The market is a place that pursues interests, and the popularity of a certain style is never aimless, so is the zodiac watch launched every year near the China Lunar New Year.
Whether Kyle really arrived in China will probably never be able to draw a definite conclusion. However, it is undeniable that people's initial imagination of China, a distant country, originated from reading between the lines such as Kyle's Travels. In the illusory imagination similar to utopia, the ancient East is full of gold, and the city is full of fragrant spices. People there believe in auspicious animals such as dragons and phoenixes, and they will determine the date of heavenly stems and earthly branches ... The more they look at flowers in the fog, the more obsessed they are. As a result, flowers, birds, insects, fish, pavilions and pavilions with oriental charm have been moved to desk clocks and pocket watches one by one, and even the extremely complicated and extremely difficult-to-interpret calendars have been carefully pondered by watchmakers-of course, at first, most of what we saw were ugly watches or tigers, rabbits, dragons and snakes, rather than time standard watches.
Create a set of Zodiac watches specially for China market? It's just when I first started. Earl dancer series zodiac watch.
It can be seen that infatuation belongs to infatuation and reality belongs to reality.
The year after the Earl launched the Dancer series of the zodiac watches, it was the beginning of a new round of meetings-the Year of the Rat, until the end of this year's Year of the Pig. Panerai launched the Zodiac Watch in the Year of the Ox, and Jacques Drouet launched the Zodiac Watch in the Year of the Tiger ... Some people got on the bus, while others quietly left. But there is no doubt that the luckiest is always the dragon watch fan! It is also a multiple-choice question, and the number of light options on the theme of "Birthday Table" has doubled several times.
From independent watchmaking to big brands, from before Swiss watchmaking brands entered the China market to now, there are the most dragon watches. However, the more you look at the early dragon watches, the more interesting clues you will find. For example, I have seen some independently made dragon watches before. Their eyes are too sharp, sometimes even scarlet, wearing sharp armor, dark and full of color, and their charm is exactly the same as that of the Celtic red dragon and white dragon in King Arthur, and the Jikefu Ritter dragon in Song of Nebuchadnezzar. This dragon image can also be seen in many early watches.
The dragon in the traditional oriental culture, as Luo Yuan, a poet in the Song Dynasty, said in Erya Yi Shi Dragon, is a beast with "horns like deer, head like camel, eyes like rabbits, neck like stork, scales like fish, claws like eagles, hands like tigers and ears like cows", which is a beautiful or powerful part of carefully selected animals. More importantly, the dragon's aura is elegant, auspicious and ethereal, more or less. But look at the dragon and phoenix patterns painted by Earl and Chanel in recent years. Patek Philippe even outlined Han Yulong's quaint charm exactly the same! Do you think it's good? !
But obviously, the early dragon timepieces were not specially designed for the China market at all, and had nothing to do with the Chinese zodiac in China. However, the European market is saturated and the American market has been successfully opened. In the process of cultivating the huge market of China, it suddenly ushered in the peak of luxury goods purchase in China ... Before, watchmakers knocked on the door of the American market with double-label watches, but in the face of proud China people, it is obviously a long-term solution to identify with them from a cultural height. Among them, the watches with dragon patterns are getting closer and closer to the imagination of China people, and the watches with the theme of dragon zodiac.
If the dragon only exists in China, the difference in the image of the East depends entirely on the rendering of the story, while the images of rats, tigers and pigs can be said to be highly consistent in the table. For example, I once saw an automatic mouse modeling device in the Patek Philippe Museum. I'm 100% sure that it was the one who cheated the cat in the selection of the Zodiac and copied it into the special edition of China Year of the Rat? I agree with both hands!
Although people in China have been arguing fiercely for several years whether tofu should be sweet or salty across the Yangtze River, it is not difficult to please people in this huge market, as long as we grasp the key points. The main picture of Zodiac is wonderful. Everyone, every family, can inspire people to sing every year, and watches in a specific year can also find bosom friends in other markets.
When the zodiac-themed watches began to develop in full swing, our watch editors would also discuss and compare them privately, but the scope was limited to "which technology is more complicated" and "which pattern is more beautiful (in a broad sense)" ... But since the Year of the Sheep, because of the intervention of the creature Pleasant Goat and the serious discussion of major media around the world, this topic began to derail ...
Earl Earl Limited Edition Cloisonne Year of the Pig Enamel Watch.
However, among the brands that have launched zodiac watches for several years in succession, I don't think Earl and Panerai agree with China people's appreciation of the design and craftsmanship of the zodiac. Even when the debate is fierce, the two companies are not at fault.
This century's Earl's Zodiac wristwatch is elegant and soft, without any impetuous atmosphere, but it also has the finishing touch, rendering a smart atmosphere. The ripe flat peach in "The Monkey Sacrifices Rui" is the most typical one. This year, Anita Porchet painted pigs with very realistic light and shadow effects. Handy little eyes, curly tail and squatting posture are in harmony with China's ancient names for pigs: "Black-faced Lang" and "Wujin". However, people fell in love with this watch at first sight, because the whole picture is elegant and soft, and they can also feel the unique gentleness of female enamel, which is as soft as time.
Panerai Luminor Sealand44 44mm 3-day energy storage automatic fine steel Watch Jihai Year of the Pig.
Compared with the Earl, the patterns carved by Panerai with Bacelo technology are not only similar to the Zodiac pig in image, but also the gorgeous design can instantly remind people of the morning of the first day of the New Year, when the warm sunshine shines on the brand-new window grilles through the window lattice. That kind of happiness is a better blessing and expectation for the new year. By the way, from the front, it is a healthy and energetic military watch, but in any case it is engraved with blessings for auspicious festivals, which is a bit contrary to what you think.
Chopin 18K rose gold L.U.C XP drawing watch for the year of the pig.
In addition, Chopin's L.U.C XP wristwatch series, jointly drawn by Japanese painting master Yoshiichiro Yicun and three painters in neighboring countries, has inherent advantages. From the delicate brushwork to the rich background, it is full of oriental charm, especially the overall color is thick and gorgeous, which is different from the hustle and bustle, but it reveals an ancient and elegant taste, which makes people feel a little sad year after year.
Blancpain 3638 self-winding movement
As Sam Hines said, the zodiac watch is a very personal choice. Your own animal sign, or just your favorite animal, will be very special. But when it comes to "income", in addition to personal feelings, we need to jump out of the shackles of emotions and make objective judgments. Among these standards, complexity is one of them. Birthday tables can be more complicated than perpetual calendars, if they pay tribute to China New Year from the inside out.
In fact, as one of the three recognized complex functions, the perpetual calendar has rules to follow because of artificial improvement. China's calendar takes the period of the moon as the basic unit, and determines the exact (relative) position of the sun and the moon through complicated operations. How complicated is this calendar? One characteristic can be summed up: there is no periodic law.
Think about it, we often look up the almanac (or look at the almanac) to know, "Oh, there will be two beginning of spring next year!" Or "it will be a year next year". Simple, how about watching costume dramas every day? Time is like this, right? What time is it now? Anyway, I have to start the index "Tatsumi noon" every time ... These are important timing elements used by our ancestors for thousands of years, which are complicated and changeable. But in 20 12, blancpain used a self-made 3638 self-winding movement to accurately present many irregular time elements on the dial.
Blancpain China Calendar Edition "Haizhu" Watch
The hour hand, minute hand and standard calendar are located in the center of the dial, and the small dial at 12 o'clock displays hour numbers and characters (24-hour cycle); Three points show five elements and ten days (10 year cycle); At 9 o'clock, lunar month (12 month cycle), lunar day (3 0-day cycle) and leap month are displayed; The year window at 1 2 shows the zodiac (one cycle of 1 2), and the moon phase profit and loss display is located at 6 o'clock on the dial.
Blancpain China calendar "porcupine" watches issued 36 pieces, serial number 1 to 50, and skipped tickets every Thursday. Each piece is equipped with a platinum pendulum and engraved with the design of the zodiac pig.
Since the first dragon watch, Blancpain has launched a new watch every year before the Lunar New Year. The main difference is to paste the carved zodiac pattern. This pig carved this year is full of pride. Is it particularly like the fluffy in The Lion King? Using this classic animation as a filter, I inexplicably feel that wearing this watch will have a wonderful two-sided life, cold and noble, while holding a little boy. But to tell the truth, this watch has no culture and can't even tune it. ...
Vacheron Constantin Art Series China Zodiac Year of the Pig Watch
Vacheron Constantin's Zodiac Watch was launched in year of the snake immediately after Blancpain's first lunar calendar in China. It belongs to art series and adopts 2460 G4 model movement. Every year, this series of zodiac watches brings together many traditional handcraft skills that require profound skills, such as golden carving and fire enamel. On the basis of conforming to the image of the Chinese zodiac, the artistic style is displayed through the visual color and the depth of the relief pattern. But the key point of all secrets, I think, is still on the 2460 G4 movement.
This sport was not specially developed for the China Zodiac. At first, it was the same series of Les Masques mask watches that attracted my attention to this movement. It has four display windows showing hours, minutes, weeks and dates respectively. The inspiration of this series of masks comes from the real original masks left by all continents in ancient times, and then they are recreated with miniature models. Therefore, although time is the purpose of watches, masks are the focus of attention. The 2460 G4 movement perfectly realizes this by displaying time without hands, which makes traditional art and mechanical art more integrated. So every time I look at the watch with this movement, I look at the wisdom handed down from ancient times and feel the passage of time through the glass curtain wall of the museum. It is also because of the existence of Zhuyu that Vacheron Constantin has more space for the introduction of the zodiac watch every year. From a wristwatch, we can see Vacheron Constantin's endless artistic style and eternal charm of mechanical art.
Breguet Classique Series 7 145 Watch First Year Marine Zodiac Watch
Judging from the history of watchmaking, I even read the name of Breguet too many times. So, I don't know from which day on, I have a love, a yearning and a hope for this brand. The Queen of Naples series embodies all the beautiful imaginations of women about punctuality, even to the point of infatuation. Because of this, even though Breguet's zodiac watch is always a little eccentric and maverick, I think it is beautiful. The elegant long curly hair of the "sheep" carved on the shell of the watch in the Year of the Sheep is beautiful, and the watch in the Year of the Monkey is realistic enough to have the illusion of a caveman ... and beautiful. On the contrary, the Classique series 7 145, which integrates hand carving, large open flame enamel and carving, suddenly made this feeling disappear. There are many things in time that come at a price. Nowadays, many people are valuable to judge whether a treasure is worth having, but the feeling that can touch people's hearts can't be exchanged for any money.
Finally, I wish you all the best in the Year of the Pig!
The above is a Japanese friend about the birth calendar of the zodiac, about the sharing of the zodiac. Read the 2022 zodiac table, I hope this will help everyone!