The Year of the Wood Snake, beginning with the new moon on January 29, 2025, heralds an exciting time of celebration during the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.
This vibrant festival, which follows the Year of the Wood Dragon and continues until February 16, 2026, is a momentous occasion not just in China, but throughout numerous countries in East and Southeast Asia.
Each year, millions make the journey home to celebrate with family, underscoring the significance of this holiday.
Unlike the Gregorian calendar observed in the West, the Chinese calendar operates on a lunisolar system, harmonizing both solar and lunar cycles.
Chinese Zodiac and the Year of the Snake
The Chinese system is organized around a 60-year cycle, intermixing ten Heavenly Stems, which symbolize five elements—Earth, Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal—with twelve Earthly Branches, each linked to a specific animal sign.
The combination of the Wood element and the Snake sign suggests a year filled with wisdom and sustainable advancement, encouraging people to pursue new opportunities thoughtfully and tackle challenges with care.
In homage to the Year of the Snake, a select group of prestigious watchmakers is unveiling limited editions that celebrate this auspicious creature through imaginative designs and bold colors.
These remarkable timepieces often employ innovative artisanal techniques that reflect the rich cultural heritage and deep meanings associated with the Chinese zodiac.
More than mere instruments for telling time, these coveted pieces tell stories and forge emotional connections, making them highly sought after by collectors.
Breguet Classique 7145 Lunar New Year
Leading the way is Breguet’s Classique 7145 Lunar New Year, a remarkable limited edition of just eight pieces.
Crafted from elegant rose gold, this watch showcases two of Breguet’s signature techniques: guilloché and hand engraving.
This exquisite creation encapsulates the joyous essence of the New Year, seamlessly blending tradition with the art of fine watchmaking.
The Classique 7145 Lunar New Year’s journey begins with the meticulous art of flat engraving, transforming the watch dial into a captivating miniature masterpiece.
Skilled artisans plan each design element with utmost precision and execute them using chisels and engraving tools, ensuring that even the tiniest details shine.
Once the engraving is done, the dial is cleaned and polished to enhance the depth and brilliance of the intricate designs.
A hallmark of this creation is the incorporation of guilloché, a technique pioneered by the legendary Abraham-Louis Breguet around 1786.
Originally developed to enhance pocket watches’ functionality, guilloché improves light reflection for better readability while introducing distinctive patterns that set apart various functions like hour display and power reserve.
Today, this delicate technique is executed on specialized turning machines, allowing craftspeople to create intricacies down to a tenth of a millimeter.
The patterns reflect the exceptional sensitivity and skill of the artisans, transforming the watch dial into a visual wonder.
Technical Details of the Masterpiece
Once the engraving of the snake and surrounding elements is deftly completed, Breguet enhances the visual impact with a striking black coating that creates a stunning contrast.
This is followed by additional polishing and guilloché work.
To finish, a delicate translucent miniature painting in various shades of green is applied to accentuate the foliage, further enhancing the integrity of the engraving and achieving a unified aesthetic for the dial.
At the heart of this masterpiece lies the Breguet Caliber 502, a testament to sophistication and exquisite craftsmanship.
Measuring only 2.4mm in height, it stands as one of the thinnest movements produced by this historic Swiss manufacturer.
The solid gold rotor, embellished with a guilloché barley corn motif, adds a striking visual highlight to this high-performance movement.
Additionally, it features a magnetically resistant silicon balance spring and anchor, boasting a power reserve of 45 hours.
Due to the slim design of the movement, the Classique case remains remarkably flat, measuring a diameter of 40mm and a height of just 6.5mm.
The fluted sides of the case and Breguet’s signature open-tipped hands exemplify the brand’s renowned craftsmanship.
The Classique 7145 Lunar New Year comes with a tasteful green alligator leather strap and is priced at 69,000 Swiss Francs, approximately 76,800 USD.
For more information, visit Breguet at Breguet Classique 7145.
Source: Watchtime