Now that we’ve firmly established our Watch of the Week series, we’ve been fortunate enough to get a proper hands-on with some of the biggest watch releases of the year, like the Bremont Supermarine, now available in a deep blue ceramic, or Vacheron Constantin’s sleek scarlet Overseas that proved (in a rather tidy 34.5mm profile) that the smaller reference trend isn’t yet slowing down.
So, we always try, when we can, to get up close and personal with any watch that makes this now esteemed list. Sometimes, however, that’s not possible. Sometimes, the undisputed Watch of the Week. And this time, we’ve outsourced our voting procedure to a body with just a touch more repute. Just a touch.
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Under the lights in a cold Geneva night, the world’s watch media gathered to crown the next Best in Show for this year’s awards ceremony.
Often dubbed “The Oscars of the Watch World”, the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, more commonly referred to as GPHG, is an opportunity for today’s horological heavyweights to put their best work on the table and be considered for the Aiguille d’Or.
This year, that honour goes to Rexhep Rexhepi, an independent Geneva-based watchmaker, and his eponymous Chronograph Flyback, the brand’s first chronograph and the first major complication developed entirely around his own in-house calibre. At just 34 years old, it’s quite the achievement.
But first, the watch. The RRCHF is a manually wound, integrated flyback chronograph comprising 320 components, with a column wheel, lateral clutch, instantaneous jumping minute counter, and a 72-hour power reserve.
It’s an increasingly difficult chronograph architecture and represents an impressive amount of traditional watchmaking in a relatively compact 38.8mm frame.
There’s anglage, black polishing, perlage, Côtes de Genève, hand engraving, and individually bevelled wheels, with the mainplate and bridges made from German silver. In other words, the sort of movement that makes the phrase “caseback view” feel slightly inadequate.
The platinum case gets a double-stepped bezel, sharply angled lugs, and similarly sculpted pushers, with classic proportions. The platinum version submitted to the GPHG is finished with a storm-blue Grand Feu enamel dial and smoked sapphire counters – a rather understated finish for a piece as complicated as the RRCHF.
But you only have to look at last year’s winner, the Breguet Classique Souscription 2025, to realise that the judging panel tends to focus more on the intricacies of the piece than the most eccentric submission.
At CHF 150,000 (around AU$266,000), it’s hardly an impulse purchase. But then again, this is a Rexhep Rexhepi, Geneva’s young up-and-comer, Patek Philippe alum who counts F.P. Journe as his enduring inspiration.
We’ve been telling you since 2023 that this is a watchmaker to watch, and in the years that followed, Rexhepi built a reputation around an almost old-fashioned obsession with proportion, hand finishing, mechanical integrity, and doing an unreasonable amount of work himself. Sound familiar?
The Chronograph Flyback is perhaps Rexhepi’s most complete offering yet – bringing one of watchmaking’s most demanding complications into a package that is remarkably compact, remarkably restrained, and, now, officially the finest watch of the year.
The GPHG jury has spoken. And so have we. The Aiguille d’Or and Watch of the Week in just 48 hours. Rexhep will be thrilled.