Cover The opening night of the GPHG 2023 exhibition in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
The opening night of the GPHG 2023 exhibition in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
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The group managing director of The Hour Glass joins Carine Maillard, the director of GPHG, for a chat on the Oscars of watchmaking
The Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) is widely considered to be the Oscars of watchmaking. Created in 2001, its main purpose is to highlight and reward the most remarkable contemporary creations and promote the art of watchmaking worldwide.
Each year before the awards ceremony in November, the nominated watches will travel the globe, often stopping in major cities like New York, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. This year, Tatler GMT was proud to be a partner of the GPHG 2023 exhibition in Macau and Hong Kong as part of the Timeless Watch Week programming.
Above Michael Tay, group managing director of The Hour Glass
Michael Tay, group managing director of The Hour Glass
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For the first time ever, the exhibition also travels to Kuala Lumpur, thanks to the partnership with The Hour Glass. Showcasing 84 watches from 14 categories (only the nominees in the Mechanical Clock category were absent), the exhibition provides a rare opportunity to discover the greater breadth of watchmaking culture, where creations by established players are displayed alongside small independent watchmakers. Currently happening in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur until October 8, 2023, its stopover here is a testament to the growing sophistication of the watch market in Malaysia.
“By selecting Kuala Lumpur, it is an affirmation of this city’s growing importance in the watchmaking world. This is aligned with The Hour Glass’ mission to advance watch culture, offering our community of enthusiasts access to some of the most extraordinary watches of our generation,” said Michael Tay, the group managing director of The Hour Glass. Tay is also a member of the Academy of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).
Above Carine Maillard, director of GPHG
Carine Maillard, director of GPHG
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Tatler GMT had a quick chat with Tay and Carine Maillard, the director of GPHG, on bringing the monumental exhibition to the city.
How does GPHG promote industry growth and cultivate further appreciation for watchmaking among the community of collectors and enthusiasts?
Carine Maillard (C): GPHG is not only a competition; it’s also about showcasing watchmaking culture, art, and values. The most important point is to explain the stories of watches from all over the world.
Michael Tay (M): GPHG been around for over two decades and it offered many watchmakers the opportunity to present themselves, many for the first time, on the world stage. It allows them to compete against their more venerable peers. No other platform allows them to stack themselves up against the biggest and the best in the world. One of the missions of the exhibition, and I think it really came from Carine, is that she wants new markets to discover watches and Swiss watchmaking, to expose enthusiasts and communities we have yet touch to watchmaking. No other platform does that for the Swiss watch industry.
Michael, why is it exciting for The Hour Glass to bring the GPHG exhibition to Kuala Lumpur?
M: The Malaysian market has reached a certain level of maturity to understand what GPHG represents. Just this morning alone, we had 1,000 visitors to the exhibition, which is very impressive. It shows how interested Malaysians are about what’s going on in watchmaking.
Carine, how excited are you that the exhibition has travelled to Kuala Lumpur?
C: We really tried to show watchmaking culture everywhere in the world. So when Michael proposed to come to Kuala Lumpur, I said 'yes, it’s a very good idea’. If we can play the role of missioners like what Michael said, then it’s great. It’s important to have a partner like The Hour Glass as they know about watches and they know how to take care of them because it’s not easy to organise this kind of exhibition.
The nominated chronograph watches of at the GPHG 2023 exhibition
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From the list of nominees this year, what are some of the up-and-coming names that have caught your attention?
M: The one that is on everybody's lips is Simon Brette [whose Chronomètre Artisans is nominated in the Men's category]. He has an interesting career. He was a constructor with Max Büsser working on Legacy and Horological Machines. His watch is aesthetically pleasing and that has garnered him a lot of social media interest. Another pleasant surprise was a young German watchmaker by the name of Felipe Pikullik [nominated in the Calendar and Astronomy category for its Moon phase 1]. On the design perspective, there is Studio UnderdOg [nominated in the Challenge category for its Watermelon watch]. If it wasn't for GPHG, I would not have discovered it or even Felipe.
Carine, can you briefly explain how GPHG is able to come up with such varied names for the competition?
In 2020, we created the Academy. We started with 300 members and now we have more than 800 members, and they not only participate in the voting but also in proposing potential names for competition. This usually starts happening in March. And because we have members from all over the world, we get many different proposals. That’s how we can hear about watchmakers like Studio UnderdOg.
Simon Brette Chronomètre Artisans
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Brian Cheong leads the watch (Tatler GMT) and jewellery content at Tatler Malaysia, combining sharp editorial insight with years of luxury lifestyle experience. A seasoned journalist in luxury watches based in Kuala Lumpur, Brian had previously helmed World of Watches, Men's Folio and Prestige Malaysia.
