The Chief Skeleton has been shortlisted for the Challenge Watch Prize at the 2026 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the category that judges finishing and design at accessible prices.
The Challenge category is reserved for watches retailing at CHF 4,500 or under. Each year the GPHG Academy votes the field down to six nominees in each of the competition’s 14 categories, and the Chief Skeleton is one of the six in its own. It will be exhibited with the other nominees ahead of the awards ceremony in November.
The Chief Skeleton is the first skeletonized watch in Favre Leuba’s 289-year history. It arrived at Geneva Watch Days 2025, a year after the brand’s revival and a few months after its first tourbillon, and it carries the cushion-shaped case inspired by the Chief line’s 1970s design.
Favre Leuba developed the open-worked caliber in partnership with AMT, laying it across several levels with the mainspring barrel semi-exposed at 12 o’clock and the balance wheel at six o’clock. Snailing on the bridges sits against satin and sandblasted surfaces, and the balance wheel bridge carries the horizontal brushing the brand uses as its own signature. The skeletonized rotor is satin-finished and engraved with the Favre Leuba wordmark; in the anthracite version it is DLC-coated to match the case. The caliber runs at 4Hz or 28,800 vibrations per hour, with a power reserve of 41 hours.
While there are various versions of the Favre Leuba Chief skeleton in brushed and polished steel or in black DLC-treated steel, across colorways, the reference nominated is in steel with gold finishing on the movement. The blue minute track matches the FKM rubber strap, fitted with an integrated quick-change mechanism.
The 2026 winners will be announced in Geneva on November 7.
