Standfirst: Wei Koh is preparing to chair the jury of the 2026 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, where 84 nominated watches will compete for 19 prizes. The winners will be announced in Geneva on 7 November, with the ceremony taking place in English for the first time.
The 2026 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) is entering its final stage, with media entrepreneur and watchmaking commentator Wei Koh serving as jury president for the first time. Often described as the “Oscars of watchmaking”, the awards recognise technical achievement, design and originality across the international mechanical-watch industry.
Koh, the Singaporean founder of the watch media company Revolution, will oversee a 24-member jury as it examines the shortlisted watches in person before voting by secret ballot. The 84 nominated timepieces are competing across 19 categories, including the prestigious Aiguille d’Or.
What is happening at the 2026 GPHG?
The jury is due to meet behind closed doors in Geneva in early November, shortly before the awards ceremony. Rather than judging the watches from images or written descriptions alone, jurors will physically handle and inspect each nominated piece before discussing the results.
The ceremony will be held at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices in Geneva on Saturday, 7 November. It will also mark a change in presentation: after previous French-language ceremonies, the 2026 event will be conducted in English for the first time.
- Jury president: Wei Koh
- Nominated watches: 84
- Prizes: 19
- Main award: Aiguille d’Or
- Awards date: 7 November 2026
- Location: Geneva, Switzerland
How will the jury choose the winners?
Koh says the central quality the jury will seek is singularity: a distinctive creative voice that makes a watch stand apart from its competitors. That assessment can involve aesthetics, but it also extends to the way a watch contributes to the development of mechanical watchmaking.
The shortlist includes pieces representing different forms of technical and historical innovation. Among the examples highlighted by Koh are a grand sonnerie capable of playing two separate melodies for quarter-hour chimes, a watch that revives an older balance-wheel method, and a chronograph that changes how users interact with the complication.
Mechanical watchmaking was added to UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in December 2020. The GPHG’s judging process reflects that mixture of craftsmanship, heritage and experimentation, bringing established techniques into conversation with new engineering approaches and materials.
Debate is part of the process
The jury’s work is conducted confidentially, but Koh has described the discussions as rigorous and open. He credits former jury president Nick Foulkes with establishing an atmosphere in which jurors can disagree, test their assumptions and change their minds after hearing another member’s argument.
The final decisions will be made through secret ballots. The confidential format is intended to protect the independence of the judging process and prevent the deliberations from becoming a public contest between individual jurors.
A changing watch industry
The 2026 awards arrive as the luxury-watch sector continues to balance traditional craftsmanship with innovation and a wider effort to reach new audiences. This year’s GPHG has removed the former men’s and women’s categories and replaced them with categories based on technical criteria.
The change reflects a broader discussion about how watches should be classified and presented. Instead of separating products primarily by gender, the revised structure places greater emphasis on the type of watch, its mechanism and the qualities being judged.
Koh has spent much of his career promoting mechanical watchmaking to audiences beyond the traditional luxury market. He founded Revolution in 2005 and later produced Man of the Hour, a documentary-style series focused on watchmaking and the people behind the industry.
Why mechanical watches still attract attention
The continued interest in mechanical watches may appear surprising at a time dominated by artificial intelligence, smart devices and digital services. Koh argues that their appeal comes partly from their physical permanence and the human effort required to keep them running.
A mechanical watch depends on energy supplied by its owner, whether through winding or wearing it. Its appeal is therefore tied not only to precision, but also to continuity, repairability, materials and the accumulated knowledge required to create a complex movement.
That appeal has reached technology executives and collectors who helped build the digital economy. Koh points to the interest of prominent technology figures in independent watchmakers as evidence that highly digital lifestyles can coexist with enthusiasm for analogue craftsmanship.
What happens next?
The 24-member jury will complete its private examination and voting process in Geneva before the winners are announced on 7 November. The results will determine the recipients of the 19 GPHG prizes, including the Aiguille d’Or for the year’s most outstanding watch.
The ceremony will be broadcast through Euronews Culture and the official GPHG website. Beyond the awards themselves, the event will provide a snapshot of how the watch industry is responding to changing ideas about category design, audience development and the relationship between heritage and innovation.
The key takeaway: the 2026 GPHG is not only a competition between 84 watches. Under Wei Koh’s first term as jury president, it also represents an effort to define how mechanical watchmaking can preserve its traditions while speaking to a broader, more international audience.