THE 5 FINALISTS FOR THE 2026 LOUIS VUITTON WATCH PRIZE FOR INDEPENDENT CREATIVES

The best independent watchmakers have always operated at the finest of margins. Not because they lack ambition, but because their ambitions rarely align with commercial orthodoxy. They build what fascinates them, often spending years perfecting a single complication or finishing technique that only the most ardent of collectors will truly appreciate. The Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives, now in its second edition, exists precisely to find these makers and bring their work into the limelight.

Louis Vuitton had recently unveiled the five finalists whose creations will compete for this prestigious accolade. Selected from a global field of exceptional submissions and evaluated by a Committee of Experts comprising 65 distinguished watch enthusiasts, industry representatives, and collectors, these timekeepers represent the very pinnacle of creativity, technical mastery, and artistic audacity.

The winner, to be announced at an exclusive ceremony at the Fondation Louis Vuitton art museum in Paris on 24th March 2026, will receive a grant of €150,000 alongside a year-long mentorship tailored to their creative project by experts from La Fabrique du Temps and Louis Vuitton. This generous support reflects the Maison's enduring commitment to nurturing bold, independent voices in watchmaking.

An independent watchmaker since 2017, Daizoh Makihara presents a creation that embodies the profound Japanese reverence for nature's transient beauty. The one-of-a-kind Beauties of Nature wristwatch represents a world's first: a dial crafted using Edo Kiriko, the traditional Japanese cut-glass technique that has been refined over centuries in Tokyo's artisan quarters.

The technical accomplishments here are equally remarkable. An automatic petal mechanism opens and closes in harmony with dual time scales: a 24-hour display at ten o'clock and a 12-hour display at two o'clock, each operating according to its respective cycle. The hand-wound DM 02 movement incorporates a perpetual moon phase of extraordinary precision, accurate to one day's error in 122 years.

The 42 mm white gold case houses a 25-jewel movement running at 18,000 vibrations per hour, whilst the dial depicts 'White-eye and Cherry Blossoms' with hand-engraved hemp leaf patterns adorning both front and caseback. It is a meditation on impermanence rendered in precious metal and mechanical precision.

Founded in 2024, Fam al Hut has announced its arrival with considerable authority. The brand, co-directed by Xinyan Dai, takes its name from the Arabic phrase for the star Fomalhaut. It is a poetic nod to the solitary brilliance that characterises the independent watchmaker's journey.

The Möbius is a mechanical manual-wind wristwatch presenting what is claimed to be the most compact bi-axis tourbillon conceived to date. Named for the infinite loop that defines its structure, this watch blends paradox and poetry: one half houses a Möbius-shaped tourbillon cage rotating on two axes, whilst the other presents an original combination of double retrograde displays and a jumping hour mechanism, marking a mechanical first.

The capsule-shaped case measures a modest 42.2 mm by 24.3 mm, its lug-free design requiring more than 200 hours of handcraftsmanship. The Möbius has already garnered significant recognition, winning the Audacity Prize at the GPHG 2025, and confirming that Fam al Hut bridges tradition and the future with uncommon grace.

The project of a young duo of watchmakers, Victor Monnin and Alexandre Hazemann, independent since 2024, this timekeeper pays tribute to the Morteau school of watchmaking where the two creators first met. The School Watch is more than nostalgia; it is a declaration of independence.

At its heart lies the HM01 calibre, a movement conceived, manufactured, and finished entirely in-house without reliance on existing architecture. Housed in a 39.5 mm case, the watch demonstrates that the classical tradition of Swiss watchmaking remains vibrantly alive in new hands. The calibre showcases two rare complications in perfect synchronisation: a passing strike that chimes each hour and an instantaneous jumping hour, which together create what the makers describe as a precise and poetic mechanical choreography.

Winners of the F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition in 2023, Hazemann and Monnin represent the continuity of excellence that gives the independent watchmaking community such cause for optimism.

Bernhard Lederer stands as an industry veteran, having devoted himself to the horological arts since 1985. His Central Impulse Chronometer represents a bridge between three centuries of horological science, drawing inspiration from Abraham-Louis Breguet and George Daniels whilst charting new territory entirely his own.

The CIC 39 Racing Green presents the first fully functional dual detent escapement in a wristwatch, featuring a movement with twin escapements and dual remontoirs d'égalité for constant energy transmission. The approach is revolutionary: rather than refining an existing method, Lederer has reimagined the detent escapement's architecture entirely, employing two independent gear trains, two constant-force mechanisms, and two escapement wheels delivering alternating impulses.

Visible through a transparent caseback, the 212-component movement reveals double gear trains and constant-force mechanisms, whilst the sanded, matte dial showcases the patented escapement and layered sub-dials with inverted seconds. The 39 mm case is just 10.75 mm thick, and the COSC-certified movement is 98 per cent manufactured in-house.

Quiet Club is the project of Norifumi Seki, a prodigiously talented Japanese independent watchmaker who won the F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition in 2020. The brand was founded by HK Ueda and Johnny Ting, united with a singular philosophy: that watchmaking should not merely measure time, but transform our relationship with it.

Conceived and handcrafted in Tokyo, the Fading Hours creation features a mechanical movement made almost entirely in-house and a first-of-its-kind alarm complication. A vertically mounted hammer strikes the dial itself to produce sound, with the entire inner dial serving as the gong. This operation is executed via a mono-pusher controlling all alarm functions, whilst a rotating bezel sets the alarm time. When not in use, dedicated hands for the alarm hour and minutes remain concealed behind the time hands.

The 40 mm titanium case measures at 44 mm whilst the manual-wind movement offers a 50-hour power reserve. As the makers eloquently state: "We believe the tradition of watchmaking is not only about fine craftsmanship, but also about the spirit of invention. It is about creating new mechanics that respond to everyday needs."

The five jury members for the 2025-2026 edition were nominated by their peers in the Committee of Experts. Presiding over the deliberations is Carole Forestier-Kasapi, Haute Horlogerie and Movements Strategy Director at TAG Heuer. She is joined by journalist Frank Geelen, Founder and Editor-in-chief of Monochrome Watches; Matthieu Hegi, La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton Artistic Director; François-Xavier Overstake, watch enthusiast, Founder, and Editor of Equation du Temps; and the inimitable Kari Voutilainen, Master Watchmaker and owner of the Voutilainen workshops.

What distinguishes these five finalists is not merely technical accomplishment, though that is present in abundance. It is their willingness to question, reimagine, and pursue visions that larger Manufactures might dismiss as impractical or uncommercial. From Japan's poetic integration of traditional cut-glass artistry to China's revolutionary tourbillon architecture, from the revival of the passing strike by young Swiss talent to a veteran's radical reconception of the detent escapement: these creations remind us why independent watchmaking continues to captivate collectors and connoisseurs alike.

The Louis Vuitton Watch Prize for Independent Creatives has, in just two editions, established itself as an essential platform for recognising and nurturing the artisans who represent watchmaking's most adventurous frontier. Last year's inaugural winner, Raúl Pagès with his Régulateur à Détente RP1, demonstrated that the prize rewards genuine innovation and artisanal excellence.

The ceremony on 24th March 2026 at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris promises to be a celebration not merely of one winner, but of the entire independent watchmaking community that makes such extraordinary creations possible.