Rexhep Rexhepi has taken the highest honour at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2026, with the RRCHF Chronograph Flyback winning the Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix.
It’s a significant moment for independent watchmaking, not simply because Rexhepi is among the most closely watched names in the field, but because the winning watch is a fully fledged high-end chronograph built around classical Geneva values.
The result places a compact, technically ambitious and strongly individual chronograph at the centre of the year’s biggest watch awards.
At a glance
- Rexhep Rexhepi’s RRCHF Chronograph Flyback has won the GPHG 2026 Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix.
- The watch combines a traditional flyback chronograph construction with a blue-green Grand Feu enamel dial on the platinum edition and off-centred sapphire sub-dials.
- The win reinforces the growing cultural and collecting weight of high-end independent watchmaking.
An independent chronograph takes the top prize
The GPHG is widely treated as watchmaking’s most visible annual awards platform, with category prizes and one overall winner selected for the Aiguille d’Or.
For 2026, that top distinction went to the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronograph Flyback, a watch that puts traditional chronograph architecture into a clearly contemporary independent frame.
The decision follows several recent Aiguille d’Or winners that have highlighted different corners of high watchmaking, from ultra-thin engineering to grand complications and historically charged simplicity.
This year’s result turns the spotlight back to the independent chronograph, echoing the broader recognition given to innovative independent work in recent editions.
The RRCHF Chronograph Flyback in focus
The RRCHF Chronograph Flyback stands out because it wasn’t treated as a styling exercise around an existing idea.
Its chronograph was developed from the ground up, a demanding route in a field where construction, energy management, tactile feel and visual balance all have to work together.
The platinum edition brings a blue-green Grand Feu enamel dial into the equation, using colour and depth without distracting from the mechanics of the complication.
The time display is offset, while the sub-dials are off-centred and made in sapphire, giving the watch a layout that feels deliberate rather than conventionally symmetrical on the dial side.
The movement is where the Rexhepi language becomes especially clear.
It uses a symmetrical construction, including a vertically considered layout with the chronograph minute wheel positioned on the left-hand side and the seconds wheel on the right.
The chronograph itself follows classical principles, with a horizontal clutch, column wheel and large screw balance.
The finishing is described through deep Geneva stripes, pronounced bevels and sharply executed internal angles, all of which place the watch firmly in the tradition of Geneva hand-finishing.
The full GPHG 2026 winners list
Beyond the Aiguille d’Or, the 2026 edition recognised a broad field spanning complications, jewellery watches, mechanical clocks and emerging watchmaking voices.
| Prize | Winner |
|---|---|
| Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix | Rexhep Rexhepi, Chronograph Flyback |
| Special Jury Prize | Patek Philippe, Watch Art Grand Exhibition |
| Audacity Prize | Konstantin Chaykin, ThinKing Mystery |
| Chronometry Prize | Ferdinand Berthoud, Naissance d’une Montre 3 |
| Horological Revelation Prize | Dominique Renaud, Pulse60 Titanium Black |
| Iconic Watch Prize | Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak Jumbo Extra-thin Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon Chronograph RD#5 |
| Mechanical Exception Watch Prize | Blancpain, Grande Double Sonnerie |
| Complication Watch Prize | Cleguer, Inspiration One |
| Chronograph Watch Prize | Parmigiani Fleurier, Tonda PF Chronographe Mystérieux |
| Tourbillon Watch Prize | Ferdinand Berthoud, Chronomètre FB 2TV |
| Sports Watch Prize | Grand Seiko, Spring Drive U.F.A. Ushio 300 Diver |
| Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize | Audemars Piguet, 150 Heritage |
| Essential Watch Prize | Daniel Roth, Extra Plat Rose Gold Skeleton |
| Time Only Watch Prize | Chopard, L.U.C 1860 |
| Jewellery Watch Prize | Chopard, Mystery Nut |
| Artistic Crafts Watch Prize | Louis Vuitton, Tambour Taiko Arty Automata |
| Gemset Watch Prize | Piaget, Swinging Pebble |
| Petite Aiguille Watch Prize | Otsuka Lotec, No.8 |
| Challenge Watch Prize | SpaceOne, SpaceOne X Baltic – Seconde Majeure |
| Mechanical Clock Prize | La Vallée, Cosmo |
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Rexhep Rexhepi |
|---|---|
| Model | RRCHF Chronograph Flyback |
| Complication | Flyback chronograph |
| Dial | Blue-green Grand Feu enamel on the platinum edition, with off-centred sapphire sub-dials |
| Chronograph architecture | Horizontal clutch and column wheel |
| Movement layout | Symmetrical construction, with the chronograph minute wheel on the left-hand side and the seconds wheel on the right-hand side |
| Balance | Large screw balance |
| Finishing | Deep Geneva stripes, bevelled edges and sharp internal angles |
| Award | GPHG 2026 Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix |
For collectors, the win confirms what the market conversation has already suggested for some time: Rexhep Rexhepi is no longer just part of the independent watchmaking discussion, but one of the names defining its highest tier.
The RRCHF Chronograph Flyback earns that attention through construction rather than spectacle, which makes its Aiguille d’Or feel especially well aligned with the values the GPHG is meant to celebrate.
