Just Because Rabbit Watches Are Multiplying

This is exciting because rabbits are cute. I'm not saying watchmakers aren't up to making good pig or ox or rooster or rat watches. But rabbits? Rabbits are a win for everyone. Their appeal extends beyond the connection to the Lunar New Year and includes anyone with eyes and a heart. And that appeal only increases when one rabbit becomes two or three or more.

To survey the astounding breadth in the burgeoning bunny-watch marketplace, I decided to review seven of them. Some I love and others I do not. Surely you will have your own opinions on which is best. Anyone would. At the end of the day, my main opinion is that there should be more animal-themed watches all the time, and not just when one appears on the calendar

Also, in case this doesn't go without saying, I do not profess to be an expert on the Lunar New Year. I do understand that certain elements of these watches would appeal to collectors who buy them specifically because this year has deep personal, spiritual, and cultural significance. And I appreciate that. I myself can only participate at my own humble level – as a fan of celebrations in general and bunnies in particular.

I'm now going to share my thoughts on these seven rabbit watches, and I'm going to rate them on a scale from one to five carrots. As the Year of the Rabbit symbolizes prosperity, and nothing could be a greater indication of my own sense of prosperity than freely sharing something I would have every right to make proprietary, I invite you to use this same vegetable rating system to rank your own in the comments.

Ulysse Nardin Classico Rabbit

$45,900 (limited run of 88 pieces)

This is, as rabbit watches go, a fine one. The watch is crafted from enamel and rose gold, with small rose-gold dot indices. The seafoam green of the valley, the pale pink of the setting sun, and the terra cotta sky and mountains are a worthy background for our two rabbits, who are delicately outlined and defined with luminous rose gold.

Our gray rabbit looks pensively at the sky while its brown companion seems more stern and alert – which suggests that whether they are a couple or just friends, their personalities are a good balance. The gray one makes sure they have fun, the brown one makes sure they are safe, and the Caliber UN-815 self-winding movement keeps them from falling idle.

This watch is 40mm, which seems a bit large, but I suppose if you're going to depict two rabbits in a valley with entirely distinct personalities you need a bit of space to carry that off.

Rating: 🥕🥕🥕

Vacheron Constantin Year of the Rabbit Métiers D'Art

$108,000 (limited series of nine pieces per reference)

On this dial, a rabbit hand-engraved in your choice of platinum or gold sits in an enamel garden (rendered in blue or brown, respectively) and shares space with four apertures showing the hours, minutes, days, and dates.

This is the fifth in a series. Vacheron has already made watches very much like this one going back to 2019, a pig, a rat (it's actually great; leave it to Vacheron Constantin to make a rat watch worth coveting), an ox, a tiger, and now this little guy.

This watch is only 33 mm, with a Caliber 2460 G4 in both self-winding and mechanical options. I would love to see it in the proverbial metal, to get a good look at how the old-fashioned engraving goes with the more modern apertures. The feet are really something.

Rating: 🥕🥕🥕🥕

TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Year of the Rabbit

$6,950

Seeing this watch for the first time, I was like: Excuse me, where is the rabbit, please, this is the year of the rabbit, ergo, I don't know if you got the memo, but it's 2023, so, like, uh, watch companies make rabbit watches and these are supposed to have $*#&# rabbits on them, I was promised rabbits, you can't pull the rabbit hide over my eyes, etc.

Well, there is a rabbit on this watch – but it's on the sapphire caseback, where it will not embarrass the wearer, who is surely a real tough customer and not a big rabbit person. The rabbit is sort of discreet except that it is painted in red (for good luck, presumably). Looming behind the poor creature is the Caliber Heuer 2 movement with its 80-hour power reserve, which the brand says is "intended to support any thrilling lifestyle."

The rabbit wears an expression of mild alarm and does not seem at all signed on for this thrilling lifestyle. Perhaps it is specifically worried it is going to have to battle Niki Lauda at Monza behind the wheel of some terrifying 1970s death machine or negotiate parking at the casino during the F1 weekend in Monaco. I think whoever buys this watch is going to need to speak some soothing words to this rabbit over the roaring engine of their Porsche Carrera.

Rating:🥕🥕

Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Black Ceramic Rabbit

$40,000 (limited series of 12 pieces)

It should be no surprise that Hublot, in contrast with the pastoral and idealized rabbits seen above, has a more cartoonish, pop depiction of rabbithood. This one derives from a unique painting made by the artist Wen Na.

Hublot's rabbit doesn't like to sit around in a field looking at flowers. This rabbit respects the festivity of the season and wants to party.

You can't paint a rabbit of such joyous corpulence on a small watch, so this is 42 mm, housing a HUB1710 self-winding movement. The watch comes with a red or black strap.

I can't help noticing that this does not really look like any of the other rabbit watches. While other brands are partial to country rabbits, this seems like a city rabbit. I can see how other rabbits might consider this rabbit a bit loose.

Rating:🥕🥕🥕🥕

Chopard L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Rabbit

$26,200 (88 pieces)

We are back in the province of rabbit pairs: Here, a russet rabbit sticks a landing on its front paws while a burnt sienna rabbit springs into the starry moonlit night, powered from its hind legs. This dial was done with the Japanese Maki-e lacquer technique which uses gold or silver powder sprinkled onto drawings or paintings.

The 39.5 mm case is rose gold – the favorite metal of rabbits? – and rose gold Dauphine hands pair nicely with the delicate whimsy of the scene. Of all the watches, this has the most children's book vibe. I'm not saying this is good or bad, it's just worth noting.

The case is quite slim, perhaps to match the fitness level of the rabbits, and I appreciate that.

Rating:🥕🥕🥕

Swatch Year of the Rabbit

$105

I know this watch is 1/99,000 the price of the other rabbit watches, but does the rabbit really have to look this vacant and unhinged?

That said, there's something about Swatch's rabbit that commands respect: Most of the luxury rabbits are all trying very hard to please. They are desperately trying to be adorable, to be the best, fittest, most socially well-adjusted rabbits ever, whereas this Swatch rabbit clearly DNGAF.

Also (and, I think, appropriately!) this rabbit is not a limited edition. There are not merely eight or a dozen of this rabbit; there are probably hundreds or even thousands.

I think the rabbit's eyes should maybe have an iris and pupils, like normal rabbit eyes. But I do like that the hands are bunny ears, and the strap features bunny ears as well.

Rating:🥕🥕🥕

Piaget Year of the Rabbit Watch

$71,000, limited to 38 pieces

The day this watch came out, a friend of mine who works in the watch industry, perhaps even very closely with me, wrote and asked OMG DID YOU SEE THAT PIAGET RABBIT WATCH? I wrote back right away that yes I had, wasn't it amazing? Well, it turned out that in fact, my friend had written to me not to praise the watch but to mock it.

All I can say is there's no accounting for taste because I think this watch – created by the master enameller Anita Porchet, featuring a diamond bezel and two rabbits, nearly identical, with the same sort of sweetly blank expressions – is pretty much perfect.

I love that this model is an ultra-thin Altiplano. It's if the design brief was: Let's combine our serious thin-watchmaking chops with these two downy innocents.

This is what my friend hates about this watch; it is what I like. We are split over these hares. But it's my list, my ratings. Make your own list, Friend!

If I were nitpicking, I would have to admit that the rabbits' forepaws could be improved and are, for starters, a bit short, as if the rabbits nibbled on them. But we will let that slide. Taken on the whole, these are the most prom-queen rabbits I have ever seen.

Rating:🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕