Independent Watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi Wins Top Honour at 2026 Geneva Grand Prix

Geneva-based independent watchmaker Rexhep Rexhepi received the top honour, the Aiguille d’Or, at the 26th Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève on 7 November 2026. The annual ceremony in Geneva included a restructuring of competition categories, replacing traditional gender-based classifications with technical divisions.

Rexhepi was awarded the main prize for his Chronograph Flyback, a piece featuring a storm blue Grand Feu enamel dial designed after vintage pocket chronographs. The development of the timepiece required a complete redesign of the movement's architecture to match its proportions.

A jury of watchmakers, collectors, journalists, and auctioneers evaluated 84 timepieces across 14 categories. The organisers eliminated the former Men's and Ladies' awards, introducing new divisions titled Essential Watch and Complication Watch to focus on technical attributes.

Established luxury houses claimed several prominent categories during the event. Chopard won the Time Only award for its L.U.C 1860 Chronometer, created to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its Fleurier manufacture, and secured the Jewellery award with its Mystery Nut pendant. Blancpain received the Mechanical Exception prize for the Grande Double Sonnerie, an eight-year project featuring a selector mechanism for two distinct melodies played by four hammers.

Independent producers and international workshops were also recognised across specialized award classifications. Moscow-based watchmaker Konstantin Chaykin received the Audacity Prize for the ThinKing Mystery, billed as the thinnest series-produced mechanical watch, while Japanese maker OTSUKA LOTEC won the Petite Aiguille category for its No.8 model. In technical awards, Ferdinand Berthoud secured the Chronometry Prize for Naissance d’une Montre 3, constructed entirely without digital tools.

Audemars Piguet won the Calendar and Astronomy category with the 150 Heritage pocket watch featuring a Universal Calendar, as well as the Iconic Watch Prize for its Royal Oak RD#5 flying tourbillon flyback chronograph. The Special Jury Prize, which cannot be awarded to a timepiece, went to Patek Philippe for its Watch Art Grand Exhibition.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com