Independents

This brand new company named after its patron, M. Laurant Ferrier who worked as a top Patek complication designer for over 30 years (and later as a successful Le Mans race car driver)has combined with his son Christian and a small equipe/family team to lauch their enterprise with the absolutely stunning Double Spiral, Galet Tourbillon won the Men's Watch category of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève this Thursday evening, at the Gala 10th Anniversary of the event held at the prestigious Grand Theatre de Genève. Without any publicity or marketing, this fabulous technical, yet classic expression of the Galet style Tourbillon (no bling bling here, just sobriety, technical perfection proportions and the highest finish possible) double spiral Tourbillon is a true technical achievement. My thanks to Alex for having provided me the personal opportunity to see this watch in person. I was/am still in awe. As a small and starting company they have a small web site. Again congratulations


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This message has been edited by DonCorson on 2010-11-20 11:57:28

The watch, the first product of Laurent Ferrier under his name, was presented at the Basel Fair this spring, now in the fall it has already a top award.
It wasn't my "Best of the Bael Fair 2010" for nothing.
Don

Hi Marcel,

There was a great cross section of watches in this years Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, and some well deserved winners, the Laurent Ferrier in particular. Can you give us any insights into the decision process and deliberations of the 12 judges? How much time do you spend with the watches and under what conditions? Or perhaps some personal anecdotes? I don't want you to reveal any behind the scenes secrets, more what the experience was like.

Regards

Andrew

Its a very interesting process.  All I feel free to say is that there are two rounds of voting prior to the verification and confirmation meeting on the eve of the Grand Prix gala evening.  The first round usually feature over 70 candidates in each category.  The members of the jury are invited to confer with the other members by email which is quite helpful.  After the first round of voting in July, the fields are reduced to 10 per cartegory and the info sharing among the jury members increases. Then through a special securized web site our final ballots are tabulized and certified by a professional huissier. The regulations and rules are very strict.  In our physical presence the votes are confirmed and housekeeping chores are discussed . The jury is very diverse both in geographics and roles in the world of watches. I am personally impressed by the objectivity of the process. It works to arrive at the proper results.

Thanks for the 'behind the scenes' glimpse, Marcel. I appreciate it. There were quite a few exotic watches up for voting and I was also wondering how they make sure the judges get to spend equal time with the watches. Perhaps that is difficult. Hope you got a lot of pleasure form it, and nice to see some of our favorite brands do well.

Regards

Andrew

I have met the watch and its maker and I have to say that I found my new favorite Tourbillon only timepiece.

I would imagine this timepiece not only won the honor, but won perhaps unanimously.

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