Every two years, the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives will now highlight the creativity of independent watchmaking.
For the inaugural edition, it was within the Louis Vuitton Foundation, in Paris, that Raúl Pagès won among the five finalists in the running, among more than a thousand applications received for this prize imagined by the director Watchmaking from La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton, Jean Arnault.
Raúl Pagès, first winner of the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives.
Louis Vuitton
It was in the presence of an audience of big names in watchmaking and the world press that the prize was finally awarded on February 6, 2024 to Raúl Pagès.
Established in a small village not far from Neuchâtel in Switzerland, this exceptional 40-year-old watchmaker cut his teeth in the restoration of watchmaking masterpieces before launching in 2012.
An award presented by Jean Arnault, Watchmaking Director of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton.
Judikael Hirel
Each year, he signs around four timepieces that he makes entirely by hand, from the design and development of the mechanism to manufacturing, assembly and finishing.
The watchmaker was crowned for its RP1 model – Regulator with detent, a manual-winding wristwatch in stainless steel whose unique design is distinguished by its caliber equipped with a detent escapement.
The RP1 – Trigger regulator by Raúl Pagès.
Louis Vuitton
“I want to thank Jean Arnault for having highlighted independent watchmaking through this prize,” he declared after receiving the trophy for this new watchmaking prize.
The most important thing is to inspire the next generation of watchmakers to dream.
Winning this mentorship with Louis Vuitton will help me move forward on this project.
I have just finished developing my next model, the RP-2, a wristwatch equipped with a completely new movement.
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Raúl Pagès will benefit from tailor-made mentoring based on his needs.
Judikael Hirel
Thanks to this prize, beyond a financial endowment of €150,000, Raúl Pagès will above all benefit from tailor-made mentoring according to his needs, whether technical, commercial or entrepreneurial.
For this first edition, Raúl Pagès was presented with a unique silver trophy inspired by a balance spring, and presented in his Louis Vuitton trophy trunk in Monogram canvas, handcrafted in the historic workshops of the House in Asnieres.
The jury was chaired by Michael Tay, Managing Director of The Hour Glass group.
Louis Vuitton
For its first edition, the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives received nearly a thousand applications, studied by a committee of international experts made up of distributors, collectors, specialized journalists, artists, artisans, designers and other watch enthusiasts. watchmaking.
The selections were made on the basis of the following five criteria: Design and Aesthetics, Creativity and Audacity, Technical Innovation, Details and Finishes, and Complexity.
The applications of the five finalists were studied by a jury composed of five elected by all the experts.
Michael Tay, Managing Director of The Hour Glass group, was named president of the jury alongside Carole Forestier-Kasapi, Director of
Movements for the House of Tag Heuer, Auro Montanari, writer and watch collector, Rexhep Rexhepi, independent watchmaker and founder of Atelier Akrivia and Jiaxian Su, freelance journalist specializing in watchmaking and founder of SJX Watches.
Five finalists for a first edition of the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize.
Judikael Hirel
The five finalists for this prize each proposed high-end creations for this first edition of the Louis Vuitton Watch Prize.
Independent watchmakers since 1995, Andreas Strehler and Enrico Santoni impressed the jury with their mechanical desktop perpetual calendar, an intuitive and ultra-innovative invention called “Tischkalender Sympathetic”.
Powered by a hand-wound movement, this remarkable object incorporates a “master timekeeper”, a pocket watch specially designed to fit into the calendar and serve as a reference time.
The creative duo considers that the art of watchmaking is at the dawn of a new era.
The Sympathetic Tischkalender by Andreas Strehler and Enrico Santoni.
Louis Vuitton
The young Swiss watchmakers Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat impressed the jury with their Chronograph Rattrapante, a resolutely innovative platinum wristwatch whose technical prowess surpasses that of traditional chronographs.
This extraordinary piece is notably equipped with a split-seconds function allowing two times to be measured simultaneously, a manual winding mechanism as well as an instantaneous minute counter, a rare and complex complication appreciated by collectors and watch enthusiasts. .
Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat have created a Louis Vuitton Rattrapante Chronograph
Independent French watchmaker John-Mikaël Flaux caused a sensation with his Abeille Mécanique, a poetic and enchanting creation at the cutting edge of innovation.
The object is in the form of a dial on which is placed a bee which indicates the time using its stinger.
The prize comes at the right time for this artisanal workshop on a human scale, specializing in exceptional pieces and artistic mechanics.
The Mechanical Bee by John-Mikaël Flaux.
Judikael Hirel
Independent watchmaker based in Geneva, Simon Brette impressed the jury with the rare finishes of his Chronométrie Artisans wristwatch.
A brilliant illustration of neo-classical watchmaking, this creation celebrates the ingenuity and refinement of 20th century timepieces.
This spectacular avant-garde piece highlights the know-how of French and Swiss artisans.
It combines complex mechanisms and meticulous finishing, including a red gold “dragon scale” dial with a three-dimensional mosaic structure entirely executed by hand.
The watch movement is equipped with a stop-seconds mechanism allowing extremely precise time setting.
The Artisans Chronometer by Simon Brette.
Louis Vuitton