This Lunar New Year marks a transition to the year of the Tiger, one of the bravest and boldest signs in the Chinese zodiac. It’s a mood that feels all the more appropriate for 2022, as we try to embrace a fresh new start and channel the strength and ferocity of this majestic feline. As part of the celebrations, several of the most prestigious watch brands and jewellery houses have launched some exquisite limited-edition time-pieces, guaranteed to turn heads. Here, we’re rounded up the finest watches to invest in this Chinese New Year.
Lunar New Year of the Tiger watches
Harry Winston
Premier Chinese New Year Automatic 36mm Watch
Price on request
Harry Winston have brought a more playful touch to Lunar New Year celebrations, choosing a whimsical depiction of two adorable tiger cubs instead of the fierce creatures shown on many of the other designs. Limited to just eight pieces (known to be the luckiest number in Chinese numerology), each cub is crafted in 18-karat rose gold with red mother-of-pearl stripes. The scene shows them playing with gold rosettes, which were inspired by the grand entrance that leads into Harry Winston’s renowned Fifth Avenue Salon.
Graff
GyroGraff Endangered Species Tiger Watch
Price on request
Originally designed as part of their Endangered Species collection, which aimed to shine a light on animals around the world under threat of extinction, this timepiece features a dial set with precious gemstones and gold, hand-finished using a ground-breaking new technique called ‘diamond-marquetry’ pioneered by Graff themselves. Set in a white-gold case decorated with mosaic-set baguette-cut diamonds, the dial’s abstract tiger has been created using 127 custom-cut diamonds and 35 cognac sapphires on a background of midnight blue aventurine.
Piaget
Altiplano Year of the Tiger Watch
£58,000
Piaget enlisted one of the world’s leading enamel artists, Anita Porchet, to create this show-stopping, ultra-thin métiers d’art timepiece, which depicts the fearless tiger in all its glory. Crafted in 18-karat white gold with a shimmering mother-of-pearl dial, Porchet uses the 4,000-year-old cloisonné technique to create the white tiger, using ribbons of gold to make the miniature partitions that form its body before painting each section with enamel pigments. The dazzling timepiece is finished off with a case set with 78 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Vacheron Constantin
Métiers d’Art The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac Watch
Price on request
There are two versions of this limited-edition timepiece – platinum and rose gold – which have been designed as part of the house’s acclaimed Métiers d’Art collectibles collection. Both feature a hand-sculpted and meticulously engraved tiger in the centre, surrounded by foliage that has been etched directly onto the dial’s gold base. Just 12 of each type have been made, with the intense blue or bronzed enamel making it one of this year’s stand-out watches.
Breguet
7145 Classique Year of the Tiger Watch
£43,600
To ring in the Chinese New Year, Breguet has released an eight-piece limited-edition 18-karat rose gold watch depicting the majestic feline on the dial of its ultra-thin 7145 Classique. Brought to life with a combination of masterful hand-engraving and guilloché craftsmanship – a signature of the Maison – it takes the skilled engravers an entire week to painstakingly carve and decorate each tiger on the gold dial, with every line expertly hand-chiselled using the art of bas-relief carving.
Dior
The Dior Grand Soir Tiger Watch
£28,000
Dior’s Grand Soir watch has been given an update to celebrate Lunar New Year, with a bold tiger’s face sitting in the centre of the dial to usher in the Year of the Tiger. Only 88 of the ultra-feminine timepieces have been made, which feature a diamond studded rose gold bezel and a dial made up of diamond-dusted white and gold-tone feathers, set with marquise-cut and trillion-cut diamonds. To finish it off, there’s either an elegant beige silk taffeta or black satin strap to choose from.
Louis Vuitton
Tambour Horizon Light Up Watch
From £2,690
The smartwatch just got a chic makeover courtesy of Louis Vuitton, who have launched their much-anticipated new Tambour Horizon Light Up range. For their third generation connected watch, the French Maison have custom-made a brand-new operating system with includes a dizzying array of faces, dial configurations, kaleidoscopic colours and typefaces to choose from. As well as this they’ve also launched a range of charming animations designed to dance across the face’s sapphire glass – including one featuring a playful tiger, just in time for Lunar New Year.
Chopard
L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Tiger Watch
£22,200
The Swiss Maison has teamed up with Japanese masters Yamada Heiando and Minori Koizumi to create a series of 88 watches in honour of Lunar New Year. Created in 18-karat ethical rose gold, the watch’s dial features an intricate design made using the ancient Japanese art of Urushi lacquer, where gold flakes have been placed between layers of lacquer to create the starlit background, with the majestic roaring tiger standing proudly in the foreground.
