The Academy of the profession announced by the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève at the end of 2019 has been established. Supported by the city and canton of Geneva, it has 350 members for its first year of existence: they are tasked with presiding over the various stages of selecting the models in the competition and contributing to the worldwide promotion of the art of watchmaking. Their first mission, starting next May, will be to propose the watch models to be elected. Subsequently, they will be invited to participate during the summer in the first round of voting to select the nominated watches; in the autumn they will take part in a second and final vote to determine the list of 2020 nominees. They will use a specially designed certified digital platform, thanks to which they will be able to preserve the anonymity and confidentiality of the results. The award ceremony is scheduled for 12 November. The full list of Academy members is available at this link. As of 2021, the Academy will be open to new members on a sponsorship basis (as specified in its regulation).
