Chinese New Year happened just recently, and this time its the turn of the Horse to be the featured animal from the Chinese Zodiac. To commemorate this, Panerai has released a new 100 piece limited edition in the form of the Panerai Luminor Sealand for the Year of the Horse.

This is a watch that is clearly all about the engraving as can be seen from the picture above. If you look at the following picture though, you’ll find that the engraving is on a hinged cover on the front of the watch instead of on the case-back as you might have expected.

Crafted by Italian craftsmen, the patterns for the horse are engraved with a special tool called a sparsello, and then inlaid with threads of gold. Inserted in parallel layers, these are then hammered until they fill the outlines of the Horse, creating a 3-dimensional effect for the final design.

For the Chinese, the Horse is the symbol of vigour, perseverance, positiveness and success, which are attributes that will probably come to the person who wears this watch on their wrist.

Clearly of course, while this watch is all about the decoration, what might not be so obvious is that it can be used for time-keeping as well. The hinged cover can be opened to reveal a grey dial in typical Panerai style, running a C.O.S.C certified OP III calibre automatic with a 42 hour power reserve.

Panerai started this Zodiac series in 2009 with the Year of the Ox, and with the continued success of the brand in many Asian markets, it will certainly make sense to continue with this series for the coming years. Certainly, this is something a little bit more unique and different from your typical Panerai!

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