Perhaps it is best to explain; GPHG we are not. What we are is a consumer-focused trade title that seeks to discern, understand, and anticipate the burning questions and desires of anyone who loves watches. To that end, the categories and the novelties that have been nominated or selected as eventual winners are reflective of how a watch consumer might shop or embark on a decision-making process. That said, the selected watches are not curated in a vacuum; a panel of two editorial staff and two collectors were chosen to pick from the novelties of 2018.

Winner of the WOW Awards 2018 – Provenance Piece

Tudor

Vintage watches have always been popular. Vintage watch re-issues, on the other hand, are a trend that began 10 years ago, with no sign of abating. The winner of the Provenance Piece category must be either a very faithful reproduction of a piece of the past or an impressive reinterpretation whose predecessor must remain quickly identifiable or carries enough design elements to distinguish it from the pioneering model.

Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight

Taking muse from Tudor’s 1958 “Big Crown” Oyster Prince Submariner Ref. 7924, the namesake 2018 Black Bay may not be 37mm like the original, but at 39mm, it’s still incredibly authentic in its reproduction. The Black Bay Fifty-Eight is perfectly proportioned, and if you’ve ever worn a vintage Submariner, you’d know it wears exactly the way it should. Despite its slightly larger case proportions, it avoids the pitfall of so many vintage re-issues when they’re made bigger than the original to appeal to modern tastes. All this is made possible thanks to a specially designed, chronometer specced Calibre MT5402 with 70 hours of power reserve built specifically for the downsized case.

WOW Awards consist a total of 11 categories. The rest of the winners will we announced over the next 6 days.