From this 2012, our traditional watchmaking award changes name, guise and formula, but still sees you as protagonists. But that's not all that's new: you can cast your vote either through the ballot published every month in the magazine or through the online form. The watches selected by the editors of L'OROLOGIO and CHRONO WORLD total 36, divided into 12 sections. For each of the categories, we are asking you to express your preference, which will lead to the awarding of 12 2012 champions in the sections Solotempo, Chronograph, Subacqueo, Complicated Watch, Tourbillon, Technique, Design, Savoir-Faire, Women's, Value for Money (in three distinct price brackets). Each of them will be able to boast the title of Watch of the Year 2012. The announcement of the winners and the award ceremony will take place at the end of the year.
We chose the award categories based on the major trends in the watch industry and in our market. Therefore, we could not miss an award for the best Chronograph, but also for the most beautiful Tourbillon of 2012. These flank the more traditional Solotempo and Subacqueo (two essential types of watchmaking) and the category dedicated to women's watches, called Ladies. Our award prides itself on being an indicator of the tastes and, at the same time, of the commercial value judgment of true enthusiasts and we have therefore included the Quality/Price Ratio section, divided into three distinct bands, in order to compare similar products with comparable characteristics.
In keeping with our magazine's vocation for Haute Horlogerie, the sections dedicated to Technique and Complicated Watchmaking are inevitable. Alongside these, we have added three new categories, which go by the names of Tecnica, Design and Savoir-Faire. Under the heading of Tecnica, we have selected watches that stand out for their inventive application of mechanics, in which watchmakers indulge in new technical solutions that do not always fit within the traditional definitions of 'complication'. Hence, our choice for the nominations fell on three particularly original models with very different functions: what counts is the interpretation that the manufacturers have given to watchmaking technique in these creations. The Design category rewards those watches that stand out both for their style and for how this is combined with the mechanics, which often become the protagonist and an integral part of the design. Finally, the category that perhaps needs to be explained more than the others is that dedicated to Savoir-Faire. Here we intend to reward the commitment of the manufacturers to handing down their know-how, the savoir-faire, which translates into creations where the protagonist is a traditional technique taken to its highest level.
In addition to those awarded by you readers, there will be two surprise prizes, which will only be revealed in December: the Grand Jury Prize and the ChronoWorld New Entry Prize, dedicated to a brand that has recently entered the market, in the philosophy of the column of the same name that you can read in the pages of CHRONO WORLD.
Make your voice heard and award the Watch of the Year with us!
