GPHG 2026: The 'Oscars of watchmaking' scraps gender categories for ‘a breath of fresh air’

The world of watchmaking is counting down to the 2026 edition of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), where the finest luxury timepieces compete for 19 coveted prizes. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The winners will be revealed at a glamorous award ceremony in Geneva on Saturday 7 November, and you can watch the event live on Euronews Culture. Here, the time-honoured mastery and meticulous skill that define the industry will once again take the spotlight. This year, 84 watches and clocks vie for awards in 14 categories, including sports, calendar and astronomy, jewellery and mechanical exception. The winners are decided by a jury of experts including watch collectors, watchmakers, journalists and auctioneers. The top honour, known as the ‘Aiguille d'Or’ Grand Prix, is open to any watch across all categories. Last year, it was won by Breguet's Classique Souscription 2025 - a watch which only has one hand. As Euronews Culture’s resident watch expert has shared, each of the shortlisted timepieces is truly remarkable. The nominees include a Moscow workshop taking on the Swiss giants, a wearable solar system, and a 10-kilo clock that winds your watch while you sleep. GPHG awards scrap gender categories For the 26th edition, GPHG has overhauled its traditional categories to “enhance its representativeness and align with new market dynamics”. This includes scrapping the usual gender-based (Men’s and Ladies’) categories and replacing them with new technical categories: Essential Watch and Complication Watch. This is to “reflect changing purchasing behaviours and meet industry expectations”, according to the organisers. “This provides a competition platform more representative of a market featuring increasingly blurred traditional boundaries giving way to a more universal approach.” There is a new category for 2026. Gemset will award watches set with a total of up to six carats of gemstones, leaving the Jewellery category for the most impressive exceptional pieces. This year, the Iconic Watch Prize is open to the entire watch market. All timepieces released during the year offering a contemporary reinterpretation of an iconic model that has been exercising a lasting influence on the industry for more than 20 years are eligible – whether or not they are officially entered in the competition. The Special Jury Prize has been expanded. It can now also recognise – alongside individuals and institutions – a brand (whether or not it is entered in the competition) for a significant watchmaking development or an exemplary approach to ethics and sustainability. GPHG 2026: Independent watchmakers take the spotlight The GPHG has also set out to open the competition to a wider range of houses, from a wider range of countries, with a growing contingent of independents. This includes Moscow-based Konstantin Chaykin, whose ThinKing Mystery is billed as the thinnest series-produced mechanical watch in the world. Several legendary names, on the other hand, aren't competing at all. While Rolex has never participated, many of the missing brands are past winners: Patek Philippe, Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, F.P. Journe, Richard Mille, A. Lange & Söhne, Greubel Forsey, and Breguet, last year's 'Aiguille d’Or', barred from competing the following year under GPHG rules. The Oscars of watchmaking are going ahead without several of their record-holding stars, which means there could be some surprises this year.