Dr. Helmut Crott on Receiving the Gaïa Prize 2025

A Collector’s Confession
In the words of Dr. Helmut Crott: “Horology: a life of magic. My sincere admiration for the work of the great master watchmakers has been the starting point and guiding thread of my 50 years in service to watchmaking. My passion and perseverance have just been rewarded with the Gaïa Prize in the ‘History & Research’ category. The magic goes on… Of all distinctions, the Gaïa Prize — also called the Nobel of watchmaking — represents the rarest and highest form of recognition: that of my peers.

George Daniels, himself a Gaïa laureate, once said: ‘In the hands of a master watchmaker, a watch becomes a work of art.’ When I approach a watch, I seek that art. My purpose is to learn it, to discover it: to detect, analyse and transmit; to perceive, between two works of art, their differences, their particularities.

It was this approach that led me to write Le Cadran, which experts today regard as a reference work. The more one understands the complexity of a dial, a movement, or a case, the more fascinating horology becomes. That a watch pleases is one thing; knowing why it pleases is the path that leads to lasting affection.

Originally, I was a physician, a doctor. Passion decided otherwise. Flea markets, the world of antiques, my curiosity — all led me to become, as someone once wrote, one of the founding fathers of watch auctions. Later, because passion had placed me on the path of the brilliant watchmaker Derek Pratt, himself also a Gaïa laureate, I even became CEO of a brand that has always stirred my collector’s soul steeped in history: Urban Jürgensen & Sønner.

My wish is that the watch industry learns to resist certain temptations inherent to the luxury sector — temptations that, in the pursuit of higher sales, blur the distinction between consumer products and exceptional objects.

Today, between the adrenaline of auctions and my work as consultant to leading auction houses and major collectors, my passion remains contagious. And my head is still full of projects…”

Dr. Helmut Crott
Few names resonate in horology with the quiet authority of Dr. Helmut Crott. Over the past five decades he has helped shape the very contours of modern watch collecting and scholarship: from founding the auction house that brought timepieces into the realm of cultural treasures, to authoring Le Cadran — today regarded as the reference on dial history and production.

It is in recognition of this lifetime of contribution through his meticulous scholarship, combining archival sources with oral testimony, and his encyclopaedic knowledge that have illuminated the collectors’ market and enriched the broader culture of horology, that the Musée international d’horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds awarded Dr. Crott the 2025 Gaïa Prize in the category of History & Research. The Gaïa Prize offered Dr. Crott a rare occasion to share his passion with the watchmaking community. He does so not with a formal statement, but with what he calls his Confession — a reflection on the magic of horology and on five decades in its service.

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