Vacheron Constantin Metiers d’Arts ‘Year of the Dog’

Part of The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac collection, exquisite hand-engraving and ancestral art techniques take centre stage for this 12-piece Year of the dog edition. Four apertures for the hours, minutes, dates, and the day of week lie discreetly at the edge, and the   spotlight shines on a highly realistic, three-dimensional dog motif in pink gold. Its surrounding foliage motif, engraved within the gold dial in the style of classic Chinese iconography, is vivified with Grand Feu enamelling. The watch features an automatic Calibre 2460 G4, made entirely in-house.

 Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Dog

Lavishing the L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Dog is the ancestral Urushi lacquering technique. Prized for its lustrous, highly resistant finish, Urushi lacquer is known to retain its brand new gloss for centuries. In the hand-crafted dial, a smiling Japanese Akita dog stands in a garden of wild orchids, with a lucky blue winged dragonfly aflutter in the background for good omen. Sweeping in the finely detailed background are gilded Dauphine-type hours and minutes hands. Within the 88-piece zodiac special’s ultra-thin 6.8mm case beats a 3.30mm-thin self-winding L.U.C 96.17-L movement, equipped with a 22-ct gold oscillating weight and a Côtes de Genève finishing.

SEE ALSO: Cutest dogs of Instagram in honour of Dog Year 2018

Panerai Luminor 1950 Sealand 3 Days Automatic Acciaio

The tenth model in Panerai’s Chinese Zodiac collection is the 10-piece Luminor 1950 Sealand 3 Days Automatic Acciaio 44mm, featuring a dog and plum flowers, elaborately hand engraved on a polished steel cover. To create the Chinese iconography style carvings, an ancient Italian “sparsello” technique was used to lay gold threads within the engraved steel in an extremely delicate process that allows virtually no margin for error. The watch is powered by a proprietary automatic P.9000 calibre, fitted with a bi-directional oscillating weight and a 3-day power reserve.

Ulysse Nardin Classico Dog

Ulysse Nardin heralds the 11th sign of the Chinese zodiac with an auspiciously numbered 88-piece Classico Dog in 18k rose gold. The handsome husky is brought to life from the beautifully chiselled dial through the Grand Feu and Champlevé enamel techniques. In the final step, the surface is further carved in intricate detail to give its highly realistic finish. Powering the watch is a COSC-certified automatic UN-815, visible from the sapphire caseback.

SEE ALSO: 6 creations inspired by the Year of the Dog