2024 marks the return of the Year of the Dragon. Returning once every 12 years, this celestial creature is associated with prosperity and is a symbol of luck, strength and wisdom. The dragon is also an imperial icon that embodies life and immortality. In honour of this auspicious creature, LUXUO lists the exclusive festive releases and dynamic timepieces to usher in the Year of the Dragon — from dragon motifs to dragon figurines and every scale inbetween.
Vacheron Constantin
The Grisaille High Jewellery Dragon’s grisaille enamelling technique is objectively rare, and is a first for Vacheron Constantin in this shade of green. Having said this, the Metiers d’Art Year of the Dragon pieces are probably more appealing to more people, even just from a visual standpoint.
Ulysse Nardin
To celebrate the Lunar New Year, Ulysse Nardin combines the majestic dragon with the alluring pearl. The Ulysse Nardin Blast Tourbillon Dragon is an embodiment of in-house innovations, métiers d’art and the magic of the Year of the Dragon. This limited edition timepiece is crafted from 18k 5N rose gold with black DLC-coated titanium sections. The two-dimensional enamel dial features an intricate red gold dragon extending across the dial towards a pearl sculpture. The case back’s “X” shape is a signature of the watch and has become a notable feature of the modern Ulysse Nardin.
Piaget
Piaget’s new Dragon & Phoenix capsule collection features 10 daring designs of exceptional watches and High Jewellery pieces – topped off with a pair of extravagantly exclusive, made-to-order high jewellery cuff watches. Each creation brims with emotion and exuberance, joyfully channelling the codes of the Maison while celebrating the house’s unparalleled watchmaking savoir-faire.
Chopard
Chopard’s L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Dragon is an 88-piece limited edition in ethical 18-carat rose gold and boasts a 39.5 mm ethical 18-carat rose gold case. The in-house L.U.C 96.17-L calibre with micro-rotor ensures that a slender profile of just 6.80 mm can be maintained. It mingles technical savoir-faire and artistic flair delivered by Chopard Manufacture.
Hublot
Drawing inspiration from the traditional Chinese art of paper cutting, the Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon layers its hands, wheels and H-shaped screws to form a 3D silhouette of an eastern dragon. Created in collaboration with the Chinese artist Chen Fenwan, this limited edition timepiece of 88 pieces is the perfect fusion of tradition and modernity, combining metaphors and symbols in the spirit of Hublot.
Read More: Hublot Big Bang Chronograph is Harder than Steel
Bovet
Bovet’s artisans combined an artistic sculpture with an established masterpiece of high horology. The Recital 26 Chapter Two Dragon. The result is a hand-engraved sculpture with a stunning timepiece art housing. A domed blue quartz dial displays the local time zone’s hours and minutes in the upper part of the case. The dome located at 3 o’clock displays a second time zone specifically developed for this timepiece and patented by Bovet.
IWC Schaffhausen
IWC Schaffhausen welcomes the Lunar New Year with a special edition release of the Portugieser Chronograph. This timepiece features a 41-millimetre stainless steel case, a burgundy dial and contrasting gold-plated hands and appliques. Limited to 1000 pieces, this watch features its rotor in the form of a majestic dragon, visible through the sapphire glass case back. The chronograph is powered by the IWC-manufactured 69355 calibre, a robust and precise mechanical chronograph movement in a classic column-wheel design.
TAG Heuer
TAG Heuer celebrates the 2024 Lunar New Year with two limited edition timepieces that merge the cultural richness of Asian heritage with TAG Heuer’s racing brand DNA. Crafted in gold and steel, these two watches pay homage to the success embodied by the Dragon while exemplifying TAG Heuer’s commitment to honoring heritage within its contemporary design. Both timepieces radiate celetial majesty with special engravings to indicate the watch’s limited release, “Limited Edition” along with “One of 300” for the steel version and “One of 50” for the more exclusive range 18K 5N pink gold version.
Read More: The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Drips in Gold
Bell & Ross
Envoking tattoo artistry, the BR 05 Artline Dragon watch takes on this bold personality, with its own exclusive laser engraving. By adopting this graphic code, the timepiece visually plays on light and shadow through the relative fineness and thickness of each stroke honing in on the precision of line work that is crucial to “transcending the realm of drawing to that of a metal tattoo”. On the BR 05 Artline Dragon’s dial and integrated bracelet, the decorative motif is finely engraved.
Read More: Aeronautical Acrobat: Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Patrouille de France 70th Anniversary
Baume & Mercier
The Riviera Chinese New Year Limited Edition – Year of the Dragon comes in an exclusive pair: the Riviera Baumatic Moon-phase Date 10744 for men and the Riviera Automatic 10743 for women, both available at only 150 pieces worldwide. The men’s timepiece features a distinctive dodecagonal case which houses a high-performance Baumatic manufacture movement inside. Turn to case back and you’ll notice the dodecagonal sapphire crystal where a magnificent five-clawed golden dragon stretches its body to join the smaller dragon on the moon-phase disc as a representation of good luck.
Jaeger-LeCoultre
Jaeger-LeCoultre adds a new chapter to this story of craftsmanship and artistry with the Reverso Tribute Enamel ‘Dragon’. The new timepiece pays tribute to the Year of the Dragon, and to the talents of the master enamellers and engravers in the Métiers Rares atelier of the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre. Created to celebrate the Zodiac Year and made only to order, the Reverso Tribute Enamel ‘Dragon’ is testament to La Grande Maison’s vision of culture and creativity, where the artistic crafts merge with the technical expertise of the Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watchmakers.
Blancpain
In 2012, Blancpain achieved a world first when it debuted its Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar wristwatch that spanned East-West with its combination of a complex Chinese calendar and a Gregorian date and moonphase. This year, the Manufacture enters its second 12-year cycle with the introduction of a new limited edition of this grand complication featuring a dragon engraved on the red gold winding rotor in honour of the symbol of the new lunar year. This special limited edition for the first time is carried out in red gold with a green enamel dial against a frosted background the dragon is flanked by a red ruby and a Chinese character engraving of the words “dragon” and “wood”, the element of 2024.
Parmigiani Fleurier
Maison Parmigiani celebrates the Year of the Wood Dragon with a magnificent restoration of a masterpiece from its Métiers d’Art collection, the “Tempus Fugit”. Inspired by the legend of the Dragon and the Pearl of Knowledge, the piece incorporates powerful symbols anchored deep in traditional Chinese culture. This piece is a reference to Parmigiani Fleurier’s vast experience in the restoration of antique clocks.
L’Epée
The movement “Swiss Made Caliber 1853” was created entirely by L’Epée 1839, has 124 parts meticulously assembled by the L’Epée 1839’s master watchmakers. Two dragons “protect” on either side of the most precious part of a kinetic object — the gearing mechanism. The dragons with golden or palladium scale adopt mirrored postures, their serpentine body coils protectively around the horological craftmanship.
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