Geneva shows 34 privately owned watches in the first watch elegance competition
The exhibition of the 34 finalists of the first Concours d'Élégance Horlogère, organised by Vacheron Constantin and Phillips, in association with Bacs & Russo, opens to the public today in Geneva, at the Hôtel Président Wilson. It runs until Sunday, 8 November.
The competition accepted only Vacheron Constantin pocket and wristwatches made between 1755 and 1999, entered by their owners. More than 550 were submitted. After experts confirmed the authenticity of each one, 95 went forward to the jury, which chose the 34 finalists.
The jury has 14 members and is co-chaired by Aurel Bacs, of Phillips, and Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin's director of style and heritage. The others include Felix Baumgartner, Benjamin Clymer, Helmut Crott, Nicholas Foulkes and Auro Montanari. It assesses each piece's originality, aesthetics, technical significance, rarity and historical context.
There are seven categories: chronographs, métiers d'art, Chronomètre Royal, astronomical complications, multiple complications, design and chiming mechanisms. Each owner chose the one in which their watch competes.
The finalists include a quarter-repeating pocket watch from 1822/1823; the 1940 "Don Pancho", a unique piece with a minute repeater and retrograde calendar; a 1930 pocket watch with sapphires, sold to King Alexander I of Yugoslavia; and a 1962 platinum minute-repeating wristwatch, reference 6448. There is also a yellow gold reference 44018 from 1979.
The exhibition coincides with Phillips's auction week in Geneva. The seven winners will be announced on 10 November, and the jury may also award a Best in Show prize.
Find out more on the brand's website.
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