Award ceremony on September 18, at the MIH in La Chaux-de-Fonds: the Gaïa Prize jury nominates Roger W. Smith, Helmut Crott, and Jean-Jacques Paolini in the categories “Craftsmanship, Creation,” “History, Research,” and “Entrepreneurship,” respectively.
A Shaniah Asha Gibson’s Selection / @TRP, Cabinet d’écritures et d’influence
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The 2025 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.
Gaïa 2025: the laureates are revealed
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.
Roger W. Smith – winner in the Craftsmanship – Creation category: for his unwavering commitment to craftsmanship in watchmaking and for his role as an ambassador for the independent British watchmaking tradition.
Helmut Crott – winner in the History – Research category: for his meticulous research combining archive sources and oral testimony with his encyclopaedic knowledge of watchmaking history to benefit the watch collectors’ market.
Jean-Jacques Paolini – winner in the Entrepreneurship category: for his exemplary career from a small family company to a major watch group, and as a visionary who adapted Lean manufacturing for the watchmaking world, enabling it to maintain competitiveness whilst upholding Swiss industrial excellence.
Régis Huguenin, conservateur du Musée international d’horlogerie, président du jury
Sébastien Chaulmontet, collectionneur, responsable innovation et marketing Sellita SA
Patrick Dubois, président du Conseil d’administration du Laboratoire Dubois SA
Patrick Duvanel, directeur Pôle Technologies et Indus- trie, Centre de formation professionnelle neuchâtelois Estelle Fallet, conservatrice, Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève
Joël Grandjean, journaliste, éditeur et rédacteur en chef JSH Magazine
Serge Maillard, journaliste, éditeur Europa Star
Nathalie Marielloni, conservatrice adjointe, Musée international d’horlogerie
Luc Monnet, horloger indépendant
Morghan Mootoosamy, conservateur, Musée d’horlogerie du Locle, Château des Monts
Fanny Queloz, Co-fondatrice et Responsable Métiers d’Art, Arts & Design Manufacture SA
Kari Voutilainen, CEO Voutilainen Horlogerie d’Art Silas Walton, fondateur et CEO A Collected Man
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.
Two scholarship recipients collaborating on a joint project are being recognised this year: Wandrille Bonnin and Hector Burel, students at Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau. Through their project ‘Réhabilitation et augmentation d’une machine de contrôle’ they aim to promote a mutualistic and sustainable model of work by adapting an old SIP Mu-214b machine, combining productivity gains with respect for watchmaking heritage.
