Chopard has created a special edition L.U.C. XP timepiece for the Chinese Year of the Horse in 2014, with a dial decorated in Japanese lacquer, or maki-e.

The Chopard L.U.C. XP Urushi Year of the Horse is an ultra-thin timepiece with a lavishly decorated dial. Though Chopard calls this urushi, it is actually maki-e (Japanese for “sprinkled picture”), a highly developed technique of decorative lacquer. The horse motif is created via sprinkled gold powder, gold foil and mother-of-pearl, all applied laboriously by hand, hence the name maki-e. Urushi, on the other hand, refers the lacquer obtained from a particular lacquer tree found in Asia, and urushi-e is the term for a picture painted with coloured lacquer.

Measuring 39.5 mm wide and 6.98 mm high, the L.U.C. XP is intended as a formal watch. Inside is the L.U.C Calibre 96.17-L, an ultra-thin movement with a micro-rotor.  The Chopard L.U.C. XP Urushi Year of the Horse is presented in a box decorated with urushi. The price has yet to be announced but the other LUC XP Urushi models retail for just under US$25,000 so expect this to be similar. – SJX