Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve Asia Edition 2009...Results and Thoughts

with a heel and a toe and some new friends found... got to know 2 watch nuts in the photo below this year... stole professori landi's wife for the shot below during his speech ;)

the 2 watches on my wrist that nite, both got a lot of attention... dolly's and my antiqua, and a mates RM11, he was wearing 2 and this third was strapped round his (uhm lets not go there ;) kiddin...

Before I begin this review and share my thoughts on this years event, I must congratulate all involved for the effort... Notable folks would be Dr. Bernard Cheong, Gilbert Cheah of Edipresse, Prof Massimiliano Landi who managed the voting system, the judges involved and the groups involved, Edipresse, Celton, SCB, Daum (hope i didn't leave anyone out but quite sure i did, unintentionally yuh). The effort and resources put in must have been substantial.

My initial thoughts were that this years affair was a bit more subdued and scaled down from last years but on to the positives :) the watches that the asian edition chose to be in contention were decided by the judges and had different choices from the geneve edition. a fair judging system was put in place by prof landi, a good group of collectors and enthusiasts were selected to be judges, and the watches in contention for the geneve edition (click here to see all of em) was in town and thats good enough for me :) unfortunately i couldn't get my grubby paws on them as they were behind glass protecting them from drooling aficionados like myself so the shots that follow won't be that great but i did try my bestest & of course there are no shots of their beautiful backs... sharing a couple here first before the onslaught of pics at the end ;)

watch of the year? i think not... my choice noted further down the post...

greubel forsey invention piece 3... very nice... but the look is not for me...

an ultra comp perhaps... hmm... minute repeater slide? check... jumping hour? check... a squelette beauty from AP

lets look at the asian winners then (based on memory)

the A. Lange & SohneRL PLM for best mens watch... [i m ok with this as a winner]

the RM 19 for best ladies watch [My choice too]

the Cartier Secrete Panthere for best jewelery watch [No thoughts on this]

the Greubel Forsey quad tourb for best complication [My fave from the lot]

the Urwerk CC1 for best design [this is sooo wrong in my view... the MB&F HM1 or HM3 for me, if pushed to a corner, probably the HM3 out of this group]

the Urwerk Tarantula for best sports watch [honestly how is this a sports watch? an Audemars Piguet should have won. They had listed the Survivor as a contender but had the picture of the Bumblebee ROO in its place instead... if the Bumblebee was the watch in contention, that would have been my winner out of this group]

the Watch of the Year selected from the winners was the ALS RL PLM [For watch of the year i would have gone with the Greubel Forsey Quad Tourb but noting a comment that its not really an accessible piece at over a dollar, maybe the Lange was the right choice...maybe...]

ok be prepared to reap the whirlwhind... more pics and some comments for some of the watches in contention in geneve...

a really nice ladies watch... may be a good gift perhaps? :)

a hockey puck with alien (transformer style) inscriptions and markings... not my cuppa

zeitwerk... an interesting werk but not something i would want to buy at its price point...

not a watch... a spaceship... not something i would buy too...

almost became blind when i saw this... Roger Dubuis... a 'fashion' watch house, the kind i like the least...

an interesting tag... not for me, but interesting...

chronAP didn't impress so much in the metal...

the opus 9 is a seat belt buckle, the claret is a mess, the de grisogono is a green monster, the RM boucheron was disappointing in the metal, the lange 31 is not a dress watch as its big and thick... i don't like the montblanc watch, the UN moonstruck watch, the AP survivor(which quite a number of the boyz like)...

no...

no...

really no...

ok enough about those u don't like what DID u like? i do like the VCs, the American 1921, the Patrimony Traditionelle and the chrono. I like the Corum golden bridge lady and ti-bridge, the MB&Fs & some of the RMs...

& MY 2 FAVORITE WATCHES IN THE RUNNING (ACROSS ASIA & GENEVE) THEN ....& RAPHMEISTERS TOP WATCH RECOMMENDATIONS IF YOU HAVE S$1.5mn TO SPARE ;)

the richard mille RM 019... celtic knot ladies tourbillion

stunning

greubel forsey quadruple tourbillon... i don't care if its accurate or not ;) this is horological art...