CNY 2024: The dragon-themed watches to celebrate the new year

Every year, the Chinese zodiac serves as an artistic muse for watchmakers, who create timepieces that interpret the 12 animals of the lunar astrological chart in their own unique ways. For 2024, the Wood Dragon makes its grand entrance on Feb10 (Sat).

The fifth animal in the Chinese zodiac, the dragon of the East symbolises courage, confidence, success, and ambition, as compared to its untameable, fire-breathing counterpart depicted in Western culture. What sets the legendary creature apart from other animals in the Chinese zodiac is that it doesn’t exist in the real world, making it one of the zodiac signs best suited for creative interpretations.

This year, each manufacture channels its creativity into crafting tribute timepieces to this magnificent being. The result? A diverse array of designs, styles, and artistic expressions to suit any taste.

IWC Schaffhausen’s Portugieser Chronograph Year of the Dragon

Dressed in a burgundy dial with contrasting gold-plated hands and appliques, this watch is perfect if you prefer an understated timepiece. Embodying the dynamic, sporty side of the manufacture’s Portugieser collection, this 41mm chronograph boasts a distinctive dial layout with vertically arranged counters and a quarter-seconds precision scale. Powered by the IWC-manufactured 69355 calibre, the elegant model hides a surprise: Its transparent caseback reveals a gold-plated rotor that takes the form of a majestic dragon. Additionally, the caseback ring bears the inscription “2024 Year of the Dragon” to commemorate the 1,000-piece limited edition. For more style options, the watch is delivered with two straps in black calfskin and burgundy rubber.

Housed in a 42mm titanium case, this eye-catching model is inspired by the ancient art of paper cutting to honour the year of the Wood Dragon. Created in collaboration with Chinese paper-cutting artist Chen Fenwan, the 88-piece limited edition’s hands, cogs and H-shaped screws are deftly arranged over five layers to form the mythical reptilian’s head on the dial, while its body and scales extend onto the rubber strap. Boasting a marquetry design that’s a first for Hublot, each dragon scale is coloured and nano-vulcanised before it’s integrated into the strap – a task requiring about eight hours per strap to complete by hand. A second velcro fabric strap in titanium-grey accompanies the watch, which is powered by the HUB1710 automatic movement with a 50-hour power reserve.

Blancpain’s Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar

Launched in 2012, the Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar was the world’s first wristwatch combining a complex Chinese calendar, Gregorian date and moon phase. Since then, Blancpain has offered an annual limited edition that recalls the legend of the Jade Emperor summoning the 12 zodiac animals to his palace. For 2024, the maison marks the timepiece’s second 12-year cycle with a 45mm red gold model featuring a green Grand Feu enamel dial – a first for the 50-piece special edition. On the reverse, this grand complication flaunts an engraved dragon, ruby and the Chinese inscription of Wood Dragon on the red gold winding rotor that’s visible through a transparent caseback. The Chinese calendar is displayed through four dedicated hands, as well as a window each for the zodiac and leap month. The Gregorian date is indicated via a traditional serpentine hand, while the moon phase is presented in a window at 6 o’clock.

This 46.5mm masterpiece of high horology is made for the frequent traveller who loves flashy watches. Housed in Bovet’s patented sloping “writing desk” case, the dial of the award-winning Recital 26 Chapter Two watch is specially fitted with an elaborate dragon sculpture hand-engraved in solid 18k red gold. It also features the following complications: A domed hour and minutes dial at 12 o’clock, domed world-time hemispheric dial with a 24-city disc at 3 o’clock, mother-of-pearl moon phase at 9 o’clock and a flying tourbillon positioned under the dragon’s head and upper body. The five-day power reserve is displayed by a linear indicator that’s visible through a small aperture in the case middle at 12 o’clock.

Chopard’s L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Dragon

Decorated with Urushi lacquer, gold powder and mother-of-pearl inlays, this wearable art piece marks the 12th and final addition to Chopard’s L.U.C XP Urushi series. It takes about 20 hours to finish one dial, and all 88 of them were crafted by master artist Minori Koizumi in the workshops of century-old company Yamada Heiando. Using the ancient Maki-e technique, the lacquerer created an elegant black dial on which the dragon comes to life. Soaring high above the clouds, its power and grace are accentuated by hues of red and yellow. The watch features a 39.5mm ethical 18k gold case with a slender profile, thanks to the slim in-house L.U.C 96.17-L self-winding movement with micro-rotor.

The maison ushers in the Wood Dragon with two 88-piece limited editions of its iconic Bubble model. The Bubble 47 Dragon depicts a brass dragon in yellow-gold ascending a night sky and clutching a mother-of-pearl moon. As its name suggests, the Bubble 47 Dragon Eye is a unique piece featuring a large dragon’s eye with an intent gaze evoking strength and power. Created with the metal casting technique, each eye is meticulously coloured, while the golden scales are revealed by hand, making each watch unique. The Bubble watch’s distinctive domed sapphire crystal provides a magnifying effect, which highlights the artwork on each piece. Cast in stainless steel with a sleek black PVD finish, each 47mm model is equipped with the CO 082 automatic movement and presented on a vulcanised rubber strap.

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso Tribute Enamel “Dragon”

Swivelling the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso’s pink gold case to its reverse side reveals a majestic dragon surrounded by golden clouds. Etched into the case metal using the modelled engraving technique, the dragon seemingly leaps out from the glossy black Grand Feu-enamelled background. The polished surfaces of its body, fine details of its scales and contrasting sandblasted texture of the clouds catch and refract light to give the illusion of movement and depth. The simplicity of the Reverso Tribute dial is accented by facetted applique hour-markers, chemin de fer minutes track and Dauphine hands. The 45.5mm by 27.4mm made-to-order timepiece is driven by the Jaeger-LeCoultre manually wound calibre 822 with a power reserve of 42 hours.

Piaget’s Altiplano Dragon Zodiac High Jewellery Watch

Part of a 10-piece collection of watches and high jewellery that draw inspiration from the dragon and phoenix, this 41mm timepiece sees enamelling master Anita Porchet’s fine paillonnee enamelwork complement a pink gold-engraved dragon. With red lacquered eyes and clasping a mystical black opal fireball in its claws, the dragon comes alive as it’s set against a sunburst engraving in the background. Further embellished with baguette diamonds on its white gold lugs and bezel, the watch is powered by Piaget’s 830P manufacture ultra-thin, hand-wound mechanical movement and is limited to just eight numbered pieces.

Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph The Year of the Dragon – Steel and Gold editions