Celebrate Lunar New Year with These Dazzling Jewels
Usher in the Year of the Horse with these elegant selections from Hermès, Harry Winston, Piaget, and more
As the Lunar New Year ushers in the Year of the Horse, ateliers around the world are embracing a symbol long associated with grace, vitality, and freedom. From steeds galloping across watch dials to diamond-encrusted designs that evoke the horse’s elegant profile, this year’s limited-edition jewelry and timepieces marry artistry with auspicious design. In Chinese astrology, those born in a horse year are charismatic, adventurous, independent, and ambitious; famous horses include Cindy Crawford, Adam Sandler, Zoe Saldana, and Jennifer Lawrence. The pieces shown here offer a stylish way to wear both legend and luck this year and for many to come.
1. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Enamel “Xu Beihong”
Since its debut in 1931, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso—originally created for polo players—has become one of the world’s most iconic and recognizable timepiece designs. The watch’s reversible case has lent itself to various decorations, and the Lunar New Year provided yet another opportunity to take advantage of that blank canvas. The Reverso Tribute Enamel “Xu Beihong” is a white gold beauty with a hand-painted enamel reproduction (that took 80 hours to create) of three different works by the renowned Chinese artist Xu Beihong, known for his ink paintings of horses.
2. Louis Vuitton Vivienne Horse Pendant
About two years ago, Louis Vuitton introduced a collection of 12 pendants, based on Chinese Zodiac signs, and each featuring the Maison’s mascot, Vivienne. Here, she portrays a horse, with a mane of over 100 pavé diamonds cascading over her yellow gold face, and surrounded by brown lacquer petals with the iconic LV monogram motif. This piece can also be worn as a brooch.
3. IWC Portugieser Automatic 42 Year of the Horse
IWC is the watch world’s embodiment of quiet luxury. Discretion is one of the esteemed watchmaker’s tenets; there are no designs that scream to be noticed. So it’s perhaps to be expected that their entry in the Lunar New Year category, the Portugieser Automatic 42 Year of the Horse, features a horse not on the burgundy dial, but in the form of a gold-plated rotor, visible through the glass case back.
4. Marni’s Horse Charm Bracelet
Marni’s horse charm bracelet provides the wearer with a double dose of luck. The brass horse is an auspicious nod to 2026, while the red shoelace is an intentional acknowledgement of a color that, in Chinese culture, symbolizes good fortune and happiness.
5. Harry Winston Chinese New Year Automatic 36mm
Harry Winston’s Chinese New Year rose gold automatic timepiece boasts a trifecta of lucky iconography: the use of the color red, the handcrafted mother-of-pearl clouds (which symbolize good fortune), and its limited edition of eight (the luckiest number in Chinese culture). The horse’s muscular physique is hand-lacquered, hours are marked by marquise-cut diamonds, 118 brilliant-cut diamonds encircle the dial, and its crown, set at noon, boasts yet another symbol of prosperity: a white pearl.
6. David Webb 18K Gold and Platinum Earrings
David Webb’s 18k gold and platinum earrings are the fine jewelry embodiment of a gift horse: encrusted with brilliant-cut diamonds, Cabochon rubies, and featuring a blue enamel bridle.
7. Piaget Altiplano Zodiac Timepiece
Piaget tapped the legendary Anita Porchet, who has been called the “world’s greatest watch painter,” to create the intricate enameling on the dial of their latest Altiplano Zodiac timepiece. Her masterfully rendered stallion gallops amongst waves of brilliant cut diamonds; additional brilliant and baguette cut sparklers frame the dial.
8. Van Cleef & Arpels Lucky Animals Horse Clip
Van Cleef & Arpels’s aptly named “Lucky Animals” collection includes a veritable menagerie of adorable creatures, including this carnelian and onyx horse clip, bordered by rose gold beads.
9. Hermès Arceau Watch
The Arceau watch, originally designed by Henri d’Origny in 1978, has become a staple in the Hermès timepiece stable. Last year’s limited-edition introduction featured a miniature painting of a “mischievous horse,” originally created by the artist Dimitri Rybaltchenko for a silk scarf. Said horse sits on a dial set with individual horsehairs in different colors, evoking the look of a classic Hermes saddlery striped blanket. He also sticks out his tongue at the push of a cleverly disguised button, set at 9 o’clock.
10. David Yurman Petrvs Horse Pinky Ring
Ancient coins and stone carvings provided inspiration for David Yurman’s Petrvs collection, featuring intricate motifs that are “rich with symbolism” and express “gentlemanly qualities.” This 18k gold ring, available in signet and pinkie styles, features a noble steed that does indeed seems carved from stone.
11. Gucci G-Timeless Métiers d’Art Equestrian
The G-Timeless Métiers d’Art Equestrian marks Gucci’s latest entry in “high watchmaking,” inspired by the House’s silk scarves. It depicts a hand-engraved and hand-painted horse and jockey galloping across an Italian olive wood dial set with graded tsavorites.
12. Chloe Chain Horse Cuff
Chloé’s Chain Horse cuff continues the bohemian-chic label’s fondness for all things equestrian. This vintage gold brass creation features two equines seemingly kissing a horsebit engraved with the Chloe logo.
13. Aliita Triple-Strand Pearl Necklace
Aliita is a relatively under-the-radar brand founded by Cynthia Vilchez Castiglioni, a Caracas-born, Milan-based jewelry designer who happens to be married to Giovanni Castiglioni, son of Marni founders Gianni and Consuelo Castiglioni. Her triple-strand pearl necklace embodies the brand’s “girly, elegant, minimalist and fun” ethos. It also nods to an age-old Italian craft with its hand-carved carnelian shell cameo depicting a noble horse.