time. And I didn't realize it was their 45th anniversary this year. So knowing that now, today, while doing the review show, I would have hoped they've gone for him just to award them a little birthday gift on the 45th anniversary, because that watch is iconic. So anyways, I guess you're right. AP needed to win something this year, so they got it here. And is it iconic? Yeah, of course. And Royal Oak is iconic. And today their perpetual calendar is iconic as well. Because if I'm not mistaken, it exists already. 31 or 32 years. To keep the speed up, Rob, I suggest we go to the Tourbillon category. The first few years, this was a category you hated. You've evolved, you've grown, you're 40 now, you matured, you've gained wisdom. Well, actually, you've been sharing a lot of wisdom in this episode today again, so maybe too much wisdom because we might get blacklisted, but. Gphg. But hey, freedom is the highest good there is, right?

[B]

Blacklisting. This would only prove that there's something to blacklist us for. So rampant speculation with good reason I think is fair enough. And yeah, I guess bring it on. Gphg. Make me a jury member and then, then I'll be your greatest champion. Unless, of course, I find out that behind the scenes it is absolutely corrupt, then I won't. But let's do things right. Let's do them as well as we possibly can for the good of watchmaking and for the enjoyment of watch fans. We've moved on from the iconic phase. Discussion, the iconic discussion. Should I say we've moved on from the iconic category? Maybe a little quick. Maybe you did that deliberately because you didn't want us to dwell on the fact that the ap, which was the first one you discarded, won in the end. But look, it is iconic. And by a definition, it's probably the most iconic amongst the six. So fair enough. It's. It's low hanging fruit, but it's okay. Torbjorn's. Here we go. So the one that got the most pop prior to the show was the Fam Al Hut. The Moebius. It wasn't my choice. I went for the Urban Jurgensen. I think you went for the Capek, didn't you?

[A]

I actually did. I said that. The Fam Al Hut, I think is very, very cool. And I hope they win a prize. They did. They took the Audacity prize from Berneron this year. I think rightfully so. Independent brand, out of the box, good pricing, really innovative. So I'm actually very happy for them. And I think the jury did a good job there because they've won that prize. It doesn't surprise me. They went for the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon. We kind of knew they were going to give it to them, didn't we?

[B]

Because Bulgari has to win something as well.

[A]

In this case. It's rightfully though.

[B]

Well, is it? Because you didn't pick it and I didn't pick it. It's just another up to Finesse and World Trombion. It's a really cool watch, but come on.

[A]

Yeah, we didn't. We, we didn't we. And I agree with you. I don't think they should have gotten this year because they're. I think that watch already won a prize.

[B]

It feels like it certainly did something like it must have done. I'll check while you analyze this. This category a bit further.

[A]

So. So it would never surprise me if they went for the Vuitton Tambo Taiko Spin, which is actually a cool watch. It's up there. It could be MB and F. Ish. I understand they didn't give it to the Urban Jurgensen for two reasons. I think it's uber elegant that the tourbillon is not visible on the front side. But yeah, I knew the jury is not gonna award a watch that you can't see the tourbillon because the majority of people wouldn't understand what's going on. Probably only watch nerds will understand that it's an hidden tourbillon like they used to be.

[B]

Yeah. But to be fair, only watch nerds are watching the gphg. Like we can. We can. We can pander to watch nerds.

[A]

Is that so? You know, I was actually positively surprised, but I'm saying this hesitantly because I don't know if I'm really positive about it, but the majority of the Urban Jorgensen press releases I get from their PR agency are celebrities that I don't know rocking an urban Jurgensen. So those I don't think are watch nerds, but it's cool they're picking this up. So I think that watches are becoming part of the zeitgeist. They're a mix of status symbols, and they have relevance. And it's with millennials, and it's. And all these celebs that I'm seeing are wearing, like, torn jeans, tattooed sleeved arms, and ripped jeans, wearing an ultra classical urban Jurgis, which I think is cool. I don't like so much that people push celebrities in watch marketing, but it works. So I found that interesting. It piqued my interest, but we're deviating here. I hoped the Chapel would have won. You actually voted for the Urban Jurgensen. We both lost. I think we should leave it at that and keep the pace up. Rob, mechanical exception.

[B]

Okay, well, just to touch on one point that you raised then, with the tourbillon, the jury wouldn't award a hidden Tourbjorn. I think the tourbillon category has not been around every year. It was the earliest I've seen so far, was actually only in 2021, and that year, they had a debut that had a reversible case. So you could have a tourbillon on the front or on the back. So that's the closest. But since then, you were correct. They've always been visible tourbillons. And you've got a good memory because in the first year that we did this competition, in 2022, Bulgari won the Audacity Prize with the octo finissimo ultra 10th anniversary, which looks almost identical to this piece. Very similar layout. And that is what is probably lingering in our minds as a watch that we feel that we've seen before. So, mechanical exception, six watches in the running. For this one, as always, we had the Armin Strom, the Grupo Forsey, the Hazeman and Monin, the Louis Vuitton, the Luca Soprano and the Van Cleef and Carpel. I think I went for the Luca Soprano on this category, and I can't remember what you went for. What did you choose?

[A]

I chose the Armin Strom because I simply love the resonance. I have to admit my ignorance here. I obviously knew who Derek Pratt was. I did not know who Luca Soprano was. After we did the voting game, I attended a very cool private tour at the Science Museum in London. Where they have the British Logical Society, which is something different than the British alliance of clock makers and watchmakers. And they have a amazing display there of the history of watchmaking with a strong focus on British watchmaking. Amazing Pratt pieces there. So. And afterwards that day, I went to a Frodzum lecture, the fifth only ever by James, Richard James. And they pay tribute to Pratt as well. So I would have forgiven the Roman numerals and voted for this as well. So I salute you. I duff my cap to you, as the English say that you obviously, as an British watchmaker, knew who this was. I would have liked they awarded this watch the mechanical exception because Remontois d', Egalit, I think, is an amazing complication. Obviously, the Grenfell brothers pay a lot of tribute to this complication. And Bernard Lederer, who gave us an hour plus masterclass, a private masterclass, you and I, he literally set us on the bench and schooled us as little schoolboys, which was awesome. The winner is and was Grebel Forsey. Love the brand. We love Michel. It is an exceptional watch, so I'm happy for them as well.

[B]

So before I analyze this, I just want to add a slight correction or addition to what I said previously about the Tourbillon Prize didn't exist in every year. It existed in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. It disappeared in 2018, and it didn't reappear again until, I think, 2021. So it's not always been around. But every single winner I've been able to find, again, just to reiterate, had open Tourbillon on it. I think that when it comes to the mechanical exception, the Greubel Forsey is a fair winner. It's an incredible watch. It's a brilliant watchmaking. Their icons of the modern era. Yeah, I've got no complaints with this one. I do think the Armin Strom would have been a nice winner and Luca Soprano would have been an absolute curveball. Lovely nod to the brilliance of that watch to see it in the top six. Anything else to add or should we move on to the chronograph?

[A]

No, I would have loved to see the Hazman morning in real life. And this is a segue to the chronograph category. I did not appreciate the anis and Geneve by picture, seeing it in the metal and having the watch in hand with a loop, a diamante loop. So 10 times magnificent piece. And the picture doesn't do it justice. So for future references, I highly recommend people to go to the world tour GPHG organizers. And maybe you and I, Rob, should record the 2026 edition our game after seeing the pieces in real life. So that's maybe an suggestion. You voted for the Louis Monet. I voted for the Ming and the Angulus one. So share.

[B]

Rob, I like this pick. I think the Angelus is extremely handsome model. We've commented on the huddled nature of those sub dials and said they could maybe be slightly further apart. But I think it's really nicely done, really well designed, beautiful case. Love them on a pusher. I have no complaints here. I would have loved to see Lumon a win, but they didn't and it was probably a tight thing. I think this is a strong category. I think this. This lineup of six pieces, it offers quite a lot of variety. It's quite a broad spectrum of chronographs and I think probably something for everyone. And I can easily see that the angle is. Is the watch for most people. So, yeah, like it. Let's move on to the sports collection. We've got a. A lovely hulking Audemars Piguet Royal oak offshore Chopard Alpine Eagle, Grand Seiko Tokyo Line Tetragraph Tentograph baby ship model, as I like to call it. The Lauren ferrier Sport. Also 79, the Parmigiani Fleury Tonda PF Sport and the Renaissance GMT Sport Chic watch Type 7, which I adore but did not choose. I chose the Chopard and you chose the. What was it now? The Lanferier.

[A]

The Lanferrier Sport. Yeah.

[B]

Well, I guess GPHG agreed with me for once. Chopard wins.

[A]

Well for a second time because they agreed with the Denison as well.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. We haven't got there yet, but yeah, Chopard's Chopard takes the prize in this category. I'm obviously all for it, but how do you feel about it?

[A]

I said on air it wasn't it for the Roman number 12. I probably have picked it as well. I love orange. I love Chopard. I love this watch. I didn't think the Laurent Fourier would have won because I think the only difference here is the dial color. The Sport Audit 79. The full gold exists already for many years. Talking of what I would have done as a jury member, whereas I would put innovation and novelty at the top of my voting principles. I would have given to raisins because it's a complete new watch. So the Chopard isn't new, it's just a color variation. Okay. They're giving a lot of love to Chopard, I think we've spoken enough about your conspiracy theory. I suggest jump to the jewelry connection.

[B]

Yeah, well, here's a category that Chopard really deserved to win in many ways because it's certainly the most striking piece of jewelry with the Swan Lake. In this category, you chose the Bulgari Serpenti Eterna. I went for the Simon Brett Chronometry Artisan Joalerie. There was also the Dior mantra, La Dit de Dior Buisson Couture model.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

I butchered every single word in that Piaget Swinging Sweet Auto and the Van Cleef and Appel Cadenas. Well, this one is an absolute shocker for me. I, I, I can't believe it. The Dior won and I have it at best fifth, ahead of that wild Piaget, which I don't really like, but at best fifth. Honestly, what's gone on here? How has the Dior won this?

[A]

Well, Rob, I had an epitome.

[B]

Sounds painful.

[A]

Well, it is painful because I'm scared to say your conspiracy theory is going to the next level. If you're paying attention, no. Richemont watch has won one Swatch Group and a lot. Lvmh. And then, whoa. Rather independent. Chopard's independent. But if it was not political, it would have gone probably to Simon Brett or Chopard, because those are independent. Dior is lvmh. Van Clef. Piaget is Richemont. I thought there were a lot of Piaget nominees this year. I thought one would go to Piaget, at least if it was politicized. So from a political point of view, Dior is Elvienz. That's why they got it. Bulgari already got Etobillon Prize, so they gave it to Dior because Dior is, well, the forgotten child within lvmh. Isn't it for watches? For fashion, it's not, but for watches it is.

[B]

I don't think I even knew lvmh, to be honest.

[A]

Okay, honestly, that's, that's, that's bad enough and that says maybe a lot. And that's why probably there are no asked for prize. If you are right that there is an ability to ask for prizes, and this is very controversial, what I'm saying here on air.

[B]

I am not making the accusation. I'm raising the question.

[A]

Fair enough. Public provoking. Okay, you're provoking that thought. Yeah. You're poking the bear. And I'll join you. I'll hop on the bandwagon. Provoking now. Putting my jeweler's hat on let's call this a bouquet of gemstones and diamonds. It's done nicely. I love the fact that they're too little hands for time indication. So it's not about timekeeping. It's a piece of jewel on your wrist where there is a little watch hidden inside. I think they've done well. This is a jewel so well deserved in that sense. Let's keep talking about art and artists and artistic crafts. I'm very curious what this have done. So. So we've. We were unanimous, you and I, we voted for Voutilainen.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

With the stunning Japanese handcrafts. True artist artistic crafts. Who won? You and I were right.

[B]

Yeah. I think the jury. Yeah, kudos to the jury. But I do think this was about as easy a pick as they come. I think it stands out in those six as the most attractive, probably the most artisanal and it's got the right name attached to it, so not surprised. Yeah. This is a three way unanimous agreement and there's only a couple of those in this entire lineup. So it does stand out for that reason, but not much to say. The right watch won here. I think so. Very happy to hear. Petit Aguil the one of the most competitive categories along with the following challenge category. It's a, it's a price based category. This, I think it's under 8,000 francs. Is the goal for this one? Is it, is it 8,000 or is it 5,000?

[A]

No, I believe it's five. It's not that high. Eight is high already.

[B]

Okay, okay, okay, okay. So under five. Yeah, that makes sense. All these watches are actually under five. So we both picked the Nomos, did we not?

[A]

We, we. We definitely did. Yes, we bought.

[B]

The winner was the MAD editions. MAD2Green. We have to have Max on the stage, obviously, because he's very photogenic and this is kind of, I think fair enough. I like the Mad 2. I think for me, to be frank, any one of these watches could have won and I wouldn't have said that. It was undeserving. I think the Moses, a great story. I think the Ameda is a really handsome casquette watch and there aren't many of those around. Obviously. The Christopher Ward Loco is incredible value. The Nomos for us was the best bang for buck and also like complication at this level. The Otsuka Lotec is stunning and has a huge niche following. Although they won last year, so maybe another one would have been too much and. Yeah, why not? Look, the. The MAD editions. MAD2 green. It's cool.

[A]

Yeah, no Very cool. I've ordered one. I have one. It's waiting for me in Amsterdam. I have. So I haven't posted a wrist shirt yet. Have they deserved it? Eric Giraud teamed up with the whole MBNF team. It's a cool watch. It's new. It's crazy. Tough Choice. The local C12 is new, is cool, they're pushing the boundaries. But this Petit Aguil is like a. I call this the gateway drug, the gateway prize. This is for people getting into real watchmaking. And the. The only one really manufacturer here is the Nomos. The real value for money is the Nomos. It's maybe the most boring one, although it's one of the most exciting nomoses. It's the most boring one in this category, but it's the most accessible one for people that want to spend €3,940 in that. You get so much bang for buck. So I think they should have done that. Would have this been a watch with a new dial color and this watch would have been launched a year before Nomos. Should have not gotten it. But you know what? Nomos take pride in the fact that Eric Giraud and BNF has so much star power and it is a cool watch and it is new and it is innovative. So tough one, tough one. I'm actually happy I wasn't on the jury for that one. We quickly go to the challenge prize.

[B]

Yeah, well, we addressed this one at the top of the show, didn't we? The Denison beat out the Atelier Wemb Barron's Christopher Ward in Corona Tokyo. And we're glad it did. We wanted it to win. We think it's a deserving winner. And I've said my piece on this one already. I love it.

[A]

Yeah. Okay, last one. Mechanical clock.

[B]

Well, you know, I think the one that won, which was the Anton Surinov St. Petersburg Easter Egg Tourbillon clock, was the only one we maybe didn't talk about in the. In the pre. Pre event shows. I don't remember us even casting a second glance in the direction of this one. I remember talking about the Lepe. I picked the Louis Vuitton. The Mickey Alator and Fiona Krugers came up and we had quite a lot to say about the Trilob. The. The egoistic Trulob. But the winner was the. The egg.

[A]

So yeah, yeah, Eggy surprised me because with they had very tough competition with the Trilob. The Kruger together with Dennis Flejolet. So the. The founder of the Bethune.

[B]

Oh, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'm. I'm wrong.

[A]

Yeah. There's another one.

[B]

The mechanic. Maybe that makes sense in mind is because it actually won the horror. We had two awards given to Klonov was pulled from the clock clock to out from the mechanical CL was anointed worthy of this special award horological revelation even more surprising. What's going on?

[A]

Well, that's. No, that's cool. That's cool. Cool that they picked a clock, a table clock, which I like on the LVMH conspiracy theory, you know that I think they bought no Lepe. Oh, sorry, I stand correct. It's 1916 company, isn't it? Or is it LVMH? Somebody bought Lepe recently.

[B]

Did they? Well, good luck to them. Yeah, I mean they make nice products, but it's. It's a niche thing, isn't it a desk clock these days?

[A]

You know, it is, it is, it is.

[B]

But they're lovely. They're very lovely. Yeah.

[A]

Lvmh. I'm right. Wow.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I googled it quickly. So do you see a pattern here?

[B]

Dear Rob, I see lots of patterns. I don't know how much to believe them and maybe that's something we should kick over to the community because that concludes our GPHG 2025 results analysis show. So it's been a wild ride. We have plenty of controversial choices this year to chew over in the network. If you'd like to get involved in that conversation and take part in these games that we like to play regularly, then do just join our TRTS family. You can do that by contacting us either via the website contact [e-mail] emailing either Alon David or me at our first name herealtime show, or contact us on Instagram @herealtime show. We will be back soon with Q and a sessions, interviews with the industry leaders and experts, and we can't wait to have you back here for the next year of TRTS as we move into our fourth year of existence, bookending every year with these GPHG shows. It's a pleasure to be here, it's a pleasure to be talking to you all so regularly. And thank you very much for making the show what it is. We'll be back soon and until then, stay safe and keep on ticking.

[A]

It.