Another Lunar New Year is upon us and the watchmakers are here to celebrate. Here are the best Year of the Tiger Watches.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel “Tiger”
The reverso is an awesome watch to begin with and having a tiger on the flip side is just pretty damn cool. It isn’t as creative as many of the other watches on this list as it is just a modified version of an existing reference, but it is still quite well done. I’m always a big fan of black dials and straps with 18k rose gold so maybe that’s why this is on the list. This one is priced at €90,000 (approx. $143,000 AUD).
Piaget Altiplano Chinese Year of the Tiger
Piaget have gotten Anita Porchet back for another Lunar New Year design. She’s killed it with the Tiger art this time, just as she did for the Year of the Ox. While the only real difference between this year’s reference and last year’s is the animal depicted, the design is so strong that it hardly matters. If it ain’t broke. This piece is $106,000 AUD from Piaget.
Dior – The Dior Gran Soir Tiger
Easily one of the best-looking Year of the Tiger watches this year. Limited to just 88 pieces, this very feminine and beautiful watch has one of the most interesting dials out. It’s decorated with white and gold-tone feathers and set with trillion-cut and marquise-cut diamonds with pink gold hands. It looks so chic and doesn’t cost six figures at £28,000 (approx. $53,000 AUD).
Harry Winston Premier Year of the Tiger
Harry Winston are no strangers to Lunar New Year watches and this time, while they’ve used the same case as last year, they have gone with a completely different art style on the dial. The Year of the Ox watch saw a mostly realistic ox on the dial but this year they’ve gone with a Hello Kitty inspired design for the tigers. They’re more tiger cubs and they look absolutely adorable. Points given for originality when compared to the rest of this list.
Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Tiger
Again, we have a tiger writ large across the dial but this one is done in an interesting style, abandoning realism. The artistic technique called Urushi, using a traditional kind of lacquer. It’s a very painstaking process and this version uses sap from Chinese trees and gold dust as materials. I wouldn’t wear it, but I do appreciate it.
Graff – GyroGraff Endangered Species Tiger
While not technically a watch celebrating Lunar New Year it does feature a tiger on the dial so I’m going to count it. Especially when it looks this good. It uses ground-breaking art the watchmaker has dubbed, “diamond-marquetry”. It truly is breathtaking what they’ve been able to achieve but it is more of a jewellery piece than it is a watch. It does have a double-axis tourbillon and spherical moon phase so it doesn’t sacrifice the watchmaking entirely for the jewellery aspect, it’s just not the primary focus.
There are many more watches designed for the year of the tiger but honestly most of them are very average or have minimum effort put into them. This year pales in comparison to the Year of the Ox.
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