The year 2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake. This is a rare combination that happens only once every 60 years. The snake – sixth animal in the Chinese zodiac – symbolises wisdom, intuition, and strategic growth. The wood element represents growth, stability, and creativity. In many mythologies and religions, there are legends about snakes guarding magnificent treasures. Here, we bring you a selection of watches issued especially for this Chinese new Year of the Snake, where the reptiles become the custodians of the most precious of all treasures: time.
HARRY WINSTON CHINESE NEW YEAR AUTOMATIC 36MM
The House of Harry Winston has issued two vibrant limited-edition of eight timepieces in rose and white gold, one representing the day, and the other, the night. In both of them, a sinuous enamelled red snake takes centre stage over a background of rich, jungle-like foliage.
The bezel is adorned with two rows of diamonds, framing the scene in the dial as if it was a precious painting. Marquise-cut emeralds and green sapphires complete the vegetation. The body of the snake is enhanced with grooves – in gold or silver – to add depth and texture. marquise-cut spessartite garnets and diamonds are used to create the flowers.
I particularly like the position of the crown at 12 o’clock, adorned with a pristine pearl. The alligator strap has a little cut-out, so it fits perfectly and doesn’t put any pressure on the wrist.
Decorated with a hand finished circular Côtes de Genève and graining, the mechanical movement can be admired through the caseback. Here we can also see the skeletonised white gold rotor, with the emerald-shaped logo of the House of Harry Winston. Find out more about these timepieces HERE.
LOUIS VUITTON ESCALE “SNAKES JUNGLE” CABINET OF WONDERS
Another fine example of metiers d’art, this limited edition watch by Louis Vuitton is inspired by the personal collection of rare objects of Gaston-Louis Vuitton (head of the company between 1907 and 1970), which has heavily influenced the designs in the Louis Vuitton Escale Cabinet of Wonders.
Its latest creation is the Escale “Snakes Jungle”, where a defiant snake rears its head, fully displaying its threatening fangs. The animal seems to be about to devour the golden orb that contains the monogram of Gaston-Louis Vuitton. The impressive scene is set against a bamboo forest background, made from 367 pieces of wood, parchment, and straw, put together using the finest marquetry techniques. A few bamboo leaves are engraved on the white-gold case to complement the dial.
For the serpent, it is a combination of micro-sculpture, engraving and champlevé enamelling that brings it to life, with the addition engraved V-strokes and Monogram flowers in the scales. Find out more about this and other Louis Vuitton watches, HERE.
HUBLOT SPIRIT OF BIG BANG YEAR OF THE SNAKE
Since 2016, Hublot has been honouring the Chinese zodiac with special editions of the Spirit of Big Bang. Its signature open dial presents a great canvas on which to feature these astrological creatures, in this case, a three-dimensional gold-plated snake that slithers its way across the chronograph’s three counters.
In bold contrast with the gold snake, markers and counters, the bezel is made of micro-blasted ceramic with a snakeskin effect, which is repeated on the rubber strap. The rest of the case is a mixture of polished and brushed black ceramic.
The in-house automatic skeleton chronograph calibre HUB4700 is visible from the dial and from the caseback. Limited to 88 pieces. Find out more HERE.
DIOR GRAND SOIR YEAR OF THE SNAKE
With a much more romantic approach, Dior brings us an interpretation of the year of the snake in line with previous watches in the Grand Soir collection, which unites the creativity of the maison with its horological savoir-faire.
Over a mother-of-pearl dial, a classical pastoral pattern of layers of leaves, flowers and butterflies in a combination of gold and mother-of-pearl dominate the upper half, which at the bottom, an opaline snake with rose gold details shares centre stage with an ondulating “Christian Dior” logo in rose gold.
The delicate scene is framed by a rose gold bezel set with diamonds. The blue satin strap is enhanced with a buckle adorned with small diamonds. The watch is strictly limited to 38 pieces. Find out more about this exceptional watch, HERE.
ARNOLD & SON PERPETUAL MOON 41.5 YEAR OF THE SNAKE
As part of its Perpetual Moon collection, Arnold & Son is creating eight extraordinary timepieces to celebrate the Year of the Wood Snake. A 41.5mm rose gold case frames an elegant nocturnal scene in which an undulating rose gold snake over a branch of gingko biloba against a blue aventurine sky. The scales of the animal as well as its fork tongue and head have been hand-engraved, achieving great realism.
Overlaid with Super-Luminova, the large mother-of-pearl moon brings luminosity and balance to the composition. In the dark, not only our satellite comes to life but also the constellations of Ursa Major and Cassiopeia, which are painted with the same material.
The beating heart of this striking watch is the in-house manually-wound A&S1512 calibre. It tracks the lunar cycle with great accuracy. So much so, that it would take 122 years to build up a day of discrepancy. This movement uses two barrels and presents an oscillation frequency of 3 Hz, which grants a 90-hour power reserve. On the caseback, we find a secondary display of the moon phases for adjustments. More about this timepiece, HERE.
SWATCH GOLDEN RED BAMBOO AND BLUE & GOLDEN LITHE DANCER
Very different from my previous choices are these two Swatch pieces, which I am featuring to represent the flexibility and adaptability that the Wood Snake symbolises.
Golden Red Bamboo (part of the Irony collection) comes in an ultra-thin case with a bamboo soft textile stripe. The design of the snake on the dial and the bamboo motifs combines vibrant shades of orange and gold. The result is a stylish watch, completely on brief, which looks great on the wrist.
Blue and Golden Lithe Dancer (Big Bold Biosourced collection) comes in much larger case. The dial pattern is close to the one in the previous watch, with the pattern accompanying the snake closer to the shape of bamboo leaves. The choice of dark purple as the main colour is ominous, since in China it is associated with immortality and in Imperial China was worn by high-ranking officials. More details about these two fun watches, HERE.
Author: Julia Pasarón
Opening image: Devender Murlidhar Rango de Leva / Pixabay.
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