Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo and Vacheron Constantin announce the jury for the Concours d’Élégance Horlogère

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At the invitation of Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, Vacheron Constantin is launching a Concours d’Élégance Horlogère for enthusiasts and collectors worldwide who own Vacheron Constantin pocket watches or wristwatches.

Seven prizes will be awarded on November 10th, 2026 by an international jury of experts, co-chaired by Aurel Bacs, Senior Consultant at Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, and Christian Selmoni, Director of Style and Heritage at Vacheron Constantin.

Registration will be open from January 19th to April 30th, 2026 in Vacheron Constantin boutiques or online on a dedicated page: vacheron-constantin.com

Vacheron Constantin, at the initiative of Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, is proud to announce the first “Vacheron Constantin Concours d’Élégance Horlogère“, a major event that pays tribute to the international community of collectors and enthusiasts, guardians and transmitters of a 270-year quest for excellence and creativity.

An inaugural edition in the industry

This inaugural edition marks a distinctive and promising moment for the industry.

“As a lifelong enthusiast of Concours d’Élégance concept, it has long been my dream to bring this concept to fine watchmaking. I am delighted that Vacheron Constantin has accepted our invitation to support the world’s very first Concours d’Élégance dedicated to timepieces and I look forward to the inspiring discoveries and scholarly conversations that will emerge from the timepieces entered in this competition”, said Aurel Bacs.

In a context of strong momentum in the vintage watch market, this competition strengthens the dialogue between the Maison and a very active community. It also represents an opportunity to welcome more watch enthusiasts and to reinforce existing links with the world of watch auctions.

The collaboration with Phillips brings unparalleled expertise in the appraisal and presentation of historical timepieces. Their in-depth knowledge of the collectible watch market will allow for the presentation of a selection of pieces that illustrate the diversity and unique richness of Vacheron Constantin.

Beyond its aim to unite and engage the collector community, this event takes on a heritage dimension. “Following our 270th anniversary celebrations, this competition allows us to further honor those who preserve and promote the Maison’s expertise and history”, according to Christian Selmoni. “It also creates new opportunities for exchange, particularly with members of exclusive communities such as The Hour Club.”

The competition will highlight historical and contemporary pieces, celebrating the art of haute horlogerie in all its forms and emphasizing the importance of transmitting and preserving heritage.

A tribute to heritage and the quest for horological excellence

The competition is open to owners of Vacheron Constantin pocket watches and wristwatches launched between 1755 and 1999. Quartz watches, clocks and pieces that have undergone major modifications, as listed in the regulations, are excluded.

Eligible pieces will be evaluated according to nine criteria: authenticity, elegance, rarity, impact on the history of Vacheron Constantin and/or on watchmaking in general, provenance, technicality, métiers d’art (artistic crafts), state of preservation and emotional dimension.

Each watch will only be allowed to compete in one of the seven categories of this edition, at the owner’s choice:

1. Chiming mechanism: pocket watches and wristwatches equipped exclusively with a minute repeater, quarter repeater, half-quarter repeater or grande sonnerie.

2. Chronographs: pocket watches and wristwatches equipped with a two- or three-counter chronograph, a single pusher, or a split-seconds mechanism.

3. Astronomical complications: pocket watches and wristwatches equipped with a triple calendar, a complete calendar or a perpetual calendar.

4. Multiple complications: pocket watches and wristwatches combining at least two complications – tourbillon, repeater (quarters or minutes), chiming mechanism, chronograph, split-seconds, complete or perpetual calendar, sky chart.

5. Chronomètre Royal: pocket watches and wristwatches bearing the official designation “Chronomètre Royal” issued from 1907.

6. Métiers d’art: pocket watches and wristwatches featuring engraving, enameling, gem – setting, guilloché or any other decorative craft, with the exception of skeleton pieces.

7. Design: pocket watches and wristwatches featuring Vacheron Constantin’s signature design, either in the case or through the time display – retrograde display, jumping hour, world time, etc.

Registrations will be open from January 19th to April 30th, 2026, on vacheron-constantin.com and in the Maison’s boutiques.

The awards in the form of trophies, without financial compensation, will be granted in Geneva on November 10th, 2026, after the Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo autumn auctions.

A heritage recognition under the expert eye of an international jury

Co-chaired by Aurel Bacs and Christian Selmoni, the jury will bring together watchmaking experts and watchmakers, designers, historians, journalists and authors, collectors, advisors, and key players in the watch industry to ensure a cross-disciplinary approach combining technical mastery, heritage value and market understanding.

The complete rules of the Concours will be available on vacheron-constantin.com as of January 19th, 2026.

Aurel Bacs
Senior Consultant – Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, Geneva, Switzerlan

Aurel started his career as a watch specialist and worked up the ranks, breaking record after record be it for individual watches or for entire collections. Today, as co-founder of Bacs & Russo and consultant to the watch department at Phillips, Aurel Bacs is an independent advisor to private collectors, manufacturers and museums in the field of high-end collectors’ timepieces. Aurel Bacs is most recognised publicly as a world-renowned quadrilingual auctioneer, wielding the gavel in countless auctions across the globe.

Christian Selmoni
Vacheron Constantin Heritage & Style Director

Christian Selmoni, from a family of watchmakers in the Vallée de Joux, is the Vacheron Constantin Style & Heritage Director. Having joined the Maison in 1990, he held various key positions before taking the helm of the artistic direction and then the Style & Heritage department in 2017. With decades of experience, he excels at drawing upon Vacheron Constantin’s rich heritage to inspire current and future creations. His role is to develop and enrich Vacheron Constantin’s legacy, making him a recognized expert in vintage watches and a valuable ambassador to collectors.

Yasmine Alshathry
Founder of CLÉ

Yasmine AlShathry is a Saudi collector and Founder of CLE, a platform dedicated to cultivating watch culture in Saudi Arabia through education, storytelling, and long-term engagement with independent watchmakers. For over a decade, she has worked closely with collectors to shape their private collections, developing a discerning eye for vintage timepieces, mechanical integrity, and historical relevance. Known for her independent judgment and cultural insight, Yasmine evaluates timepieces through the combined lenses of heritage, technical mastery, and collectability.

Felix Baumgartner
Co-founder and CEO of URWERK s.a.

Felix Baumgartner, a third-generation Swiss watchmaker born in Schaffhausen in 1975, grew up in his father’s restoration workshop. Trained at the Solothurn watchmaking school and later in Geneva with Sven Andersen, he mastered high complications. In 1997, he co-founded URWERK with Martin Frei, pursuing contemporary watchmaking rooted in tradition. A member of the AHCI, he received the Gaïa Prize for Entrepreneurship in 2020.

Matteo Bega
Founder of Perpetual Passion

Matteo Bega is a specialist in haute horlogerie, combining a technical watchmaking background with a refined understanding of exceptional timepieces. His career spans managerial roles within leading luxury environments, alongside experience in high-end collecting and specialized auction houses. He has developed expertise in the evaluation, selection, and appreciation of outstanding watches. He is the founder of Perpetual Passion, an independent editorial project dedicated to haute horlogerie, and a member of the GPHG Academy, contributing to the promotion of watchmaking excellence.

Benjamin Clymer
Founder of Hodinkee

Benjamin Clymer is the founder and president of Hodinkee, the world’s leading resource for wristwatches. He launched Hodinkee in 2008 as a personal blog and has since become the defining voice for wristwatches in popular culture. Hodinkee now includes written stories with original photography, an award winning bi-annual magazine, a seminal book produced in collaboration with Assouline, and the most influential video series, Talking Watches, which Clymer has hosted for over 13 years. He is a constant voice in the mainstream press and is regularly cited as a driving force in popularizing mechanical watches over the last decade.

Dr. Helmut Crott
Vintage watch expert, collector, entrepreneur, author

After first training as a surgeon, Dr. Helmut Crott later discovered the arts and techniques of watchmaking in his capacity as a collector. Captivated by the fascinating subject of timekeeping and exquisite timepieces crafted to perfection, he soon became an expert in the field and finally decided to make his living as an auctioneer specialising in fine watches. He organised over 50 auctions between 1975 and 1993 and was one of the first to establish the vintage mechanical wristwatch as a collectable.

Nicholas Foulkes
Author, historian and journalist

Nicholas Foulkes is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, Financial Times HTSI and The Rake magazine. Best known for his trilogy of nineteenth-century British histories, Last of the Dandies, Dancing into Battle, and Gentlemen and Blackguards, he has published around thirty books on history, the arts and style. Among his recent works are a biography of the painter Bernard Buffet (Random House), a biography of Princess Ira von Fürstenberg (Harper Collins) and Time Tamed, a history of humankind’s calibration of time from the Paleolithic era to the Moon landings (Simon & Schuster). His books for Assouline include Bals: Legendary Costume Balls of the Twentieth Century (2011), Swans: Legends of the Jet Society (2013), The Impossible Collection of Watches (2014) and Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso (2020).

Alexandre Ghotbi
Deputy Chairman, Head of Department for Europe and the Middle East – Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo, Geneva, Switzerland

A passion for watches which began in his early teens led Alexandre Ghotbi to become a pioneer in online discussion forums, first by co-founding « The Purists » in 2001 (now PuristsPro) followed by « The Hour Lounge » the Vacheron Constantin discussion forum in 2007. In 2008, he turned his passion for watches into his profession when he left his career as a finance lawyer in Paris to join Vacheron Constantin in Geneva.
Alexandre joined the watch department of Phillips in 2016 and is now Deputy Chairman, Head of Department for Europe and the Middle East where he oversees the flagship Geneva sales.
Passionate about vintage watches and pieces from contemporary independent artisans, Alexandre has built an in-depth knowledge of the watch market, its main actors, developing an extensive network in the field while continuing to advise watch collectors.

Wei Koh

Journalist, watch afficionado, host and executive producer of Man of the Hour and founder of Revolution
Wei Koh is a world-renowned journalist, watch afficionado, host and executive producer of Man of the Hour and founder of Revolution, one of the most influential watch magazines in the world. His career has taken him from military service in Singapore to the pastures of Montana, through the glittering lights of Hollywood. Wei’s unvarnished approach to watchmaking has established him as one of the most knowledgeable and respected voices in horology today. He also founded The Rake magazine, which has become the bible of classic men’s style.

Morgan Maillard
Vacheron Constantin Style & Heritage Expert

Morgan Maillard, a watchmaker by training, joined the Vacheron Constantin workshops in 2014. He then worked as a watchmaker in the boutiques in Singapore, Geneva, and New York, before joining the Maison’s headquarters in 2025 as a Style & Heritage Expert. These years of experience make him an expert in haute horlogerie, whether vintage or contemporary.

Auro Montanari
Collector, author, and publisher of books on vintage watches

Auro Montanari has been collecting and studying vintage watches for 45 years. He still spends many hours browsing through watch shops, old libraries, museums, flea markets and auctions. He is a true horological scholar and serious collector of the highest order, Auro is perhaps best-known to watch lovers by his pseudonym, John Goldberger, as the author of 11 books on watches. He is also member of the Cultural Council of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie and advisor of Phillips.

Roberta Naas
Author and award-winning journalist

Roberta Naas was the first female watch journalist in America. She has pioneered, leading the way for four decades for women in this industry. She is an award-winning journalist who has authored six books on watches, and has built a reputation for creating cutting-edge, behind-the-scenes watch articles and celebrity interviews – contributing to a host of publications like Forbes, International New York Times, Bloomberg and others. She is also the founder of America’s first female owned and operated watch platform, ATimelyPerspective.com, where she continues to bring her unique perspective on watches to the forefront today.

Jia Xian Su
Founder of SJX Watches

Su Jiaxian, better known as SJX, is a watch collector and expert. He is recognised for his understanding of the subject, particularly independent watchmaking. Many of the world’s most eminent watch collectors seek out his perspective on horology. He was a member of the jury for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in the past, and also a jury member of the inaugural Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives.

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