Best of LUC

The introduction of LUC has made watch connoisseurs sit up and acknowledge Chopard as a serious watchmaker.

It took three years of hard work and endless tests and trials to produce the new calibre in 1996. Its movement was entirely designed and crafted in the Chopard workshops. With its Breguet balance-spring and 22-carat gold micro-rotor, the LUC 1860 (named in honour of the founder) passed stringent requirements and was stamped with the coveted Poincon de Genève, the seal of authenticity of a Geneva watch manufacture. The effort paid off the next year when the LUC 1860 men’s watch went on to win the Watch of the Year award.

LUC, over the years
At the Basel 99 World Watch, Clock and Jewelry Show, Chopard came up with the LUC Sport 2000. The watch was bold, contemporary and sporty and came with a natural rubber or leather strap. At the heart of the watch ticked the LUC 4.96 movement, which could be seen through the sapphire crystal caseback.

The next year, Chopard introduced the LUC Quattro, which was equipped with a new movement, Calibre 1.98. While the previous movement had two barrels one on top of the other, the new one boasted of four barrels (two times two superimposed barrels) giving it over nine days of running reserve. The previous watch only had a power reserve of 65 hours. This world first, for which two requests for patents have already been registered, bears the Geneva seal.

This innovative technology was later transposed to the new masterpiece: the LUC 4T - Quattro Tourbillon with the hand-wound LUC 1.02 movement. The tourbillon mechanism, which is revealed through a dial opening at 6 o’clock, is intended to cancel out variations in rate generated by the force of gravity when the watch is in vertical position. Calibre LUC 1.02, made of 224 parts, is equipped with the four-arm Variner balance with integrated inertia blocks, which adjusts the daily rating. A patent for the same is pending.

The year 2001 saw another world premiere - the LUC Tonneau fitted with LUC 3.97. This is the world’s only watch to house a shaped self-winding movement with micro-rotor and boasts of two superimposed barrels (LUC Twin) and a power reserve of 65 hours.

The next year, Chopard designed a diver’s watch, the Pro One. Pro One measures 42 millimetres in diameter, is 13.2 millimetres thick and can handle depths of up to 1,000 feet or 300 metres. The watch movement, LUC 4.96, is an extremely high-value 34-jewel calibre from the manufacture. The heavy metal and 18-carat gold microrotor ensure that the energy is recharged, when worn regularly.

Thanks to the LUC, Chopard has been able to consolidate its position in the men’s watch market. In fact, Chopard, known primarily for its haute joaillerie creations, now finds itself within the small circle of elite watchmakers. As the vice-president sums it: “This movement has earned us a considerable reputation and given us an invaluable degree of publicity in the world of watches.”