To even comprehend the mad rush among the top luxury brands to create the best watches to celebrate Chinese New Year (February 1, 2022), we must understand the market of luxury watches first. The first 11 months of the calendar 2021 (just before the Omicron scare started slowing down travel) has thrown up stupendous numbers for the industry. The United States and China have clearly driven the growth in luxury watch sales last year, with the former back in first position with imports of CHF 2.8 billion over the first 11 months of the year (+55.7% versus 2020; +26.4% versus 2019). At CHF 2.7 billion, mainland China has benefited from the reshoring of luxury spending with the ban on international travel (+31.0% versus 2020; +53.5% versus 2019).
No wonder, almost every marque luxury watchmaker has launched a ‘Year of the Tiger’ edition as a limited series. This includes masstige brands like TAG Heuer or even Swatch, Casio and Gucci. This year sees the Tiger with the Water element, a combination said to possess high self-esteem and learning ability, in addition to the dominant traits of bravery and confidence. Through painstaking evaluation, we have chosen the seven best ‘Year of the Tiger’ timepieces, both for their individualistic expression of artistry and mechanism.
