WATCHES & STYLE
Hold Your Horses for These CNY 2026 Watches
by Charmian Leong
10 Feb 2026
10 Feb 2026
Associated with strength, vitality, and freedom, the Year of the Fire Horse is believed to bring intensity, momentum, and fearless new beginnings. These zodiac watches capture that spirit in precious metals and rare handcrafts, offering not just something beautiful to strap on, but exquisite tokens of luck – and time well remembered – long after the festivities end.
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
Given that the Chinese New Year is governed by a lunisolar calendar, Arnold & Son’s Perpetual Moon makes a fitting stage for its zodiac series. Here, a hand-engraved 16K red gold horse applique rears beneath an oversized mother-of-pearl moon, sparks flying to mark the year of the Fire Horse. The black aventurine glass dial is paired with a mountain scene painted using fine gold powder, creating a layered, nocturnal landscape. After dark, Super-Luminova lights up the embers, the moons, and the hand-painted constellations. Just eight pieces will be produced.
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
Xu Beihong wasn’t just one of the most important Chinese painters of the 20th century – he was also famously devoted to horses. His rare command of both traditional ink painting and Western techniques gave his steeds a dramatic sense of movement and spirit. One such galloping beauty, selected in collaboration with the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum in Beijing, now appears on the gilt rotor of the Longines Master Collection Year of the Horse.
It is an apt partnership in more ways than one. Each rotation of the horse-emblazoned rotor becomes a quiet symbol of momentum, renewal, freedom, and courage, while Xu’s own bicultural artistic language mirrors the watch’s blend of Swiss engineering and Chinese heritage.
The timepiece features a gradient red dial housed in a 42mm stainless steel case and is powered by the L899.5 automatic movement with a silicon balance spring and a 72-hour power reserve. Limited to 2,026 pieces.
(Related: Longines CEO Patrick Aoun on leading with momentum)
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
With the classic pairing of burgundy and gold, this zodiac-inspired Portugieser is bold, sophisticated, and ceremonially handsome – ideal wrist candy for your marathon of house visits and polite small talk. Flip it over and the box-shaped sapphire crystal case back reveals a bi-directional rotor carved into a galloping horse, busily winding IWC’s manufacture Calibre 52011. Its twin barrels deliver an impressive seven-day power reserve, even at rest. Limited to 500 pieces in a 42mm stainless-steel case with a black or burgundy alligator strap.
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
A year of the horse design in a watch originally built for polo is almost unfairly on-theme, but we’re here for it. The Jaeger-LeCoultre piece follows the visual language established by its zodiac predecessors, where a golden, hand-engraved animal emerges from stylised clouds against a flawless black Grand Feu enamel backdrop. Hand-drawn black rhodium details add contrast to the mane, muzzle, and hooves.
Unusually, the engraving begins not on bare metal, but directly atop an already-fired enamel surface, a process requiring extraordinary control, 80 hours, and 10 different chisels, neatly explaining why production is limited to just 10 pieces.
On the dial side, things remain resolutely black-tie, with dauphine hands and faceted markers echoing the Reverso’s Art Deco lineage. Inside the pink-gold case – 45.6mm by 27.4mm and just 9.73mm thick – beats the manually wound Calibre 822.
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
In metiers d’art watchmaking, the problem is rarely imagination. It’s real estate. For Vacheron Constantin, this is elegantly solved by the manufacture Calibre 2460 G4, which displays the hours, minutes, day, and date on four peripheral discs, freeing the centre of the dial entirely for art.
That space is put to spectacular use. A relief-engraved horse leaps across a sculpted rock, their forms rendered in striking three dimensions, while a softly painted enamel background adds dreamy atmosphere.
The engraved elements – executed in 18K white gold for the platinum edition or 18K pink gold for the pink-gold model – take three days to complete, while the multi-coloured Grand Feu enamel backdrop, enriched with miniature painting, requires two weeks of meticulous layering and firing. Each model is limited to 25 pieces.
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
Red, orange, and yellow lacquer, golden mother-of-pearl, and white diamonds come together in a composition that feels buoyant and playful, so Harry Winston’s zodiac edition reads more carousel than cavalry. The 18K rose-gold case is just 9.15mm thick and houses an automatic movement with a silicon balance spring and 40 hours of power reserve. The pearl-tipped crown sits at 12 o’clock, with even the red alligator strap subtly cut away to protect it.
Limited to eight pieces, the watch is delivered in a red presentation box shaped like an octagonal Chinese temple, adorned with golden clouds and a galloping horse.
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
Dior’s zodiac offering is the one to reach for if you’re keen to disrupt the season’s deluge of red and yellow. Dainty pink gold horses and yellow gold butterflies trot and flit through a fairy tale forest, glittering with blooming amethysts, spessartites, and yellow and blue sapphires. Limited to 30 pieces, the watch is housed in a 36mm steel case with a pink-gold bezel set with 52 diamonds and powered by an automatic Sellita SW300 movement with a 42-hour reserve. It’s finished with a beige satin strap and a steel buckle set with 18 brilliant-cut diamonds.
- ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 RED GOLD “YEAR OF THE HORSE”
- LONGINES MASTER COLLECTION YEAR OF THE HORSE
- IWC PORTUGIESER AUTOMATIC 42 YEAR OF THE HORSE
- JAEGER-LECOULTRE REVERSO TRIBUTE ENAMEL “HORSE”
- VACHERON CONSTANTIN METIERS D’ART THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC - YEAR OF THE HORSE
- HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
- DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE HORSE
- BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
BLANCPAIN VILLERET CALENDRIER CHINOIS TRADITIONNEL 2026
Blancpain has been faithfully producing a zodiac edition since the Villeret Calendrier Chinois Traditionnel debuted in 2012. More recent iterations have embraced coloured dials to set them apart from the first cycle, and for 2026, the maison opts for a Grand Feu enamel dial in “salmon-rose” as a soft counterpoint to the coolness of its 45.2mm platinum case. The 22K gold rotor is engraved with a galloping horse trampling a swallow, a nod to the mythical tianma of Chinese folklore.
If the dial is poetic, the movement is encyclopaedic. The Calibre 3638 tracks lunar and leap months, double hours, zodiac animals, the five elements, celestial stems, and yin-yang cycles, alongside the Gregorian date and moon phase – a combination no other watch in the world offers. Even better, every function can be adjusted tool-free via patented correctors tucked discreetly beneath the lugs. Only 50 examples will be made.
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