For the first time, the exhibition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), the “Oscars of Watchmaking”, has come to Istanbul. Ahead of the exhibition, we sat down with Raymond Loretan, President of the GPHG Foundation, to discuss the fascinating world of haute horlogerie.
In 2025, 90 watches from 57 brands are competing for the coveted GPHG prizes. While the awards ceremony will take place on November 13 in Geneva, the timepieces themselves are making a special stop in Istanbul for the very first time. From October 15 to 20, the GPHG exhibition welcomes watch enthusiasts at Vakko Hotel Sumahan Bosphorus. Against the stunning backdrop of the Bosphorus, we met with Raymond Loretan to talk about the art of watchmaking as a bridge between cultures, traditions, and time itself.
Can you tell us about your journey with watches? When did your passion for watches begin?
My first emotional encounter with watchmaking dates back to my youth. In the 1970s, my father gave me his iconic wristwatch, a piece he had purchased with his first savings in the 1950s. For me, it became a transmission of memory and meaning. Years later, I passed this same watch on to my son. Since I became President of the GPHG, I no longer wear a watch myself — not as a rejection of time, but as a symbolic gesture of neutrality. The GPHG celebrates all watches equally, and I prefer to remain the custodian of that impartiality.
My second defining encounter with watchmaking came in the late 1990s, when I was Ambassador of Switzerland to Singapore. It was a time when Swiss watch brands were opening boutiques at a remarkable pace across Asia. I spent countless hours meeting CEOs, distributors, and collectors. Those encounters made me realize the symbolic power of watchmaking for Switzerland — not just as an industry, but as a cultural and emotional language shared with the world. Today, I see that watchmaking has remained true to its core values — precision, beauty, and craftsmanship — values that have become universal. They transcend nations and generations, speaking to something profoundly human: our desire to give meaning to time.
Could you tell us about the selection process of the GPHG? Are there any guidelines or criteria? How are the watches selected in the first place?
The selection process of the GPHG is one of the most structured, transparent, and impartial in the world of watchmaking competitions. It is built on a three-tier system that ensures neutrality, diversity, and credibility. First, every brand — large or independent — is free to enter its watches into the competition. These entries are then evaluated by the GPHG Academy, a body created in 2020 that now gathers more than 1,000 members from across the global watch ecosystem: watchmakers, artisans, collectors, journalists, designers, retailers, and even passionate amateurs. In a first digital vote, the Academy preselects 90 timepieces in 15 categories from among the hundreds of models submitted. This process reflects the industry’s full diversity — creative, technical, and aesthetic.
