Corum launches two limited edition Bubble watches in celebration of the Chinese Year of the Dragon, which commences in 2024.

One debut, the Bubble 47 Dragon, highlights a fanciful golden dragon hovering in a dark night sky.

Black lacquered clouds and a mother-of-pearl moon join the dragon, which is essentially depicted according to the Chinese legend that when dragons hear thunder, they rise to the clouds and “circulate in the sky.”

The second watch, the Bubble 47 Dragon Eye, is a close-up of the year’s star character. The artisanal metal-cast eye on the dial is meant to represent the dragon’s strength and is fashioned in high-relief with hand-painted colors and gold scales.

On both watches, the magnifying effect of the sapphire bubble crystal enhances the multi-layer effect, allowing the viewer a close-up view of the precision artwork. The effect is particularly notable on the Dragon Eye model, which appears to stare directly at the viewer.

Corum explains that both new watches are powered by automatic CO 082 movement, a Soprod automatic caliber that offers a forty-two-hour power reserve. Both watches also sport steel cases darkened with a black PVD finish and a sapphire crystal caseback. Corum will attach a vulcanized rubber strap to each watch. 

Both the Bubble 47 Dragon and the Bubble 47 Dragon Eye are limited editions of eighty-eight pieces. Price: CHF 6,900.

Corum’s newest Bubble, called Bubble X-Ray, pays tribute to the first Bubble watches from 2000. That’s the year the late Severin Wunderman, the former Corum owner, debuted the Bubble collection, which from the beginning included a skull-dialed model. The eccentric domed Bubble design quickly became an object of desire for a wave of collectors in search of unconventional watches.

Hidden as a child during the Nazi occupation of Poland during WWII, Wunderman was “obsessed with life, death and the concept of Dia de Muertos, a celebration where friends and family gather to honor the dead in a festive manner,” according to Corum. He expressed his darker obsessions within many Corum Bubble designs over the years, including with themes like the Bubble Jolly Roger, to Bubble Lucifer, Bats, Nightflyer and others.

The new Corum Bubble X Ray recalls many of those designs with a stylized skull dial just beneath the large domed sapphire crystal, which slightly distorts the image. The skull is luminescent and glows green in the dark, adding to its otherworldly appeal. Corum even adds fluorescent green stitching to the Bubble X-Ray’s rubber-lined synthetic alligator-like strap.

Corum has blackened the steel case with a black PVD treatment and has placed a clear sapphire case back on it to allow a view of the automatic movement inside. The domed front crystal and the back crystal are coated with an anti-reflective treatment.

Corum will make eighty-eight of the limited edition 47mm Bubble X-Ray. Price: $4,000. And if the series is sold out before your purchase, take heart. Corum says the X Ray is just the first of several new Bubble watches.