The 2024 Gaïa Prize jury has delivered its verdict. Three new winners complete the impressive list of recipients of this prize often described as the Nobel Prize of the watchmaking world.
Lee Warrien, JSH® Magazine & Swiss Watch Passport’s Journalist
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Since 1993, this award has been presented in recognition of extraordinary careers in the field of watchmaking, as well as its art and culture
Public ceremony
The public ceremony will take place at 6 pm on Thursday 19 September 2024 at the Musée international d’horlogerie (MIH) in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Régis Huguenin, curator of the Musée international d’horlogerie, jury president
Sébastien Chaulmontet, collector, head of innovation and marketing Sellita SA
Patrick Duvanel, Head of Technology and Industry, Neuchâtel Professional Education Centre
Estelle Fallet, Chief Curator, Geneva Museum of Art and History
Joël A. Grandjean, journaliste, éditeur et rédacteur en chef JSH Magazine
Serge Maillard, journalist, publisher Europa Star
Nathalie Marielloni, Deputy Curator, Musée international d’horlogerie
Morghan Mootoosamy, curator, Musée d’horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts
Nathalie Tissot, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, University of Neuchâtel
Julien Vallon, Stila SA CEO
Silas Walton, founder and A Collected Man CEO
Jean-Pierre Hagmann – winner in the Craftsmanship-Creation category
“The Prix Gaïa jury is paying tribute to Jean-Pierre Hagmann, which, over the course of his long career, has brought the manufacture of watch cases to the pinnacle of excellence, and honoured traditional methods. He has helped to cultivate crucial expertise in watchmaking, fostering a spirit of sharing and openness.”
Caroline Rothauge – winner in the History-Research category
“For her many foundational studies reviving the historiography of German time measurement with a cultural approach which brilliantly combines archive sources and material artefacts”
Jasmine Audemars – winner in the Entrepreneurship category
“For her efforts to ensure the constant and prodigious development of the family company, Audemars Piguet, allowing it to rise to the rank of multinational whilst retaining its independence and preserving its historic networks of suppliers.”
Horizon Gaïa grant
Alongside the three categories used to honour leading figures in the watchmaking world, Horizon Gaïa, an incentive grant made possible thanks to the generosity of the Watch Academy Foundation, is being awarded to encourage new talent in the fields recognised by the Prix Gaïa: Craftsmanship – Creation, History – Research, and Entrepreneurship. The grant will finance all or part of an individual project.
The Horizon Gaïa grant has been awarded to Baptiste Tognet-Bruchet, a history student at the University of Neuchâtel. With his “Guide to electronic watch archives” project, he aims to provide researchers with a working tool that will encourage new approaches and perspectives on Swiss and international watchmaking history in the second half of the 20th century.
The unique Prix Gaïa honours the very best: those contributing to the reputation of watchmaking, its history, its technology or its industry. An institution of global renown, the Musée international d’horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds – a city whose economic and social history is closely linked to watchmaking – awards this prize in recognition of the spiritual heirs of watchmaking culture embodied in the museum’s collections, and in the city itself.
