Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit in Style With These Stunning Limited-Edition Watches
Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year, marks one of the most important events in the Chinese calendar. A combination of Christmas, New Year’s, and Thanksgiving, it’s marked by big family gatherings, traditional foods, fireworks, and wishes of good fortune for the year ahead. Increasingly in recent years, it’s also become an occasion for the world’s top watch brands to show off their savoir-faire with luxuriously detailed limited editions. Here are the best of them dedicated to the year of the rabbit, which begins on January 22nd.
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend of The Chinese Zodiac Year of The Rabbit
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend of The Chinese Zodiac Year of The Rabbit
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend of The Chinese Zodiac Year of The Rabbit
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend of The Chinese Zodiac Year of The Rabbit
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend of The Chinese Zodiac Year of The Rabbit
Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend of The Chinese Zodiac Year of The Rabbit
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The rabbit symbolizes graciousness, kindness, and benevolence in Chinese culture, and these attributes, along with the traditional Chinese art of jianzhi paper cutting, inspired this finely-crafted pair of watches, limited to 9 pieces each. Building upon the Calibre 2460 G4, with its four apertures for hours, minutes, days, and dates, Vacheron Constantin’s artisans decorated the dial in classic Chinese vegetal motifs using grand feu enamelling, with a hand-engraved rabbit in pink gold or platinum applied to the dial centre. With a movement finished per the high standards of the Poinçon de Genève (or Geneva Seal) visible through the sapphire case-back, it’s a spectacular piece of high watchmaking worthy of an auspicious occasion. ($158,000 in platinum; $130,000 in pink gold)
Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Rabbit
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Chopard takes a different approach to its 88-piece limited edition dedicated to the year of the rabbit, with a dial finished in Urushi lacquer, gold powder, and mother-of-pearl inlays created by a Japanese artisan. The dial depicts two rabbits — one grey and the other red – captured in mid-leap beneath a full moon. The background, meanwhile, is decorated with Chinese olive trees — a native shrub that symbolizes success and achievement, qualities often associated with the rabbit. As the initials L.U.C indicates, the in-house self-winding movement is as much a work of art as the dial, measuring just 3.30mm thick thanks to its off-centred 22-carat gold micro-rotor. Available upon request at the Vancouver Chopard boutique. ($34,700)
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon
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Taking things in another direction, Jaeger-LeCoultre is using the occasion of the Lunar New Year to release a campaign starring its latest global ambassador, Jackson Yee (Yi Yang Qian Xi). In a series of photos and films under the theme, ‘Moments Made of Gold,’ the Chinese actor, singer, and dancer, wears the brand’s recently-introduced Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon, a pink gold tourbillon whose dial displays the moon phases of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, with a red-tipped date hand that makes a 90-degree jump over the tourbillon from the 15th to 16th of every month. “The New Year is a time for joyful celebration but also for quiet reflection,” says Yee. “To me, this watch has special meaning because the moon governs our Chinese New Year but also because its timeless elegance is like an anchor in a world that seems to be spinning faster all the time.” ($133,000)
IWC Portugieser Automatic 40 Edition “Chinese New Year”
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Schaffhausen’s tribute to the year of the rabbit takes a subtler tack, with a new version of their classic Portugieser mariner’s watch executed in burgundy and yellow gold — colours associated with good fortune in Chinese tradition. In contrast to this low-key first impression, the watch features a gold-plated rotor shaped like a rabbit, with the words “2023 YEAR OF THE RABBIT” engraved in the sapphire case back. The watch also comes with two calfskin straps, one in black and the other in burgundy, allowing the wearer to dial up or down the festivity according to the occasion or outfit. ($10,800)
