24.02.2021
Saga Furs’ Top Lot programme offers to our auction customers only the highest quality Saga® Mink, Fox and Finnraccoon pelts that pass the best grading system before been selected into Top Lots sold at Saga Furs’ auctions. To bring good business to our buyers, every year we create a new Top Lot prize in the manner of the Chinese Zodiac. The year 2021 in the Chinese zodiac is the year of the Ox. The Chinese New Year started on 12 February and it will last until 31 January 2022. To celebrate it, Saga Furs’ Top Lot Programme would like you to meet Jin – the Ox.
The zodiac sign Ox occupies the second position in the Chinese Zodiac. In Chinese culture, the Ox is a valued animal. Having an honest nature, Oxes are known for diligence, dependability, strength and determination. Having great patience and a desire to make progress, Oxes can achieve their goals by consistent effort.
“The Top Lot animal zodiac prize has been a great way to connect with the community and showcase Saga Furs’ superior pelt quality and design techniques. We are happy to bring in new member of top lot zodiac family to continue Saga Furs’ tradition and we are positive that the fur business will continue to have prosperous future for many years to come,” mentions Samantha Vesala, Business Director, Marketing and Business Relations.
Designing Jin the ox
Jin is hand-made with the finest craftsmanship at the Saga Furs Creative Hub, former Saga Design Centre now relocated to Vantaa, Finland. Jin was born of the highest quality female Palomino and Pearl Saga® mink and a bit of Blue Shadow Fox.
“It’s been a weird year for everyone because of the Covid-19 and specially for all of us in the fur business. I think the year of the Ox fits perfectly as a motivation animal since the Ox carries the skills of strength, determination and is seen as a hard-working animal. I hope you will welcome our new team member “Jin” and I really hope to see all of you in real life, together with Jin soon at one of our auctions,” says Thea Larsen, Chief Creative Officer and Master Furrier at the new Saga Furs Creative Hub.
Jin will be on the offer along with the Top Lot Bunny starting in March 2021.
Few words about the history of the Top Lot animals
Saga Furs introduced the Chinese Zodiac calendar to our Top Lot Programme in 2017, which features a new animal in the form of a furry, plush friend with each Chinese New Year. We started with the Golden Rooster, in 2018 we celebrated the year of the dog with Lucky, in 2019 we celebrated the year of the pig with Elton and last year in 2020 we did the same with the rat Phil.
The whole Chinese Zodiac Calendar was incorporated to our Top Lot programme after Thea Larsen came up with the idea to create a Rooster for the fairs in Beijing and Hong Kong: “It was just for fun and a way to wish our Asian colleagues and customers a happy new year.” The rooster was well-liked among our customers, so we decided to take it into production and offer it as a Top Lot prize – and so the tradition started!
Chinese zodiac animals have lucky meanings. Chinese people associate each animal with certain characteristics. It’s believed that people born in a given year have the personality of that year’s animal. There are 12 Chinese zodiac signs, in the following order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each sign is named after an animal, and each animal has its own unique characteristics.
The bunny is not featured in the Zodiac calendar, but it is one of our most beloved furry friends!
Bunny was first designed in 2009, for a Louis Vuitton shop opening in Russia. It is made with Saga® Blue Fox or Shadow Fox to make it as soft and puffy as possible. Bunny is not part of the Zodiac Calendar, but we offer it each year as an optional prize for the yearly animal. Bunny is available in beige and red. Red represents fire and is the most popular color in China. It is also the national color representing happiness, beauty, vitality, good luck, success and good fortune.
