Watch World Awards'13: Breitling Emergency II is 'Watch of the Year'

Watch World, from the Chitralekha Group hosted the fourth edition of Watch World Awards at the Westin Hotel, Gurgaon here today.

The marquee event of the horology echelon which brought niche’ watch brands and watch makers together saw a glittering attendance by celebrities who were awe-struck at the grandiose of the biggest event of the watch world calendar. Moderated by Chitralekha's President and Publisher, Mitrajit Bhattacharya, the jury comprised Master watchmaker with five decades of experience in watchmaking - Antoine Simonin; along with Priyadarshini Rao, Ravi Shastri, Neeraj Pandey, Shripad Nadkarni and Sharda Agarwal.

The acclaimed jury awarded leading watches across eleven categories in the Product Awards section and six categories in the Marketing & Merchandising Awards category. The award categories in the Product Awards section included ‘Best Complicated Watch’, ‘Best Jewellery Watch’, ‘Best Sports Watch’, ‘Best Fashion Watch’, ‘Watch with Best Design’, ‘Watch with Highest Utility’, ‘Watch with Innovative Material’, ‘Watch with Artistic Excellence’, ‘Best Limited Edition Watch’, ‘Best Concept Watch’ awards amongst others; while the Marketing & Merchandising Awards included Best campaigns in print, TV, Outdoor, ‘Best boutique’, ‘Best Event’, and ‘Best Integrated Marketing Campaign’.

The event which saw attendance by eclectic timekeeping brands like Cartier, Bulgari, Zenith, Hublot, Graham, Ulysee Nardin, Breitling, Corum, Parmigiani, Seiko, Swarovski, Titan, Antonio Bernini, Rotary, and many others and also saw some hectic competition amongst the eclectic brands with ‘Breitling Emergency II’ coming out the winner and bagging the commendable ‘Watch of the Year’ award.

The winners in the Product category included ZENITH Christophe Colomb "Hurricane" which won the award for the ‘Complicated Watch of the Year’. While the HUBLOT LaFerrari won the ‘Sports Watch of the Year’ award, BULGARI Octo along with CARTIER Tank MC Skeleton Palladium was adjudged the ‘Watch with Best Design’. PARMIGIANI Ovale Pantographe won the ‘Best Concept Watch of the Year’ award and CARTIER Rotonde Panther Granulation was adjudged the ‘Best Limited Edition Watch of the Year’.

The jury presented the ‘Jewellery Watch of the Year’ award to ULYSSE NARDIN Royal Ruby Tourbillon and the ‘Watch with Most Innovative Material’ was awarded to HUBLOT Red’n’Black Skeleton Tourbillon, the ‘Watch with Highest Utility’ award was presented to BREITLING Emergency II & GRAHAM Chronofighter Oversize GMT India; while ULYSSE NARDIN Carnival of Venice Minute Repeater bagged the ‘Watch with Artistic Excellence’ award.

Late Mr. Rolf W Schnyder, CEO of Ulysse Nardin was posthumously honoured with a special award for his contribution to the watch industry. His wife and President of the Board of Ulysse Nardin, Chai Schnyder accepted the award on his behalf.

Jury member Antoine Simonin commented “Watch World Awards is steadily becoming one amongst the most respected and followed awards in the field of Horology across the world. Being associated with the awards for the fourth time in a row is a great honour for me and I am privileged to be one amongst the esteemed jury panel. I have seen a greater awareness being generated amongst the audience through the awards and looking at the quality of nominations this year, I am quite sure that this will augur well for the horology eco-sphere of the country.”

While the Product category saw stiff competition; the Marketing category saw SEIKO & Kolkata Knight Riders bagging the ‘Best Marketing Campaign in Print’ award with ‘Tagged by TITAN’ picking up the award for ‘Best Marketing Campaign on Television’. ‘The Best Marketing Campaign in Outdoor’ was won by ULYSSE NARDIN for its initiative at the Hyderabad Airport; HUBLOT Avenues-Prestige, Kuwait picked the 'Best Boutique’ award, SEIKO & Kolkata Knight Riders was awarded the ‘Best Organised Event’’ award and ‘Tagged by TITAN’ was adjudicated as the ‘Best Integrated Marketing Campaign’.

The event was attended by the crème-de-la-crème of the social circuitry, wherein socialites included Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu, Aditi Rao Hydari, Jimmy Shergill, Harbhajan Singh, Ayaz Menon amongst other page-three celebrities, industrialists and industry leaders. The definite show in Horology commenced with a cocktail which featured an awe-inspiring exhibition of the nominated brands and was followed by the awards ceremony interspersed by a high-octane performance by Natalie Di Luccio, the multilingual singer from Toronto, Canada.

Jean-Frédéric Dufour, CEO, Zenith commented, “Watch World Awards are akin to a window which provides an opportunity for an elite brand like us to showcase its legacy and what it makes to become a legend in watchmaking. We consider Watch World awards as a very important opportunity for Zenith, a brand which makes people dream, makes them happy through their watches. We try to give pleasure producing the watches, and awards like these are like icing on the top of the cake.”

Jean-Claude Biver, Chairman, Hublot commented, “Watch World Awards is a brilliant effort and contribution to Horology. The honesty with which this award is constituted and executed tells all of us in the Industry what an appreciating audience we have in India and Watch World Awards is one of the best ways to make a good impression on them. It’s a great pleasure to win in the prestigious categories. I eagerly look forward to receiving the trophies that will occupy an important space in my office.”

Atsushi Kaneko, MD, Seiko India commented, “Watch World Awards is the first of its kind in India and a trend setter, which has contributed immensely in recognizing the efforts of watch brands in the country today. A perfect platform for serious watch makers to showcase their technology & marketing ideas to the world and to be recognized for their efforts is definitely encouraging. WWA have done an excellent job in promoting the cause of luxury watches in India, which has resulted in far more brands wanting to play in the luxury segment. We see it as an extremely important initiative in the near future to come.”

In line with creating an unforgettable experience, a la the previous three editions of Watch World Awards, the event brought in oodles of glitz, glamour and razzmatazz intermingled with a liberal dosage of eclectic watch-making innovations, which made the evening an unforgettable experience for the participants.