Herd Instinct

It’s Lunar New Year again, and with it comes the customary drop of special-edition luxury timepieces aimed at East Asian collectors. This time around they’re dedicated to the second zodiacal sign – that of hard-working, dependable, determined and somewhat conservative bovine, the Ox. So that horologically inspired oxen won’t find sifting through the seasonable offerings a burdensome task, we’ve done the work for them and come up with this propitious selection

VACHERON CONSTANTIN

The Swiss maison has created a pair of limited-edition Métier d’art timepieces to mark the arrival of the Ox. One is in platinum with a blue dial, but it’s this magnificent specimen in pink gold with a brown dial that best captures the essence of the plodding beast of burden. Not only have the house’s engravers and enamellers replicated the traditional Chinese paper-cutting technique of jianzhi on the grand feu dial, but they also incorporated etched representations of grass and foliage, as well as the engraved image of the animal itself, which is rendered in pink gold. Powered by the Calibre 2460 G4, the watch displays the time via four apertures that show hours, minutes, days and dates, the first two dragged and the last jumping. Only 12 pieces of each model are available.