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- ⌚The 2024 Watch Awards!
⌚The 2024 Watch Awards!
GPHG awards the best in watches, Omega's head scratching release, the top affordable independent watch, and more!


Welcome watch nerds…
This is Watch Bites, your go-to for snappy watch news and a round-up of weekly industry updates. In this edition, we’re covering the GPHG awards winners at length, highlighting a bold new Serica release, and more!
🍿 5 min read
Here's what we got today:
Hublot and Novak Djokovic release a banger! 💥
Buser Freres highlights classical design 🏛
A perfect reduction in size for Christoper Ward 🌙
KAWS partners with Audemars Piguet
Sponsored By:
Today's edition is brought to you by Exquisite Timepieces — an Authorized Retailer for 60+ brands; spanning from independents like Laurent Ferrier, H Moser and Ressence, to the most popular brands like Omega, Tudor, Seiko + Grand Seiko!
Why Buy from Exquisite Timepieces?
They have 2,000+ 5-star customer reviews on Google!
They’re an Authorized Retailer (not grey-market)
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If you’re looking to add another watch to the collection, I recommend reaching out to my good friends at Exquisite Timepieces.

The numbers above represent market trends in secondhand watch prices. The “Price“ column represents the average secondhand price for the top 30 watches of each brand. This data is sourced from Watch Charts.
Watch News
Serica Tops Affordable Independent Watchmakers

French independent Serica has just released a watch that no one, not even my clairvoyant grandma, could have seen coming. The reference 1174 ‘Parade’ is a quietly majestic play on form and finesse that reveals a new side of the burgeoning brand. More than anything, it’s confirmation that the people at Serica are, before anything else, having fun.
As stated by the company, “Elegance is not a matter of embellishments but rather a story of subtle and informed choices” and it’s this philosophy that so successfully underpins the design of the Parade. This is Serica’s first non-round watch, with an unconventional oval case over the standard circle. This aspect alone places the Parade in a league populated by Cartiers, Piagets and vintage Pateks. It’s not as ambitious as it is brave - for a small watch house to step away from the convention so early in their story (and with such dedication) is rarely seen, particularly when the house in question is doing just fine by releasing more ‘standard’ designs. Measuring 35mm x 41mm, the steel case enwraps either a black or brass dial which itself is punctuated by raised spherical dots at each hour and detailed by continual guilloché curved lines that wave around the elliptical face. It’s a deviously basic rendering that you’ll lose yourself in during quiet moments. The dial design is further distilled by the absence of a seconds hand, which could either be a nod to current trends or just a smart design choice. Either way, the two-handed movement benefits the timepiece just as much as the recessed crown.
The heart of the Parade is a Swiss-made M100 manual-winding mechanical calibre that promises more than just baseline timekeeping, given that it demands its user to be hands-on in much the same way that the black calfskin strap grounds the wearer in an older world of timekeeping. Ultimately, there’s nothing futuristic about the Parade, even though this feels like an altogether fresh watch. Confidence is its greatest strength and if you let it, this left-field Serica might just re-define how you approach horology altogether.
Prizes and Surprises At GPHG 2024

The watch world’s most illustrious award ceremony, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie De Genève, just took place in Switzerland and virtually every ticker-trained eye in the industry turned its gaze towards Geneva. GPHG, aside from being a highly established and well-recognized event in and of itself, inspires justified amounts of interest from enthusiasts and professionals the world over because of the vast variety of watches on show. Furthermore, timepieces are awarded one or more of several prizes based on technicality, artistic value, and innovation. In other words, there’s something for everyone here.
This year was particularly exciting, least of all because the watches that deserved to win generally did and more so because said watches are among some of the most intriguing pieces that we’ve seen in decades. It’s no surprise that IWC’s Portugieser Eternal Calendar was awarded the event’s most desired prize, the “Aiguille d’Or Grand Prix” while the likes of Voutilainen (KV20i Reversed), De Bethune (DB Kind of Grande Complication), and MING (37.09 Bluefin) dominated the men’s specific categories, snatching up a prize each. Van Cleef & Arpels took home more awards than any other house, claiming 3 distinctions for a trio of colorful lady's watches. Chopard didn’t have a bad run either, securing the Jewelry Watch prize for their Laguna High-Jewellery Secret and the Eco-Innovation Prize for the L.U.C. Qualité Fleurier (more on that later).
After swooning over Otsuka Lotec’s No.6 in previous editions, I’m very relieved that our friends in Japan fared well, winning the coveted Challenge Watch prize, while their peers at Kudoke were granted the “Petite Aiguille” award for their faultless 3 Salmon timepiece. The peak of my satisfaction, however, is reserved for the incomparable Berneron Mirage Sienna, which took home the Audacity Prize and in doing so, saved the GPHG from years of pointed complaints from a random email address that I definitely don’t know anything about.
Those are the highlights and although they leave little to be desired, there’s much more to see gawk at on GPHG’s official site while your significant other is sleeping.
Watch Fact

In 1675, England’s King Charles II introduced the waistcoat to the general public. With the inclusion of a small pocket on the new garment, a watch could now be carried and accessed easily, which directly led to a huge rise in the popularity of the pocket watch!
3-Watch Collection
3 Watch Collection: GPHG Edition
In honor of the illustrious GPHG awards, which just took place in sunny old Switzerland, here’s a distillation of the winners as a three-watch collection.

MING 37.09 Bluefin (Sport watch) - While it may be the cheapest watch on this list, at $5,600, the Bluefin doesn’t look or feel less affordable than any other sports watch you will likely wear this year. Sure to be a hit with TRON fans and modern sports watch dorks alike, this 38mm, dual-crown diver is simple yet exciting, with an incomparable aesthetic and an internal rotating bezel (hence the second crown).
Chopard L.U.C. Qualité Fleurier (Dress watch) - Chopard has had a hell of a run this year and it’s only fitting that this watch would pick up the Eco-Innovation prize at GPHG 2024, primarily due to its Lucent Steel build, which is up to 80% recyclable. Numberless, with sub-seconds and a thin profile, few watches deserve to be under a suit cuff more than this $20,300 marvel.
Piaget Polo 79 (Everyday watch) - Despite being one of the most recognisable watches of 2024, no one expected Piaget’s rework of the legendary Polo to capture the spirit of the age with such aplomb. Balancing ‘80s exuberance with contemporary engineering isn’t easy and for Piaget’s efforts, the Polo 79 won GPHG’s Iconic Watch prize. It may cost $77,000 but you’ll never buy anything else like it for that money…
Total Collection Cost (USD): $102,900
Watch News Bites
Quick Bites
Hublot’s latest Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic will certainly go down in history as one of the brand’s bolder executions, if only due to its matte blue composite case, made from recycled elements of the champion’s shirts and racquets.
As proof of how material and color choice can completely redefine the look of a watch, Omega’s Seamaster 300 is possibly more appealing than ever thanks to new editions, which include a brilliant steel-on-steel number with a brushed silver dial.
Street-art-inspired figurine master KAWS has lent his inimitable ‘Companion’ character to Audemars Piguet for a futuristic new Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon. It’s super heavy, in every way but it beats the infamous Spider-Man and Black Panther collaborations in both style and substance.
There’s still nothing wrong with feeding your classical watch desires, as Buser Freres would certainly agree. Their latest Marine 38mm is a brilliant nod to classical style (and an utterly wearable one at that). Affordable, well-sized, and stylish from every angle - what’s not to like?
In a simple but genius move that makes their peerless C1 Moonphase even more approachable, Christopher Ward has released a new edition at 37mm to feed the small watch hype that’s currently dominating the zeitgeist.
Vintage Watches
Piaget 18k Rectangular Tiger’s Eye (1970s)

Why It’s Worth It: At the time of its release in 1957, the Rectangular’s movement, Calibre 9P, was a game-changing piece of engineering, being the thinnest manual-wound movement ever made for a wristwatch. Its size allowed it to be fitted into cases and under dials made of hard stone, such as this unique Tiger’s Eye piece. It’s tricky to find a model that retains unblemished stones but if you can, you’re likely to pay about $10,000 for one.
Pre-Owned Watch Deals
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IWC Da Vinci Perpetual Calendar Chronograph
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*Watch Bites does not provide financial advice. None of this is financial advice. This is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research!
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