With 2024 being the year of the dragon, the ancient Chinese Zodiac is calling up this most revered of beasts for the first time since 2012. If you believe the hype, any year of the dragon will be lucky, powerful and authoritative. And full of dragon-themed watches, apparently.
Every watch brand from Swatch to Hublot has produced a limited run of dragon-themed watches for this most fiery of years. “For Chinese New Year we’ve seen a whole myriad of different executions and techniques used”, says writer and consultant Justin Hast. “So as well as an opportunity to market an important moment in time, it’s also an opportunity to express yourself, technically and creatively, leaning on your history and know-how as a manufacturer.”
As a result, this year’s Lunar New Year pieces include everything from platinum cases, rose gold engravings, and printed rubber bracelets, with price tags ranging from £100 to £100,000. Whether your birthday falls under the dragon or you just want a bit of fire-breathing wrist action, these are the best on the market.
The Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon is neither subtle in name nor design. But it’s dragon-themed, so what do you expect? The brightly coloured pink and blue dial is inspired by the artwork of Chen Fenwan, with a crazed, toothy face staring right at the wearer. The matching scaled rubber bracelet meanwhile only furthers the eccentricity of the tonneau case. £25,400. At hublot.com
Ulysse Nardin spent two years working out how to produce its own dragon-themed watch. It features a slithering, hand-painted, hand-carved 18-carat rose gold dragon cascading around its skeletonised dial, moments away from snatching a pearl-embossed tourbillon. It’s dramatic stuff both in looks and price tag. The ‘standard’ Blast Tourbillon costs £48,410, so you can expect to pay a lot more for the dragon version. POA. At ulysse-nardin.com
While some themed watches make their play subtly, there’s no second-guessing the inspiration behind this Swatch. Bolding printed across the entire strap and dial, the Dragon in Wind is part of a series of Zodiac-themed pieces released for 2024. This one comes with a matching box and SwatchPay, so you can use it as an on-wrist debit card replacement. £96. At swatch.com
For its own take, Bell & Ross has employed a highly decorative laser-engraved technique, which has covered, tattoo-like, the entire watch case and bracelet. For the bracelet, each link had to be etched individually before assembly, while the dial, bezel and crown guards blended into one thanks to the intricate pattern matching. £7,200. At bellross.com
Anyone who thinks of themed watches as unserious need only look at the remarkable dial of Blancpain's Damasquinée. Its elaborate hand-carved dragon is quite something to behold, as is the Caliber 15B movement that musters up 40 hours of power reserve. But 2024 sees Blancpain embrace a more subtle approach, with a smaller dragon featured on the winding rotor of this Villeret Traditional Chinese Calendar. The watch boasts a 12-year Zodiac cycle of the Chinese calendar, with the order of each animal’s arrival memorialised so that the official animal of the year pops up every year, starting with the dragon. Red gold casing, green enamel dial and a shedload of Chinese mysticism make this a rather spell-binding option. POA. At blancpain.com
For ultimate high art, aristo-chic though, Breguet sets the benchmark. Priced at a meagre £71,000, this dragon-themed Classique comes with an 18-carat rose gold case, a deep red enamel dial and a hand-engraved, solid gold dragon circling around it. £71,000. At breguet.com
Piaget has gone to town for the Lunar New Year, unveiling six new pieces emblazoned with various degrees of dragon regalia. A highlight is a diamond-encrusted, Emperador cased watch, featuring a rose gold, highly detailed beast amidst a graduated night sky of diamonds and sapphire stones. It’s one of the few times a tourbillon and micro-rotor combo will play second fiddle. POA. At piaget.com
A Reverso is one of the all-time classics, and thanks to the very nature of its design has always been ripe for an engraving. Flip over the dial on this one and you’ll find a masterfully chiselled dragon, which took over 80 hours to carve by the hand of a single engraver. Made from pink gold and with a black enamel base, JLC does dress watches to perfection. POA. At jaeger-lecoultre.com
Part of G-Shock’s premium MT-G line, this Golden Dragon piece is big, bold and surprisingly expensive for a Casio at £949. What you get for the price though are more features, tech and shock resistance than anything on this list, plus a dragon-engraved caseback and the scaley gold bezel of G-Shock dreams. £949. At g-shock.co.uk
While many dragon watches opt for bright colours and lavish gold as the material of choice, Vacheron Constantin has opted for an ever so slightly more subtle interpretation. We’re saying that relatively, as a dragon-set, platinum case calendar is far from under the radar, but the cool ocean blue dial makes it more wearable than some. POA. At vacheron-constantin.com
Based on Bamford’s hardy B80 field watch, this titanium-cased, black-coated watch could be military-issued. That is, if it wasn’t for the vibrant, hand-painted orange dial. A collaboration with The Dial Artist, this otherwise stealthy piece is a fitting tribute to Chinese New Year, and one that’ll look just as cool in twelve year’s time. £1,800. At bamfordlondon.com
