Chopard

MTF
[PuristS]
13383

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Baselworld 2010: Chopard LUC

Although Chopard LUC thrilled us with a useful complication in 2009 – Lunar Big Date – we all knew that they were saving their best novelties for 2010 because this is their 150th anniversary year.  We were not disappointed. 

Chopard LUC brought out 4  (count them) new calibers for 2010; remarkable indeed!

LUC Louis-Ulysse – The Tribute

Nearly 2 years ago, we interviewed Mr Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and guessed correctly that LUC would re-introduce a pocket watch movement for their 150th anniversary. click here

 Although Mr Scheufele was stunned by our psychic abilities, he swore us to secrecy and explained a little more about the patrimony and modern need to train young watchmakers at the Geneva School of Watchmaking, that Chopard LUC supports. Young apprentices need to learn their craft on large movements and there were no quality movements produced anymore.  The new Cal EHG (Ecole Horlogerie Geneve) has been used in tribute to Louis-Ulysse Chopard with 150 pieces that are finished to the ultra-luxe standards befitting the celebration. Finally, we can talk about it!

Furthermore, a link with the Scheufele family that founded the Eszeha brand and now continues the tradition of Chopard LUC as a family-run business was incorporated in the ‘LUC Louis-Ulysse – The Tribute’. In 1912, Karl Friedrich the First patented the adjustable lug & cradle system that switches the pocket watch to wrist watch in seconds. From a family that is deeply interested in motoring and classic car racing in the modern Mille Miglia races, my analogy is a convertible sports car!

The watch embodies the best and traditional features of both families’ watch making roots but made relevant for today. Everywhere, you can see how LUC did not compromise on making things difficult for itself! The case is deliciously curved in concave and convex forms; the ‘bezel’ architrave mouldings and case-side satin finishing interplaying with the shiny surfaces.  The vertical satin brushed finish on the sides of the case and lugs are highlighted by the shiny top surfaces.

At over 49mm diameter, The Tribute is clearly a pocket watch but with the optional Eszeha cradle for occasional cool wristwatch usage.  The raison d'etre for such a watch is an amicable way to conciliate between the patrimony of heritage and the contingency of education that is vital for the futurity of mechanical watch making.

The bold roman numerals against a white dial reinterpret the original LUC dials which is emboldened by the thin ‘bezel’ – the dial comes into your view and everything else fades into soft focus – that’s legibility!

On the wrist, one feels immediate connection with the past, present and future all at once. For this ex-moderator of PuristSPro Chopard forum, an indescribable emotion welled up and I had to choke back the tears.  No – it was not some marketing, melodramatic, hype but the memories that flooded back about my introduction to true manufacture haute horlogerie, with the LUC 1.96 and 1.98, as well as early lurking on ThePuristS.com . Watch collecting is not just about the timepieces……it’s also about the experiences and people in your life that juxtapose with the watches.

My only complaint, and it’s a personal choice, is that I would have preferred a real fired enamel dial to complete the wish-list. But, I’m the same old-fashioned guy who refuses to use FaceBook and Twitter!

LUC 150 All-in-One

To mark its 150th anniversary, Chopard presents one of the rarest complications of the watchmaking art: the Equation of Time. This is combined with a Perpetual Calendar and Tourbillon, to provide an All-In-One masterpiece that is chronometer-certified by the COSC and wearing the Poinçon de Genève – a strictly limited edition of 15 pieces each of the white gold, rose gold and white gold with baguette diamonds versions.

This was really an unexpected surprise that Chopard pulled out of their miracle bag; many will covet but only few will possess….well….15 lucky few per edition.

LUC Engine One Tourbillon

For the ‘Young Turks’ in the PuristS community, Chopard LUC has also zoomed forward to a sporty platform with a new case shape and design motif in the LUC Engine One Tourbillon. From 0 – 150 in the blink of a century and a half!  Without going as ‘crazy tech’ as their Tech product lines, LUC has managed to carve out a new engine block and niche market that is distinctive from the regular sports watches in their portfolio viz. Mille Miglia.

The case shape is logical when you see the engine block inside; whoever heard of a round engine compartment in a sports car? Some commentators have likened it to the Daniel Roth ellipso-curve case but there are only so many ways to “square a circle”. The different treatment of the LUC with distinct crease lines at the transition between the curve and straight lines of the bezel and case sides, make this case its own shape. Again, the interplay between satin brushed and shiny surfaces serves to accentuate the “hewn from a solid engine block’ engineering feel.

The sapphire crystal, front and back, evoke the inspection windows of a race car. I almost expected to see 48 racing cams whizzing along under the hood. The Tourbillon Reserve Marche TRM meter looks like a fuel gauge at 12 o’clock but hopefully, it should not be as heavy on consumption as a normal racing engine and the reserves should last 60 hours.

LUC applies the COSC to all their tourbillions because “that is the right thing to do” when promoting the tourbillon as an aid to chronometry – how many other brands dare to subject their tourbillons to independent testing?

This is a ‘cool’ watch, not only for the automotive buff but also for anyone wanting something different.  There are not many ‘shaped’ watch models with tourbillon out there and certainly none with the ‘Engine One’ for the watch engine.  Only 150 kool katz out there can have one.

L.U.C. 1937

For its 150th anniversary, Chopard chose to highlight their prowess in elegance and understatement by presenting the L.U.C 1937 model – a steel watch powered by the new L.U.C 1.010 self-winding movement chronometer-certified by the COSC. The anniversary model is issued in a limited edition of 1937 pieces.

1937 was a pivotal year in Chopard history, when the founder's grandson Paul-André Chopard chose to leave the Jura region where LUC was founded, to establish the brand in Geneva. In tribute to this landmark event, the Manufacture presents the L.U.C 1937 model, with pure, understated lines.

The crucial novelty for LUC fans is the L.U.C 1.010 movement that represents a significant landmark in the history of L.U.C movements. It is accurate, reliable, efficient, and designed to facilitate assembly. Get this folks!  It was specifically developed to accommodate industrial-scale production......

LUC Tech Tourbillon Carbon Fibre Limited Edition

This was the surprise of the moment as it was squirreled out of a secure place.  It is really light and somehow the black dial makes this a subdued Tech line that can be appealing.

Even the winding crank is carbon fibre!

Animal World Collection

I know this collection is listed as for ladies, in celebration of the Chopard 150th anniversary, but I can’t help liking them as a gentleman. I have to confess to sometimes borrowing the current Mrs MTF’s black ceramic Happy Diamonds watch.  The black ceramic allows me to ‘rationalise’ and the dancing diamonds just make me smile as they twirl like whirling dervishes. How do they do that?

Others

LUCeum Museum Pieces that tell the story of Chopard

Full circle back to the Pocket watch

Conclusion:
It’s been a ‘vintage’ year for Chopard LUC and they have celebrated their 150th year in style. Building on the experience regained since 1996, the people at LUC have justly deserved the accolade of the inaugural PuristSPro Purity Prize awarded for the pure excellence of horology, and in particular, for the LUC Lunar One.

Lunar One

Site Info.