The Buying Guide: 10 lucky charms that will super-charge your 2026

Who doesn’t need a meaningful reset this New Year? Beyond resolutions, many turn to potent symbols and lucky charms as personal reminders of what they hope to attract and achieve. 

Whether rooted in ancient tradition or reimagined through modern design, these motifs channel renewal, courage, protection, and abundance. As wardrobes are edited and living spaces refreshed, introducing a lucky charm into the mix will feel especially purposeful. 

From jewellery and watches to other accessories, these pieces go beyond mere decoration. They are designed to align energy, mark new beginnings, and offer a confident head-start to not just New Year 2026, but the upcoming Chinese New Year, also known as the Year of the Fire Horse.

1. Niessing Phoenix collection

The phoenix is one of the most enduring symbols of renewal. Rising from its own ashes, it represents transformation, resilience, and the promise of continual rebirth — a fitting emblem for those ready to embrace change this New Year.

Niessing’s Phoenix collection translates this idea into sculptural jewellery defined by rhythm and movement. Crafted from interlocking geometric discs in gold or platinum, the pieces are light yet architectural, fluid yet impeccably structured. Whether a collar, pendant necklace, bracelet, or earrings, each creation shifts subtly with the wearer, reflecting light differently throughout the day.

As New Year jewellery, the Phoenix collection is both symbolic and wearable: a modern talisman for personal reinvention. And even better, it showcases Niessing’s reputation for German craftsmanship and precision, with gold carved from high-density blocks and individual elements assembled without welding — an approach that preserves purity, flexibility, and a sense of movement.

2. RISIS Aurion, Steed of Kings

In Chinese culture, the horse symbolises speed, strength, ambition, and success. Come this Year of the Fire Horse, which takes place every 60 years, it’s time to embrace change, take action, and charge into the future with courage.

Embodying these qualities is the Aurion, Steed of Kings from RISIS. The most commanding objet d’art in the proudly homegrown brand’s Chronicle Collectibles 2026 series, which features the horse in an array of vivid expressions, it makes an immediate impact at a towering 680mm. Gleaming in 24k Swiss gold and mounted on a natural black granite base, the magnificent Aurion is depicted mid-stride, channelling purpose and forward momentum. 

A finely detailed bow mounted atop the saddle is adorned with dragon scales and eagle wings, representing vitality and vigour, while the horse-and-bow design is an auspicious wordplay on their Chinese characters, expressing success. Furthermore, five precious gemstones — white sapphire, yellow sapphire, ruby, tsavorite, and black onyx — lining the top of the bow are also representative of boundless prosperity.

More than decor, Aurion is perfect as a statement of intent — ideal for the home or office as a reminder to move decisively and lead with confidence in the New Year.

3. Dior Mini Lady Dior Clover

While the four-leaf clover is historically associated with hope, faith, and love in Europe, it has come to be adopted worldwide as a good luck symbol in modern times. Its scarcity makes finding one in nature a sign of rare fortune.

The Mini Lady Dior Clover transforms this motif into a playful yet refined accessory. Completely embroidered with the bloom and accented by a discreet red ladybug, the bag pays tribute to Monsieur Christian Dior’s belief in lucky charms and serendipity. 

Whether worn cross-body or carried by hand, it is both a personal and style charm, bringing luck, lightness, and a sense of optimism into your New Year wardrobe. Apart from green, black and rose soupir versions are also offered.

4. Harry Winston Chinese New Year Automatic 36mm

Rolling out the latest of its annual Moments collection of Chinese New Year zodiac watches, Harry Winston expresses the Fire Horse of 2026 with an equal balance of refinement and aplomb. 

Red, connoting both prosperity and burning flames, lends vibrancy to this eight-piece limited-edition rose gold watch. At its heart is a stallion rendered in glossy, hand-applied red enamel, with the creature’s galloping stance evoking a sense of independence, triumph, freedom, and adventure. Cambered surfaces enhance volume and emphasise its muscular physique, while its flowing mane is painted with fiery yellow and orange lacquer. 

The horse leaps across a shimmering golden mother-of-pearl sky lit up with rose gold stars and studs, over billowing mother-of-pearl marquetry clouds. Encircling the motif are eight marquise-cut diamond hour-markers, in ascending sizes, on a red mother-of-pearl horseshoe arch, as well as a splendid emerald-cut diamond marking 6 o’clock, which is a nod to founder Mr Winston’s favourite cut.

The double bezel of brilliant-cut diamonds, totalling 118 stones, arcs towards the crown at the top of the case set with a white pearl, yet another symbol of wisdom, purity and prosperity. The red alligator strap’s rose gold ardillon buckle is also set with 33 brilliant-cut diamonds. 

Offering 40 hours of power reserve, the watch is driven by a Swiss automatic movement, which incorporates a flat silicon balance spring and features circular Cotes de Geneve decor and graining visible through the sapphire crystal caseback.

5. Qeelin Xi Xi collection

The Chinese have traditionally associated the lion with guardianship, courage, and joy. Most famously expressed through the lion dance, it is believed to ward off negative energy while ushering in good fortune and harmony.

Qeelin’s Xi Xi collection draws directly from the exuberant spirit of the lion dance, rendered in 18k gold with rubies, emeralds, black onyx, and diamonds. Depicted as stylised lion heads or as a full-bodied figure, the creations range from single earrings or studs to pendant and sliding necklaces, and even a transformable high jewellery necklace. 

The two pendants here are designed to glide fluidly along their necklace chains, creating a sense of rhythm and dynamism with every movement. Beyond capturing the essence of celebration, we love that such an endearing Chinese cultural symbol is made into such wearable and adorable jewels.

6. Jaquet Droz Imperial Dragon Automaton Sapphire – Opal

The dragon is the ultimate symbol of power, wisdom, and protection in East Asian culture. Long associated with emperors and celestial authority, it represents mastery, longevity, and cosmic balance.

This Jaquet Droz creation draws on the manufacture’s near-300-year heritage, uniting Enlightenment-era automata with contemporary materials and avant-garde design. At the heart of the piece is the dragon itself, sculpted entirely from white gold and animated through 16 separate movements. The mythical creature’s spine undulates, eyes blink, jaws open, claws grasp, and a pearl rotates — with each action unfolding in a deliberately random sequence to preserve a sense of mystery and life. 

The main dial is crafted from opal, chosen for its deep blue iridescence and ever-shifting character that echo the dragon’s perpetual movement. A secondary hour-and-minute dial in black onyx provides stark contrast and legibility. All of this is housed within a fully transparent sapphire case, engineered without screws or inserts, allowing light to flood the watch and reveal its sculptural depth from every angle.

Every component — 611 in total — is hand-finished, from the chisel-worked dragon to the engraved signatures etched directly onto sapphire. Created as a unique piece, this watch is both mechanical marvel and cultural artefact, ideal for collectors who see the New Year as a moment to assert vision, authority, and personal legacy.

7. Givenchy by Sarah Burton Lucky Charms collection

Across cultures, the fish is a long-standing symbol of abundance and surplus — and an important motif for Chinese New Year celebrations.

In Givenchy creative director Sarah Burton’s latest Spring/Summer Lucky Charms jewellery collection, the fish is featured as the main charm along with others beloved by house founder Hubert de Givenchy, namely the bird, turtle, egg, button, key, peanut, and flower. All unfixed and free-hanging, they are made of golden-finished brass in stylistically graphic forms.

This made-in-Italy collection includes long silk-cord necklaces in red, pink, and black; a full-metal necklace and bracelet; and an asymmetrical pair of metal earrings. 

8. Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra time-keeping jewels

Inspired by the four-leaf clover, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Alhambra motif has become one of the most enduring symbols of luck and levity in luxury jewellery.

And the Parisian house extends the charming Alhambra story into timekeeping with several poetic creations that simply radiate light. Among them is the Sweet Alhambra watch, which features a beaded white gold case with a guilloched gold dial, and a gold bracelet of eight smaller bead-lined clovers adorned with light purplish-blue chalcedony, top-quality round diamonds, and guilloche engraving.

For something more Chinese New Year-appropriate, how about the Alhambra Secret pendant watch in rose gold? A bold red carnelian watch case lid fringed by gold beads swivels open to reveal a shimmering white mother-of-pearl dial encircled by round diamonds. Aside from the maison’s signature transformability, this alluring necklace also makes the viewing of time as a truly intimate and personal gesture. 

9. Mikimoto Lucky Arrows collection

Arrows represent focus, direction, and purpose — symbols of setting goals and hitting one’s mark with clarity.

Mikimoto’s Lucky Arrows collection reinterprets this motif through its signature Akoya cultured white pearls, along with iridescent mother-of-pearl, sparkling diamonds, and the newly introduced lapis lazuli. Crafted with white or pink gold, pendants and bracelets boast a central arrow design that radiate outwards like compass points.

Beyond its modernity and elegance, this line is remarkably genderless. Rather than displaying overt symbolism, these creations serve as discreet reminders of staying true to one’s chosen path.

10. Swatch Riding The Clouds watch

Riding The Clouds is Swatch’s vibrant and energetic celebration of the Year of the Fire Horse. Designed with contemporary Shanghainese artist Yu Wenjie, the entire piece resembles a Chinese scroll painting bearing red and pink hues, with a duo of galloping horses taking centre stage against swirling clouds. 

The steeds’ forms are enhanced through raised printing that imparts texture and depth. One horse appears in white, while the black one is inverted in a deliberate reference to yin and yang, balance and duality. The bright red manes, tails, and flame motifs amplify the fire element, while drifting clouds symbolise blessings and celestial ascension. For added flourish, the watch’s gold-coloured hour and minute hands are also glow-in-the-dark.