Get On That Horse! — Introducing The Héron Mirabel Firehorse Lunar New Year Watch
If the Year of the Horse holds special meaning for you and you want to express that through a watch, things might get costly. Lunar New Year watches are often the domain of prestigious Haute Horlogerie brands. They will put their craftspeople to work to create highly limited quantities of intricately decorated timepieces in precious metals. Not Canadian brand Héron. Meet the Héron Mirabel Firehorse, a down-to-earth approach to Chinese-zodiac-themed watches with a trick up its sleeve — or, rather, its dial.
Héron is a young brand from the bilingual region of Montreal, Québec, and it debuted on Fratello in 2022 with the Gladiateur MMLXV, a “dive watch” with Roman numerals on the bezel. This time, Héron looked to another rich culture to create a watch. The Mirabel Firehorse is a limited-edition Lunar New Year watch inspired by the hongbao (红包), small red envelopes given during the New Year, often filled with small amounts of money for good luck.
The Héron Mirabel Firehorse
The trick I wrote about earlier hides within the Héron Mirabel Firehorse’s dial. A thin slice of agate forms the dial’s surface. This stone has fiery tones and natural translucence, and that latter quality is why Héron picked it. No two Firehorse dials are alike, as each is cut from a natural agate stone. This reveals unique waves and striations that range from fiery red to warmer, darker tones. Beneath it, a full layer of Swiss C3 Super-LumiNova uses the stone as a filter to create a very special backlit effect when the light fades.
Floating above it all, an ancient Chinese coin on a clear disc replaces the second hand, creating a mysterious illusion as it circles the dial. Instead of painting a horse on the dial, Héron chose something more abstract and experimental to honor the Year of the Horse — the Firehorse, to be more specific. I think it works. It certainly looks less on the nose and therefore easier to wear.
Speaking of wearing, the Héron Mirabel Firehorse comes on a strap worthy of a veritable celebratory watch. The custom, premium Baranil leather strap comes from France. Responsible for it is Tanneries Haas, a specialized company with a long history. The atelier made a supple leather strap with a structured feel, showing a fine grain that catches light. It’s manually stitched with linen thread and finished with sealed edges for longevity.
About the case and what’s inside it
The 316L stainless steel C-shaped case of the Mirabel Firehorse features a gold PVD coating and a very modest 37.5mm diameter. It also has a 43.5mm length, a relatively large 20mm lug spacing, and an 11.8mm profile when counting the box-type sapphire crystal (10.6mm without it). Inside beats a 3.9mm-thick automatic Miyota 9039 movement that needs its space.
You can’t see the movement in action because it hides beneath an all-metal, vintage-inspired medallion case back. If you like the dial but still want a horse, here it is. The case back shows an engraving of a Firehorse rendered in a brush-stroke style. Also on the case back is the inscription 马年通宝 (Mǎ Nián Tōng Bǎo). This phrase, historically found on ancient Chinese cash coins, translates to “Circulating Treasure of the Horse Year.”
The Héron Mirabel Firehorse (€535 / US$620) is a limited-edition watch with the first 24 pieces showing an individual number in reference to the Chinese year 4724, the Year of the Fire Horse. Is this reasonably priced watch, available on the Héron website, a celebratory piece you would buy and wear? Please let me know in the comments section below.
