Why we think Chopard’s Swan Lake Secret Watch will win the Jewellery Watch category at the 2025 GPHG

There are few things more enchanting in high watchmaking than secret watches. Hidden dials and imaginative disguises transform timepieces into objets d’art, delighting not only the wearer but also those fortunate enough to be given a glimpse.

For 2025, Chopard has unveiled a creation that captures this magic perfectly: the Swan Lake Secret Watch, nominated in the Jewellery Watch category at the annual Oscars of luxury watchmaking, Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG).

Entirely handcrafted, this one-of-a-kind piece merges high jewellery with fine watchmaking, sculpted into the form of a swan poised on shimmering waters. The bird’s body, rendered in 18-carat ethical white gold, glitters with more than 34 carats of diamonds on luscious curling feathers.

Adorned with spessartite garnets on the beak as well as onyx cabochons and black diamonds for the eyes, the graceful creature is perched atop a blue titanium base designed to resemble seafoam, which is further enlivened with diamond settings evoking a rippling effect. Its elegance continues on the wrist, secured with a satin strap adorned with fluffy white feathers and finished with a feather-shaped pin buckle in matching white gold.

The creation is the fruit of 900 hours of research, design and artisanal labour. From the feathered clasp to the ingenious mechanics of the unfolding wings, every detail reflects the vision of Caroline Scheufele, Chopard’s co-president and artistic director esteemed for her fantastical imaginations of flora and fauna. Working in close collaboration with master jewellers, designers and watchmakers, she has crafted a timepiece that feels veritably alive.

The element of surprise lies at the heart of this timekeeper, Ref. 105373-9001. With a gentle turn of the swan’s head, an internal mechanism is activated: Its wings unfurl in three articulated sections, gradually revealing a dial of iridescent mother-of-pearl, engraved with a feather motif.

This miniature stage conceals Chopard’s in-house 10.01-C calibre, a hand-wound mechanical movement with a 45-hour power reserve, ticking at 21,600 vibrations per hour. Considering its minuscule proportions, with a height no taller than two stacked five-cent coins, it is as much a marvel of engineering as of aesthetics.

Secret watches hold a particular allure because they bring theatre to the simple act of checking the time. They conceal their practicality beneath beauty and reveal it only through an intimate ritual, transforming watchmaking into a private performance. In Chopard’s Swan Lake, this duality reaches its peak: an opulent jewel that doubles as a precision instrument.

Chopard’s track record at the GPHG further underscores the significance of this nomination. The maison won the same category in 2024 with its Laguna High Jewellery Secret Watch, demonstrating a consistent mastery of combining imagination with savoir faire. Swan Lake continues this narrative, celebrating both the natural world and the enduring artistry of high jewellery.

For those who believe a watch can be more than a measure of time, Chopard’s Swan Lake offers a poetic answer: Sometimes, time is best kept as a secret.