A unique-piece tourbillon watch marks the 2026 Chinese New Year with an 81-piece hand-painted puzzle dial, 26 rubies and a 96-hour flying calibre housed in red gold.
The year 2026 begins under the rare sign of the Fire Horse — a pairing that occurs only once every sixty years in the Chinese calendar. To mark the occasion, Louis Moinet presents the Tourbillon Puzzle Fire Horse, a unique artistic timepiece that unites métiers d’art craftsmanship with haute horlogerie engineering.
The Fire Horse is associated with intensity, vitality and assertive energy. Les Ateliers Louis Moinet translate that symbolism into a watch that is as expressive visually as it is technically accomplished.
An 81-Piece Puzzle Dial in Micro-Painting
Central to the Tourbillon Puzzle Fire Horse is the maison’s now-signature puzzle dial — an 81-piece jigsaw construction arranged across four distinct levels.
Each element is meticulously dismantled, its edges individually painted in acrylic by hand, and then reassembled to create a seamless composition. The result is a vivid Fire Horse rendered in micro-painting, alive with motion and force.
The horse appears in dynamic movement, head slightly thrown back, mouth open as if mid-triumph. Its mane transforms into stylised flames, extending the sense of propulsion. Warm tonalities dominate the composition, reinforcing the intensity associated with the fire element. The alternating sharp and blurred forms heighten the illusion of energy radiating beyond the animal’s silhouette.
This intricate dial construction demonstrates the brand’s mastery of métiers d’art while reinforcing the symbolic weight of the 2026 zodiac.
A Flying Tourbillon at Its Core
Beneath the artistic display beats a hand-wound mechanical movement equipped with a flying tourbillon housed in an off-centre cage. The calibre operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour and is powered by a double-barrel system arranged head-to-tail using Louis Moinet’s “volte-face” configuration. This architecture enables the barrels to discharge simultaneously, delivering a 96-hour power reserve.
Positioned behind the tourbillon cage sits a fire opal — an ancient emblem of inner strength, transformation and creative force. Its presence places astrological symbolism directly within the movement, echoing the fire element of the 2026 zodiac sign.
The watch indicates hours and minutes, maintaining functional clarity while allowing the tourbillon to remain the visual and mechanical focal point.
A Case Designed for Theatre
The Tourbillon Puzzle Fire Horse is presented in an 18-carat 5N red gold case measuring 40.7 mm in diameter, with a grade 5 titanium inner case. Flowing yet taut lines define the profile, while openworked lugs emphasise balance and strap integration.
A domed sapphire crystal — a technical achievement in itself — allows the multi-level puzzle dial to be appreciated from multiple angles, including lateral views. The timepiece is water-resistant to 30 metres and fitted with facetted, skeletonised hands enhanced with luminescent material.
Métiers d’Art in Form
As a unique piece, the Tourbillon Puzzle Fire Horse reflects Louis Moinet’s enduring commitment to exclusivity and artistic experimentation — principles rooted in the legacy of the 18th-century horological pioneer whose name the manufacture bears. The independent Swiss atelier, based in Saint-Blaise, continues to produce exclusively mechanical creations, often in one-of-a-kind or strictly limited formats, blending “Cosmic Art” with “Mechanical Wonders.”
With this latest release, Louis Moinet once again positions the tourbillon not merely as a complication, but as a canvas for storytelling — where astrological symbolism, micro-painting and mechanical precision converge in a singular expression of time.
