The ‘Oscars of Watches’ Just Named This $700 Watch the Year’s Best Under $2,500

As the chorus exclaims in the immortal 1982 hit, “It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the thrill of the fight, risin’ up to the challenge of our rival.”

Just like the film that Survivor’s one hit represents, Dennison’s big win at the 25th Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève is a true underdog story. The boutique British watchmaker’s ALD Natural Stone Tiger Eye in Gold dress watch took down far more expensive competition like Rocky dropped Clubber Lang.

Dennison

Colloquially known as the “Oscars of Watches,” the GPHG is an annual awards ceremony celebrating watchmaking excellence. There are 15 categories with six finalists chosen for each.

As you might imagine, most of the competing watches are very expensive, which is what makes the Challenge category interesting. It is awarded to the best watch priced under 2,000 Swiss Francs, which is approximately $2,500.

Dennison’s elegant, 1960s-inspired dress watch comes in well below the price cap. In fact, it doesn’t even hit the halfway mark, while a few of its competitors barely made weight.

Dennison

The Natural Stone Tiger Eye in Gold was up against heavy hitters from Christopher Ward, Atelier Wen, Kurono Tokyo and Beda’a that cost well above $2,000.

Meanwhile, the driving force behind Dennison’s popularity is its affordability, and its nominee retails for only $690.

Tiger style

Dennison’s entire brand, in its modern incarnation, is built around one cushion case based on an archival design from the 1960s and designed by industry veteran Emmanuel Gueit. Remarkably, one of the buzziest brands of 2025 has thrived by tinkering with different dials for that single case.

Dennison

With well over a dozen iterations to choose from, the Natural Stone Tiger Eye in Gold isn’t necessarily the clear favorite, but it presents a strong representation of the brand as a whole. It punches well above its weight, offering an elegant dress watch with luxury looks at a price most fans can afford.

Like many brands, Dennison offered a range of stone dials in 2025, but executed the trend with far more tact than most. The cushion case and simple two-hand dial create a frame for the stone, rather than relegating it to a backdrop.

Dennison

Tiger eye appears to be a requisite for any watch brand creating stone dials, which makes Dennison’s win all the more impressive, standing out from such a crowded field. The stone cuts chosen by the brand display vivid detail.

The stone was likely selected as a finalist for the GPHG Challenge because the amber, burnt orange and mahogany tones blend so well with the PVD gold case and hands, as well as the grainy texture of the brown embossed leather strap.

Dennison

Viewing the finalists in the Challenge field and all the watches competing in this year’s GPHG, Dennison stands out for its tasteful simplicity. Most entries demonstrate mind-boggling craftsmanship and expand the possibilities of watchmaking.

But the Natural Stone Tiger Eye in Gold serves as a reminder that the art of horology, like any other art form, values restraint as much as innovation. Creating attainable, timeless beauty through simplicity deserves recognition, and I’m happy Dennison received it.

Availability and price

Thanks to a steel case and Ronda quartz movement, Dennison’s underdog champion is remarkably affordable at $690. And unlike most of its competition in the Challenge field, it is still available from Dennison.

Dennison also offers the Natural Stone Tiger Eye in a polished steel case for the same price, and the brand’s new Dual Time dial with two separate sets of hands is available in tiger eye for $890

Dennison

Dennison Natural Stone Tiger Eye Gold

Specs

Case Size	37mm
Movement	Ronda caliber 1062 quartz
Water Resistance	30m

• $690 at Dennison

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