Harry Winston is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a symbolic new timepiece featuring a delicate enamel rooster design.
The rooster is the tenth of the twelve animals represented in the Chinese Zodiac and is a symbol of confidence, fidelity and courage.
Harry Winston has created an 18-carat rose gold timepiece, called the ‘Premier Rooster Automatic 36mm’, that is painted entirely by hand. It is the second time the brand has used the refined art of Grand Feu enamel on a dial.
The rooster depicted on the dial is the work of a professional enameller, who uses a fine sable-hair brush to paint the scene directly on the gold base plate, under a microscope.
For enamel to be considered Grand Feu, it has to be fired at temperatures of at least 800ºC to ensure that the enamel has bonded to the gold disc and that the colors have obtained the desired hue and intensity.
Once it has cooled, the enameller can resume painting the next layer until the work is completed.
In addition to the Oriental symbolism on the dial, the Premier Rooster Automatic 36mm features other key hallmarks of Harry Winston timepieces, including its penchant for diamonds. The 18-carat rose gold case of the Premier Rooster Automatic 36mm features 57 brilliant-cut diamonds, while the rose gold ardillon buckle on the black satin strap set contains further 17 brilliant-cut diamonds.
The Premier was the first timepiece collection launched by the House of Harry Winston in 1989 and was designed to capture emblematic codes of the New York jewellery brand.
Its watches contain Swiss-made automatic movements equipped with a silicon balance spring to ensure superlative precision.
