Like every year in November, the industry celebrates creativity and innovation with the ceremony GPHG 2021 just ended last night in Geneva, an event also known as the Oscars of the watch industry that has returned to a near-normal situation this year, where we were able to see some rather impressive timepieces being launched during several digital or physical events.

Also this year it was a complex watch that ended up in the spotlight, but, above all, we are talking about the third consecutive time that the most important prize is awarded to an ultra-thin watch. After theAudemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin in 2019 (then the thinnest perpetual calendar in the world) and the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept in 2020 (the thinnest mechanical watch ever made), this year the award was won by another specialist in the field: the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, the thinnest perpetual calendar ever created. And after so many record-breaking models, it's a well-deserved award for the brand!

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin

Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept

As we know, and being a celebration of what the industry can do best, the GPH extension has a tendency to award complicated watches as "best of show" or so-called Aiguille d'Or. The GPHG 2021 is no exception to this rule and as such, the award was given to the watch which is the thinnest perpetual calendar ever created, with a 5.80mm high case and a movement of just 2.75mm. 

Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar

More importantly, this one Aiguille d'Or 2021 finally recognizes the work done by a brand for more than 7 years, with no less than 7 consecutive world records for "slenderness": the thinnest tourbillon movement in 2014, the thinnest minute repeater in 2016, the thinnest automatic movement in 2017 , the thinnest automatic watch and thinnest tourbillon watch in 2018, thinnest chronograph in 2019, thinnest chronograph tourbillon in 2020, and thinnest perpetual calendar in 2021.

This also demonstrates how important ultra-thin watchmaking is, and while not a complication per se, this field of watchmaking requires impressive knowledge and inventiveness. In this perspective, the time had come for Bvlgari to be awarded for this specific ultra-thin perpetual calendar, but in a sense also for the work done in the last 7 years.