The world’s finest watchmakers have unveiled artistic new timepieces to celebrate the Year of the Horse.
Said to bring positive change, forward momentum and a spirit of adventure, the Year of the Horse also brings with it plenty of opportunity for artistic expression. After all, horses have inspired mankind’s creative endeavours for millennia – witness the group of prancing horses that decorate the walls of the Chauvet Cave in south-eastern France, carefully hand-painted in charcoal and clay over 30,000 years ago.
Elite watchmakers know there’s no finer canvas for showcasing the extraordinary skills of their in-house craftsmen than the dimensions of a watch dial. Here, recreated on a tiny scale, engraved, enamelled, bejewelled and marquetry horses gallop through the hours of the day, infusing every movement of the wrist with wit, whimsy, joy and colour – all the things one could hope for in the Lunar New Year.
Here, we round up some of the loveliest specimens around.
Harry Winston
Right out the gate from Harry Winston‘s Moments Collection comes this vibrant limited-edition timepiece (just eight will are available worldwide, a lucky number in Chinese culture). Its highly decorative, three-dimensional dial features a rearing steed hand-painted in fiery red lacquer, with a bright yellow and orange mane.
Surreounded by mother-of-pearl marquetry clouds, gold stars and Harry Winston’s famous diamonds, it’s designed to symbolise the link between heaven and earth, a soaring spirit and the unrestrained energy embodied this celestial sign.
Jaeger-LeCoultre
The sliding caseback of Jaeger-LeCoultre‘s famous Reverso timepiece has been utilised as a miniature canvas by the Maison for many years. To welcome the Year of the Horse, its 10 limited-edition new timepieces each feature a meticulously hand-engraved creature (each requiring 80 hours of work to bring to life), contrasted with a sleek enamelled background.
It’s the perfect way for the brand to also honour its own Reverso heritage, which began in 1931 as a reversible sports watch that could withstand the rigours of the polo field.
Longines
Longines is another brand with strong horsey ties – it created its first equestrian watch (adorned with a jockey motif) back in 1869, and launched a chronograph movement in 1878 that became the timekeeper of choice amongst jockeys, judges and racegoers alike, who used it to accurately time horses to the second. Today, the company still sponsors premium showjumping events around the world and times prestigious races such as Royal Ascot.
Its Year of the Horse special edition watch was created in collaboration with the Peon Art Museum in China, which has allowed the maker to engrave an iconic horse motif from Peon Xu’s famous painting, Galloping Horse, onto the gilt rotor of the calibre.
The watch also features a striking red dial (an auspicious colour in China) and is limited to just 2,026 pieces worldwide.
Founder Guccio Gucci was a lifelong equestrian enthusiast, and his namesake fashion label has gone on to adapt its use of exquisite leatherwork and metal bitting into its own signature collections. The original green and red Gucci webbing of its handbags, for example, was inspired by the girths used to secure saddles, as well as the colours of British regimental stable belts.
Its latest haute watch features a 1950s scarf design taken from the house’s own archives, miniaturised and painstakingly recreated with natural wood marquetry, goldwork, and gemsetting with diamonds and tsavorites.
Dior
Each year, Dior celebrates the Lunar New Year with a limited-edition Grand Soir timepiece, exploring the nature of each Chinese zodiac sign through the savoir-faire of its artisans.
For 2026, Dior‘s Year of the Horse watch showcases a dial design inspired by the Maison’s love of Toile de Jouy motifs, with a pair of tiny gold horses journeying through an enchanted forest of mother-of-pearl, gold and precious gems.
TAG Heuer
A more subtle nod to the horse comes courtesy of TAG Heuer, whose new Carrera Chronograph features a warm, champagne gold dial (another auspicious colour in China), with a crimson seconds window to evoke the fiery nature of the animal itself.
The Chinese character “马” also features in the date window at the 9 o’clock position, whilst its sapphire caseback has been adorned with a racing steed bearing the number 7, representing the animal’s position as the seventh sign of the Chinese zodiac.
Hublot
One for the muscle-watch enthusiasts: the detailed dial of this limited-edition Hublot timepiece is meant to symbolise power and good fortune. It was entirely created from sculpted carbon and enhanced with gold-plated brass.
Girard-Perregaux
A modern interpretation of Girard-Perregaux’s 1889 watch with three bridges, this elaborate timepiece features a 18K pink gold case embellished with detailed hand-engraving and grand feu enamelling.
Its functional bridges, which secure and support various components of the watch’s mechanism, are home to a diminutive pair of pink gold horses, uniting the house’s 158-year-old signature design with the present.
Piaget
Piaget’s sleek (just 8.3mm thick) Altiplano watch gets a limited-edition equine update for the Year of the Horse. Each of the 18 limited-edition pieces in this high jewellery line features a prancing pony on its dial, each crafted by master enameller Anita Porchet with paillon and cloisonné enamel work, and embellished with brilliant cut diamonds.
Vacheron Constantin
Available in either precious pink gold or platinum, these limited-edition, 40mm timepieces are a triumph of Vacheron Constantin’s metiers d’art specialists. Powered by a self-winding mechanism, each boasts an entirely hands-free dial, with four apertures instead displaying hours, minutes, the day of the week and the date.
Uninhibited by hands, the watch dial has been transformed into a mini masterpiece, with a sculpted 18K white or pink gold horse leaping over a rock and set against a hand-painted enamelled background – each motif representing three days of meticulous work.
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