The Lunar New Year 2025 marks the Year of the Wood Snake in the Chinese zodiac. Known largely as the Spring Festival in China, it lands on Wednesday, January 29, with a fifteen-day celebration wrapping things up on February 12, 2025. In honour of this significant event, Longines teamed up with Chinese artist Wu Jian’an to create a special edition model of its heritage line.
This Year of the Wood Snake timepiece is based on Longines’ Conquest Heritage collection, which combines a classic 1950s aesthetic with modern watchmaking tech. The limited-edition Conquest Heritage model revealed before the Lunar New Year dazzles with its vibrant red dial, featuring signature gilt hands and indexes, paired with artistic snake designs on the back.
Designer: Longines
This watch aims to inject a little horology flair and class into the celebrations. Wu Jian’an adds his artistic touch capturing the spirit of the serpent on the back of the watch. The final design presents a ‘mystical snake with Lingzhi mushroom in its mouth,’ symbolizing the passage of time and the continuity of life according to the press materials.
The watch’s face is a bit more subtle, with not much fuss aside from the gradient red dial which pays homage to the festive colors of the Chinese celebrations. This rich red is beautifully complemented by the Conquest Heritage series’ signature gilt hands and indexes in yellow gold. The watch is framed in a 40mm round stainless steel case that comes equipped with a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, featuring anti-reflective coatings on both sides.
The screwed-down caseback is where the true magic happens. Featuring an artistic snake emblem, the piece reflects good fortune, encircled by its unique limited-edition number and the watch’s title. Inside, it houses a Longines L888.5 calibre self-winding mechanical movement, providing a robust 72 hours of power reserve. The Longines Conquest Heritage Year of the Snake Edition is paired with a luxurious black alligator leather strap and is limited to only 2,025 pieces. This watch is currently available on the Longines website for $3,150.
