Chopard Manufacture, a dedicated, in-house production facility which is responsible for creating the brand's most sophisticated, high-horology watch movements and timepieces, completes 30 years. To celebrate the occasion, the brand introduces LUC Grand Strike, the most complex chiming watch to date.
There are watches you look at. And there are watches you listen to. And then there's the new Chopard LUC Grand Strike, which, with its unique sound and crystal-clear revelation of the striking mechanism, makes both an experience.
Combining Grande Sonnerie, Petite Sonnerie and minute repeater, the novelty is crafted in the brand’s signature 18-Karat ethical white gold. The highlight of the watch is that the sound is carried into the world via sapphire crystal gongs directly through the watch glass, made from a single sapphire crystal monoblock.
A project that was in preparation for three decades.
For Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, CEO, and Co-President Chopard, this masterpiece is the well-deserved culmination of a long-awaited journey. It is the distilled result of 30 years of development, 11,000 hours of work, and ten patents, five of which are specific to this model. The manufacture has worked hard for this piece of perfection: from early models like the Strike One, through the Full Strike, which won the GPHG Aiguille d'Or award in 2017, to uncompromisingly modern calibers like the LUC 8HF. The path was long, but it led precisely here: to a movement, the LUC 08.03-L, which, with its 686 components, demonstrates how far craftsmanship and courage can take you.
Sound that gets under your skin
Chopard's use of sapphire crystal for its gongs is now legendary. For decades, there were concerns that sapphire crystal was too fragile. Chopard has disproven this notion. The gongs and the watch crystal are crafted from a single block of sapphire crystal. A single body, zero energy loss, maximum sound. Added to this is the square cross-section of the gongs: a small geometric marvel that focuses sound like an optical lens focuses light. The resulting chord? A pure C#–F♮ chord, warm, clear, almost meditative.
A mechanical theater without a dial
Chopard deliberately forgoes a traditional dial. Everything is visible: the minute tourbillon in the lower half, the 34 components of the striking mechanism, the spring-loaded levers, the small hammers. The watch is not merely a timepiece – it is an open stage set. And those who look closely enough suddenly understand why the architecture is reminiscent of a metropolis's skyline. Its depths and levels stand out between the individual levels. The entire piece is housed in a 43 mm.
The Grand Strike meets the requirements of both the COSC and the Poinçon de Genève – and it does so in Petite Sonnerie mode, which, contrary to intuition, consumes more energy than the Grande Sonnerie. This is the kind of insidious horological challenge that can only be mastered by someone completely obsessed. Two mainspring barrels provide ample power: 70 hours for timekeeping, twelve hours for the Grande Sonnerie. And the stop-seconds function allows for precise time setting – a rarity in watches of this complexity.
The LUC Grand Strike is the logical result of a manufacture that has proven for 30 years that family-run businesses are sometimes the most patient. You can hear it in every beat: This isn't just a watch of the year. This is the watch of an era. According to Chopard, only two of these special Grand Strike models can be produced each year.
This article first published in WatchTime.net
Images: Courtesy brand
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