It’s that time of the year again, GPHG 2026 is coming, and after the winners of GPHG 2025, I’m really curious what this year will bring us after I saw the GPHG 2026 Nominees.
I did a quick scan of the nominated pieces and I must say that there are some cool watches. We will speak about each category, which you already probably know from the last year nominations at GPHG 2025, and I will tell you my favourite.
Time Only
Watches that only tell time, nothing else. A lot of good pieces are on the GPHG 2026 Nominees, but my favorite one definitely is the Piaget Polo 79 Sodalite Watch. It looks really good and I can see myself wearing one. Hope it will win.
If not, my second option will be Chopard L.U.C 1860
Essential
Again, really nice watches and again we have a Parmigiani Fleurier nominated in this section after we had one in Time Only category. But my favourite one is Audemars Piguet Neoframe Jumping Hour. Amazing piece, looks really nice and I hope it will win.
I don’t have a second favorite in this category.
Complication
I don’t really have a favourite here. I wrote about the collaboration between Ulysse Nardin x Urwerk. I think it’s a cool watch, but not really something that I would wear. Dominique Renaud Pulse60 TItanium Black looks nice, but again nothing that I would wear. So for this category I would choose Ulysse Nardin.
Mechanical Exception
I’m really tired of dials that shows the movement and all the wheels. It gives me cheap vibes and we have at least 3 watches in this category that does just that. My favourite one is Christiaan Van Der Klaauw CVDK Grand Planetarium Eccentric Silicium. Long name, but a really cool watch. I love planets and I love watches. One of the best combinations, and the purple dial looks amazing.
GEMSET
They are all awful, honestly. If I had to pick one, I would go for Bovet 1822 Recital 23. The only one that looks decent.
Tourbillon
I am having a really hard time to find a model that I like. Tourbillon is useless these days, and the watches way to expensive. The model from Louis Vuitton looks horrible, like those flags from mountains in Hymalaya. I will go with David Candaux DC6 Night Forest.
Chronograph
We have some really cool pieces here, the Louis Moinet 1816 Chronograph looks really beautiful. H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Flyback Chronograph Dual time is also beautiful. On the other hand, TAG Heuer Monaco Evergraph is ugly.
I would choose the Louis Moinet 1816 Chronograph.
Calendar and Astronomy
One of my favourite categories, but the watches from this year are ugly. I like the Audemars Piguet 150 Heritage, but it’s a pocket watch. The second one is Bovet 1822 Recital 31 which I hope will win the prize. Again we have a Parmigiani Fleurier here.
Sports
Not a single watch that I like in this category. The IWC model is too white, meaning everything is white so it’s hard to read. Grand Seiko looks simple. I have nothing here honestly. Maybe Chopard Zagato Lab Once Concept will be the winner.
Jewellery
Same situation, nothing from this category speaks to me. Watches have too many colours and the ones from Jacob & Co and Piaget are ugly as hell. The Piaget one reminds me of Graff Diamonds watch which is expensive but ugly.
Artistic Crafts
Well, I don’t see the art in here. All watches are trying too much. Andersen Geneve Celestial Voyager VK Edition reminds me too much of Patek Philippe. Louis Vuitton Tambour Taiko Arty Automata is all over the place. Ugly! I would go with L.Leroy Vox Temporis, the only one that looks decent.
Petite Aiguille
A really important category and finally we have some good looking watches. I really like the MING x J.N Shapiro 37.06 Lightning, and also I really like Frederique Constant Classic Worldtimer Manufacture. Cool Pieces, but I would go with Frederique Constant on this category. If one of these two wins, it will be a fair win, both are beautiful.
Challenge
We have some cool watches, and some that I don’t like. I wrote about King SEIKO VANAC, it’s not my cup of tea, and for this category I prefer the SpaceOne x Baltic Seconde Majeure
Mechanical Clock
All of the clocks presented here are interesting, but only one really speaks to me, and that is the Louis Vuitton x De Bethune Sympatique Louis Varius. A very beautiful clock and I hope it will win.
My second choice for this category would be La Vallee Cosmo, another beautiful piece.
So there you go, these are the GPHG 2026 Nominees. What do you guys think? Are these watches worth to be nominated? It was very hard for me to look at this list and to find a watch that would blow my mind. I wanted to see something that would made me say “ WOW, I really want this watch!”
Let’s see who wins what, and more importantly, how many did I got right.
Source: GPHG
