Rexhep Rexhepi, an independent watchmaker based in Geneva, received the Aiguille d'Or at the 26th Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), according to Euronews.com. The award, the event's highest distinction, went to his Chronograph Flyback at a ceremony held on 7 November 2026. The prize is open to any watch entered across all categories.
Euronews.com reports that 84 timepieces and clocks competed this year across 14 categories, among them sports, calendar and astronomy, jewellery and mechanical exception. A jury of collectors, watchmakers, journalists and auctioneers chose the winners.
Why it matters
The Aiguille d'Or is widely treated as the most prestigious single prize in watchmaking, and it went this year to an independent maker rather than one of the large established houses. Last year's winner was Breguet's Classique Souscription 2025, a watch with a single hand, per Euronews.com.
Rexhepi told Euronews Culture that winning the top honour had long been a goal of his, and he credited his team and the collectors around the world who follow his work. He also said that receiving the award from Breguet, the previous year's winner and a major name in the industry, carried particular weight.
His route into the trade was unconventional by the standards of the big houses: Euronews.com reports that he began his career as a 15-year-old apprentice at Patek Philippe.
A chronograph built around a redesigned movement
The winning watch is a flyback chronograph with a storm blue Grand Feu enamel dial, a finish whose look Euronews.com says draws on vintage pocket-watch chronographs. The report describes the piece as sleek and harmonious in its proportions, and notes that achieving them required a complete rethinking of the movement's architecture.
The category results released alongside the top prize give a sense of the range on show. Chopard took the Time Only award with a continuation of its L.U.C 1860, made to mark 30 years of its manufacture in Fleurier. An openworked reinterpretation of the Extra Plat, built around lightness and transparency, won the Essential category.
In Complication, the winning watch carries a grand feu champlevé enamel dial set off-centre at 2 o'clock, a snailed barrel with a 36-hour power reserve indicator, and an oversized 12.9 mm balance wheel running at 18,000 vibrations per hour. Blancpain's entry in Mechanical Exception is described as its most complicated watch, eight years in development, and introduces a first for grande sonnerie wristwatches: a button that switches between two melodies played by a four-note, four-hammer striking mechanism.
The Gemset prize went to a pocket watch carved from ornamental stone and hung from a twisted gold chain. A tourbillon entry was recognised for a design intended to reveal the movement's mechanical beauty on the dial side, while the Chronograph category honoured a watch defined by simplicity and discretion, with a mono-pusher coordinating three synchronised phases. In Calendar and Astronomy, a limited-edition pocket watch introduced a Universal Calendar mechanism for the first time.
Gendered categories dropped
This year's edition brought a structural change. The organisers retired the long-standing Men's and Ladies' categories and introduced two technical ones in their place: Essential Watch and Complication Watch, Euronews.com reports.
The field also reflected the breadth of contemporary horology. Nominees included a workshop from Moscow competing against the Swiss establishment, a wearable representation of the solar system, and a clock weighing 10 kilograms that winds a watch while its owner sleeps.
The GPHG has run for 26 editions and is often described as the Oscars of watchmaking. Its ceremony places independent makers and established brands in the same competition, with a single jury judging every entry.
The next edition will show whether the revised category structure holds and whether independent watchmakers can repeat this year's result at the top of the field.
