Watch This Space: The Limited Edition Watches Launching for Chinese New Year
The festivities of Chinese New Year are almost upon us! Waste no time in checking out these limited edition time pieces that have been created in celebration of the turning of the year, all exuding luxury and all incorporating the Year of the Rat.
Harry Winston Premier Chinese New Year Automatic 36mm
Harry Winston celebrates the Chinese Year of the Rat with an exquisite rose gold Premier timepiece. The piece is set against a vibrant red mother-of-pearl background, with an artful silhouette of a rat coming to life through China’s time-honoured paper cutting tradition, adorned with 20 brilliant-cut diamonds, 14 marquise-cut diamonds and one emerald-cut diamond. Finally, another stand-out feature of this piece is the sleek and stylish shiny red alligator leather strap.
With only 8 pieces available worldwide, make sure to head to Harry Winston on Bond Street today to register your interest in purchasing one of these magnificent pieces.
Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Rat
Chopard are once again honouring Asian traditions by calling on the ancestral Japanese art of Urushi to create the dial of the L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Rat timepiece. This work of art highlights the theme of the next zodiac sign in the traditional Chinese calendar: the Rat, renowned for its intelligence and perspicacity.
Each of the watches in this refined and powerfully symbolic 88-piece limited edition are crafted in 18-carat rose gold and are powered by an ultra-thin movement produced in the Chopard Manufacture workshops: the L.U.C 96.17-L calibre. With an expressive dial brimming with symbolism, this limited edition piece is part of an annual tradition by the brand to honour and celebrate the Chinese calendar cycle and would be the perfect addition to any watch wearer's collection.
This piece emphasises art and serenity, is entirely handcrafted and gives pride of place to Asian culture by using the traditional Japanese lacquer technique known as Urushi, combining the lacquer with gold dust.
The scene on the face depicts a golden rat, standing on an ear of corn, a symbol of abundance, and in front of a khaki, a fruit that is picked in winter and represents longevity. It is facing a bouquet of flowers in the three lucky colours of its zodiac sign: blue, gold and green. Thus, as traditionally represented in the Chinese Zodiac, the rat is passionate, charming, intelligent and resourceful, as well as being a faithful friend, a generous family member and a source of optimism.
The piece has been created through cooperation between Chopard and its loyal partner company, Yamada Heinado, where the grand master of Urushi exercises his craft. There are only 88 editions of the piece worldwide, one of which can be found at the Chopard store on Bond Street.
Panerai Luminor Sealand - 44mm
For this year, Panerai have incorporated Chinese astrological tradition and Italian craftsmanship to create a special edition Luminor Sealand - 44mm, honouring the Year of the Rat.
For the brand, this piece is a tradition within a tradition. Having started making pieces to honour the Chinese Zodiac calendar in 2009, celebrating the Year of the Ox, this is now the 12th timepiece created to represent the Chinese Zodiac and to be decorated with an animal.
Both ambitious and brilliant, those born under this sign use their intelligence and shrewdness to adapt to any situation, easily overcoming the problems and pitfalls of everyday life. They are also endowed with inspiration and intelligence, qualities which they share with the rat, the animal represented on the steel cover of the Luminor Sealand – 44 mm.
A distinguishing feature of every Sealand is the decorated cover – with a signalling mirror inside – hinged at 12 o’clock on the brush-finished AISI 316L steel case of the 44-mm model, this aesthetic and functional element protecting the grey dial hidden inside.
The decoration of the cover has been engraved by hand by Italian master craftsmen using the ancient art of sparsello. This technique is named after the tool, which looks like a little scalpel, which is used to make incisions. These are then inlayed with gold threads which are carefully hammered to fill the recesses. This operation takes up to 50 hours of work for each watch, making each piece enormously special and a treasure to wear.
This special watch is also water-resistant to a depth of 10 bar (about 100 metres), the new Luminor Sealand – 44 mm is fitted with a semi-matt calf strap, gold in colour with beige stitching, and it is presented in a pear wood box. In addition, it is supplied with a second strap of black rubber, a special tool for changing the strap and a screwdriver to remove the buckle.
These collections are only a snapshot of the luxurious treats you might find on Bond Street this season!
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