GUEST EDITORIAL: The 8 Best Lunar "Year of the Tiger" Chinese New Year Watches for 2022
Watch brands typically capitalize on whatever occasion they can to release new watches, often limited editions. Many of such releases are usually unique to each brand or the collaboration that they are involved in. However, with China and Chinese buyers becoming a significant consumer group for luxury watches, watch brands across the board have increasingly taken the opportunity to release watches to mark the occasion. So, since the fifteen days of the Lunar New Year 2022 are just behind us, it is a good time to look back at the best 8 watch releases celebrating the Year of the Tiger.
Konstantin Chaykin Smilodon
If there is one brand that knows how to do animal/character inspired watches, it is Konstantin Chaykin through its Joker series of watches. The Russian brand has released Chinese New Year watches since 2019, with its Ms Piggy, that was followed by the Mouse King and Minotaur in the years after. It was the Minotaur was the release that set the winning pattern for the brand to follow, as far as this occasion went, since it sought to embrace not just Chinese culture, but also prehistoric mythology. The result was a watch that explicitly referenced the Zodiac year, while also avoiding a common pitfall of being too on the nose.
This year, we have the Smilodon, which continues in the footsteps of the Minotaur, being another term for a prehistoric sabretooth. Beyond just beautifully guilloche finished imagery of a sabretooth on the dial, Konstantin Chaykin has also tweaked the movement such that the jaws of this deadly predator open to reveal seven different prey within, as a mark of a new day. This of course, is place of the moon-phase complication within the mouth of the regular Joker watches. The watch is as all the other Joker watches, a 42mm x 11mm watch though it is forged in bronze and has its crown at 6 o’clock because Smilodons were believed to like its chin scratched. This is truly a watch that was made in the manner it was simply because the brand could. The watch is limited to only 8 pieces and come with a price tag of $36,300 USD.
Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Carbon Gold Tiger
Unlike Konstantin Chaykin, Hublot opted for a more subtle approach to celebrating the Year of the Tiger. Employing its Spirit of Big Bang model as its canvas, the brand narrowed its focus to the majestic back and orange stripes of a tiger. It did so by playing to its strengths in case materials, by combining yellow gold (a good luck omen in the Chinese culture) with frosted carbon in order to create a beautiful abstract impression of tigers’ stripes on the case.
Because of the unique method in which this was done, no two of the 200 limited pieces would feature the exact same gold and carbon pattern on the barrel shaped case. The color combination carries on into the skeletonized dial, with the sub-dials of the chronograph and brand name featured in yellow gold. Finally, the rubber strap that the watch comes on also portrays tiger stripes, albeit in black and grey. This beautiful tribute to the Year of the Tiger is available for CHF $36,900 USD.
G-Shock MTG-B1000CX-4A Year of the Tiger Edition
If Hublot’s tribute to the Year of the Tiger appealed to you, but not its price tag, a more wallet friendly option might be Casio’s G-Shock’s MTG-B1000CX-4A Year of the Tiger edition. Designed on the brand’s 55.8mm x 51.7mm .x 14.4mm MTG case, the watch carries a similar tiger stripes focused aesthetic, but in lighter and darker shades of gold. The watch is aptly paired with a bright red strap, thus capturing the essence of the auspicious nature of the occasion. The MTG-B1000CX-4A may be a quartz powered watch, but it also carries a ton of functionality that one would expect from G-Shock, including a world-timer and an annual calendar. The fact that the gold is not pure gold, but ion-plating also helps keep this as a fun affordable option at $1,360 USD to celebrate the Year of the Tiger.
Swatch Big Bold Year of the Tiger
Another affordable option that one could consider would be Swatch’s Big Bold Year of the Tiger release. Unlike the previous two releases, the Swatch Big Bold adopts a more overt celebration of the Lunar New Year, with a gold colored dial carrying the image of a tiger’s head. This image is not a run of the mill 2D picture too, it employs a metalized microstructure 3D printing technique that gives the tiger head more depth and character. This makes the 47mm Big Bold an appropriate canvas, since its allows for the predatory design that has been paired with red hands and black and red diamond indices to stand out. The dial is complemented with a black case and strap with red rubber keepers. At just $238 USD, this is no doubt the easy pick for a fun celebratory watch.
Vacheron Constantin The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac “Year of the Tiger”
Vacheron Constantin’s tribute to the Year of the Tiger, takes the same basic design principle as Swatch, but dials up the refinement and watchmaking to eleven. The fourth in The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac series from the brand, Vacheron Constantin brings its Métiers d’Art master engraving and Grand-Feu enameling prowess to the fore with this pair of amazing Year of the Tiger watches. The dials (either bronze brown or greyish green) are first engraved on the gold base of the dial before they are treated with Grand-Feu enameling that is then completed with the hand engraved tiger (either in pink gold or platinum) meticulously applied. The result? The classiest, most elegant tribute to this occasion that you can get. The two 40mm x 12.72mm watches also have a movement to match its haute horology dial, featuring both annual and weekly calendar complications. While both are beautiful in their own right, the pink gold model stands out to me as a better embodiment of the warmth of oriental design.
Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Enamel Tiger
While Jaeger LeCoultre may not be regarded as highly or priced as exorbitantly as a Vacheron Constantin, but it certainly can hold its own in haute horology. Its Reverso Enamel Tiger is one such example of its watchmaking prowess. Housed in a relatively larger 45.5mm x 27.4mm pink gold case, the front of the watch may seem deceptively simple, with a time only complication featuring pink cold hands indices and a logo. However, this appearance hides the real standout on the back of the watch which portrays a tiger engraving in such graphic detail that you might wonder if it was a sculpture rather than a watch dial. The technique employed is called modelled engraving, that involves the use of various sized chisels to remove the respective layers of enamel in order create the vivid imagery. The whole process is so elaborate that it takes a total of 75 hours to complete (20 for enameling and 55 for the engraving). The result is a remarkably refined dress watch that is definitely worth the time and the price of $98,000 USD.
Tag Heuer Carrera Tiger
Tag Heuer this year also tried its launching a Lunar New Year watch and what we got was the only entry level luxury timepiece to make it to this list. The watch does not carry any of the flair or extravagance of the earlier watches, but carries its subtle tribute with quiet confidence. Forming a part of the brand’s Carrera line, specifically the 41mm date and day range, the Carrera Tiger sports a blue dial (odd color choice for Chinese New Year I’ve to say), with a tiger stripes pattern.
This dial is rounded up with rose gold hands, indices and logo Interestingly, the brand has also opted for a rose gold crown to take the gold touches up a notch. The usual clear display case-back is also partially covered with a blue printed tiger image. While this may be the simplest take on a Year of the Tiger watch (and some may claim it to be lazy even), I personally find this watch rather charming, something that can be worn on a regular basis, without attracting too much attention because of how loud it is, or how extravagant its finishing is. You can pick this watch up at $3,750 USD.
Blancpain Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar “Year of the Tiger”
To say that Blancpain’s Chinese New Year release was a Year of the Tiger watch would be a stretch, after all, the only two references to a tiger are found on a small aperture at 12 o’clock and an engraving of a crouching tiger on the rotor. However, to leave The Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar off this list would be a crime, given that it is also one of, if not the most Chinese culture focused watch that you can find out there. Where other brands have chosen to play up the tiger aspect of the occasion, Blancpain has gone one level deeper, playing up the Lunar Calendar aspect of the celebration instead. In fact, the brand has not only captured the Lunar months and days in its 9 o’clock sub-dial that also has a red/white indicator for years with the 13th intercalary month that is a result of the Chinese calendar having anywhere between 353 to 355 days.
It also has the 10 celestial stems and 5 elements (wood, fire, air, water & earth) at the 3 o’clock sub-dial. All of this is in addition to a 24-hour indicator in Mandarin at the 12 o’clock sub-dial just below the aperture with the tiger that on some models, can be changed to other Zodiac animals. To ensure that this watch does not become limited in functionality, the brand has also included a regular Gregorian pointer-date system with markings along the minute track of the dial and the brand’s iconic moonphase as well. The craftsmanship of the watch is top notch too, being a polished platinum watch with an enamel dial that is completed with a blued-steel pointer date hand, white gold indices and enamel painted Mandarin text for the Chinese calendar. To round things off, it also has a bright pink Madagascar cabochon-cut ruby set in the crown. The only downside of having so many complications in one watch is the enlarged size of 45.2mm by 15.1mm which makes the watch far less versatile than it would have otherwise. While that is usually a dealbreaker for me, I have no such complaints on this piece because it uses the space well and and I am still amazed at the fact that Blancpain was even able to do something like this.
So, there we have it, the 8 best Lunar New Year watches celebrating the Year of the Tiger. Most of them would be sold out by now, most of them would be beyond most budgets, but they are beautiful timepieces that we can still enjoy nonetheless. Let me know what you think of these releases, and what your favorites were in the comments below. Till next time, take care everyone.
WristEnthusiast would like to thank Philologus Eio for contributing such a fantastic article to the website. You can find him on Instagram @WildWristWatch !