Cartier has announced the six winners of the 28th edition of the Cartier Prize for Watchmaking Talents of Tomorrow, recognizing emerging horological craftspeople across two distinct categories. The competition, guided by the theme “Shifting the Balance: Reading and Perceiving Time Differently,” awarded honors to apprentice watchmakers and technical specialists who demonstrated exceptional skill and innovation.
Aymeric Peters, an apprentice from IATA in Belgium, earned first prize in the apprentice category for “Silence Choisi,” a piece that features a suspended time complication—a technical achievement that exemplifies the level of sophistication these young makers are bringing to the field. The winners represent a geographic and technical diversity that reflects the modern state of horological training across Europe. Two apprentices shared the second prize award, while the technicians category distributed honors across three recipients, underscoring Cartier’s commitment to recognizing talent at various stages of professional development.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Cartier Prize for Watchmaking Talents of Tomorrow?
- How Did the 2026 Competition Theme Shape the Award Winners?
- Who Won in the Apprentice Watchmakers Category?
- What Achievements Did the Technicians Category Recognize?
- How Do Winning Pieces Demonstrate Innovation in Horology?
- What Opportunities Do Prize Winners Receive Beyond Recognition?
- Where Are These Emerging Watchmakers Studying and Training?
What Is the Cartier Prize for Watchmaking Talents of Tomorrow?
The cartier Prize stands as one of horology’s most significant competitions for emerging craftspeople, now in its 28th year of operation. Unlike awards that recognize established watchmakers with decades of experience, this prize specifically targets individuals still in training or early in their careers, making it a crucial benchmark for identifying the next generation of horological talent. The competition draws entries from watchmaking schools and apprenticeship programs across Europe, particularly from France, Belgium, and neighboring regions where horological education remains strong.
The prize structure encompasses two distinct categories—apprentice watchmakers and technicians—each with its own judging criteria and expectations. This dual-category approach acknowledges that watchmaking excellence emerges through different pathways: some practitioners develop their skills through traditional apprenticeships while others come through technical training programs. By recognizing both routes, Cartier maintains a comprehensive view of where talent is emerging in the field.
How Did the 2026 Competition Theme Shape the Award Winners?
The competition’s theme for 2026, “Shifting the Balance: Reading and Perceiving Time Differently,” pushed participants to reconsider fundamental assumptions about how timepieces communicate and function. This thematic direction encouraged makers to move beyond conventional dial presentations and complications, instead exploring novel interpretations of time display and perception. The winning pieces—such as Aymeric Peters’ “Silence Choisi” with its suspended time complication—demonstrate how this thematic prompt led to genuine innovation rather than incremental refinement.
A limitation of thematic competitions is that they can inadvertently favor certain types of solutions while marginalizing others equally valid. Watchmakers drawn to classical design or traditional complications might struggle to fit their work within a theme oriented toward perceptual novelty. The judges must balance their commitment to the stated theme against recognizing truly excellent work that might approach the subject differently than expected.
Who Won in the Apprentice Watchmakers Category?
Three apprentices earned recognition in the 2026 competition. Aymeric Peters took first prize, while Layla Sluysmans from IATA in Belgium and Edouard Nicod from Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau, France, shared the second prize. Both IATA and the Lycée Edgar Faure represent important centers of horological training in Europe, with the latter located in Morteau—a French town with deep roots in watchmaking tradition.
The fact that two winners emerged from established training institutions while working on contemporary designs shows how traditional centers of learning are producing makers responsive to modern competitive challenges. Peters’ winning piece, “Silence Choisi,” employs a suspended time complication, suggesting an approach that literally interprets the theme through temporal suspense or pause. The specific technical achievement here—creating a complication that suspends time rather than simply measuring it—represents the kind of conceptual innovation that moves beyond routine technical competence into genuine creative problem-solving.
What Achievements Did the Technicians Category Recognize?
The technicians category produces different kinds of innovation, often focused on precision, restoration, and the mechanical fundamentals underlying fine watchmaking. Arthur Choquet from Lycée Jean Jaurès in Rennes took first prize for “Un Instant” (The Instant), while Adam Deroche earned second place for “Médusée,” and Adrien Stefenelli, also from Lycée Jean Jaurès, received third prize for “Echo.” The concentration of recognized technicians from the Rennes institution suggests it has developed particularly strong technical training in recent years.
The distinction between the apprentice and technician categories reflects a broader reality in watchmaking: not all excellence emerges from the same type of training or focuses on design-forward innovation. Technicians often work within constraints—whether restoring historical movements, perfecting manufacturing processes, or solving mechanical problems—and their contributions prove essential to the field’s functioning, even if they rarely achieve the public recognition of watchmakers recognized for novel designs.
How Do Winning Pieces Demonstrate Innovation in Horology?
The winning pieces collectively illustrate contemporary approaches to horological problem-solving. Peters’ “Silence Choisi” specifically engages with time as a perceptual experience through its suspended complication mechanism. Choquet’s “Un Instant” similarly plays with temporal consciousness, though from the technician’s perspective of precision and measurement.
Deroche’s “Médusée” and Stefenelli’s “Echo” round out a portfolio that suggests this year’s competition generated work exploring how time can be experienced, interrupted, or reflected rather than simply counted. A limitation worth noting is that winning pieces in competitive environments often respond directly to stated themes, which can create a feedback loop where genuine innovation becomes channeled into predictable directions. Judges seek entries that address the theme, entrants research past winners to understand judging preferences, and consequently the resulting work, while excellent, may cluster around similar interpretations. The strongest horological innovation sometimes emerges from practitioners working independently of competition frameworks.
What Opportunities Do Prize Winners Receive Beyond Recognition?
All six winners receive a Cartier watch—a tangible reward that serves simultaneously as recognition and a connection to one of the world’s most significant watchmaking houses. Beyond the physical award, all winners gain entry to an exclusive immersion program at a Cartier Maison, where they gain exposure to professional practices, materials, and techniques at one of horology’s highest levels of execution.
This immersion opportunity may prove as valuable as the watch itself, as it positions emerging makers within the professional networks and knowledge systems of an established luxury manufacture. First-prize winners in both categories advance to actual internship positions within Cartier—a more substantial opportunity than the recognition afforded to other winners. Aymeric Peters and Arthur Choquet thus secure structured professional experience at a house where they can learn how competition-worthy concepts translate into production reality, quality control standards, and commercial watchmaking.
Where Are These Emerging Watchmakers Studying and Training?
The geographic distribution of winners reveals which European institutions currently produce recognized horological talent. IATA in Belgium appears twice in the apprentice category, while the Lycée Edgar Faure in Morteau and Lycée Jean Jaurès in Rennes each produced recognized makers. Morteau, in France’s Doubs region, carries particular significance as a historic center of watchmaking craft, and the presence of award winners from its training programs suggests the tradition remains educationally vital.
The Lycée Jean Jaurès in Rennes generated two winners—Arthur Choquet in the technicians category and Adrien Stefenelli also in technicians—indicating its technical training program has achieved notable strength. These schools represent institutional commitments to preserving and advancing watchmaking knowledge in regions where the craft maintains cultural importance. The fact that winners emerged from established educational centers rather than scattered individual workshops reinforces that horological excellence remains tied to institutional knowledge transfer and multi-year training programs rather than isolated virtuosity.