The independent jury of professionals from the watchmaking industry appointed by “Montres Passion” magazine for the 20th “Montre de l’Année” award has chosen the Altiplano Date by Piaget as Watch of the Year 2013. The Ladies’ Watch of the Year Prize goes to the Arceau Petite Lune by Hermès, while Girard-Perregaux and Tag Heuer share the Special Jury Prize for their advances and research in watchmaking.
The Altiplano Date by Piaget was honoured with the First Jury Prize for the Watch of the Year 2013. This watch was described as “impeccable”, “perfect”, “with such a restrained and balanced design that we forget what an enormous feat it is to produce such a masterpiece”. This is a timepiece “of sheer elegance”, “with a soul that instils calm and serenity”. Several members of the jury also singled out “the extreme slenderness (6.36 mm) of this model, certainly an iconic item in any collection but equally suitable for every occasion”, “not forgetting the slim dimensions of its movement (3 mm) with the date function that has been long been hoped for and awaited”.
The Second Jury Prize was awarded to the Time Pyramid by Arnold & Son, whose winning features include “overall elegance, creativity and craftsmanship” as well as “aesthetic and technical aspirations stated and achieved”. “The exclusive finish of its proprietary movement (A&S1615), placing it truly in the high-end watch segment” was also acclaimed.
The Radiomir 1940 by Panerai was awarded thirdplace for features such as “the superb workmanship of its manually wound proprietary movement and its excellent price positioning”. Some jury members singled out “its new case, more elegant, more delicate and more harmonious”, equally likely to tempt men and women.
To universal acclaim, the Arceau Petite Lune modelby Hermès was chosen as Ladies’ Watchof the Year. It won the award by virtue of its “absolute, classical beauty: simple and restrained”, “its perfect balance”, “the way its functions are reduced to the essential, with easily readability” and “its discreet, elegant and genial Phase of the Moon”.
The jury decided to award its Special “Coup deCoeur” Prize not so much to honour a specific watch as to pay tribute to innovative technical approaches that may well overturn standard watchmaking practices in time. The prize went to the Constant escapement from Girard-Perregaux and the high-frequency magnetic movements without hairsprings from Tag Heuer. One of the jury members concluded: “This look ahead to tomorrow is an excellent way of celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Watch of the Year Prize …”
As always, the shortlist of around 40 watches preselected by the jury was presented to the public for its consideration in an online ballot, held on a dedicated website over a three-week period. After a total of several thousand votes had been counted, the Type XXII 3880 by Breguet emerged as the winner and was therefore awarded the People’s Prize.
The prizes and trophies were presented to representatives of the winning brands and manufacturers at a ceremony on 25 October 2013 in Geneva, attended by over 500 prominent figures from the watchmaking world.
Since 1994, the purpose of the Watch of theYear Prize has been to promote the best watch creations of each year, in terms of technology as well as aesthetics. The Prize was established by “Montres Passion” magazine, published in French and German versions by Ringier Romandie. As an ambassador for Swiss quality watches, this reference magazine aims to contribute to the development of watchmaking culture.
Contact:
Didier Pradervand
Editor-in-Chief of Montres Passion
Ringier SA, Pont Bessières 3, CP 7289, CH-1002 Lausanne
Telephone: +41 21 331 77 80 Fax: +41 21 331 70 01
Email: [email protected]
