Independents' Day

AND THE OSCAR - or rather the best men's watch of the year award - goes not to a big brand, but an independent, showing an emphasis on smaller players as was the case last year.

All six finalists in the Men's Watch category of this year's Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG) - the watch world's Academy Awards - are independent names: Alchemist Mechanical Healing; De Bethune; Grand Seiko; Gronefeld; Laurent Ferrier; and Voutilainen.

There was at least one big brand last year - Vacheron Constantin - vying for the Men's Watch prize, but the eventual winner in the category was Akrivia. The favourite for 2019 is the Voutilainen 28ti, t…