L.U.C Strike One

L.U.C Strike One

25-piece limited edition in ethical 18-carat rose gold

‘Chime in passing’ takes on a new acoustic and aesthetic dimension

Chopard is deploying the expertise developed with its L.U.C Full Strike minute repeater on a new generation of watches with a striking mechanism. The L.U.C Strike One model chimes at the passing of each hour, on a Chopard-patented monobloc sapphire of which the acoustics have received the artistic endorsement of virtuosos Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, who have acknowledged all its emotional depth. Equipped with the new L.U.C 96.32-L movement, this refined 40 mm-diameter timepiece in ethical 18-carat rose gold is chronometer-certified and bears the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark. Its solid gold ruthenium grey dial is hand-guilloché with a honeycomb motif. With its crown-integrated pusher, its slender 9.86 mm size and its crystal-clear sound, the L.U.C Strike One model endows the passing of time with an elegantly resonant dimension.

As part of the L.U.C collection’s 25th anniversary celebrations, Chopard Manufacture is laying a new milestone in the history of Haute Horlogerie. Fifteen years after the presentation of its first watch with a striking movement, the collection is renewing the calibre, aesthetics and style of its L.U.C Strike One model. A major step in the growth and maturation of Chopard Manufacture, the decision to create a chiming mechanism was at the time both ambitious and unusual, given that this horological complication was not an obvious choice. Today, L.U.C picks up this theme while undertaking to perfect it in every respect. Chopard Manufacture thus draws upon the knowledge and experience acquired with its L.U.C Full Strike model, its minute repeater watch launched in 2016 and winner of the “Aiguille d'Or” best-in-show award at the 2017 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, as the L.U.C Strike One becomes the only chiming watch with a sapphire gong directly attached to the crystal.

Virtuoso work

The L.U.C Strike One timepiece picks up the aesthetic codes inaugurated with the L.U.C XPS 1860 model, starting with its solid gold dial in ruthenium grey, bearing a snailed rim and a hand-guilloché centre adorned with a honeycomb pattern. The beehive is one of the emblems that Louis-Ulysse Chopard chose to represent his workshops.

At 1 o'clock, the dial features a cut-out revealing the mirror-polished steel hammer that generates the chime through a likewise hammer-shaped opening. The periphery of the dial bears a railway-type minutes track, engraved on the sapphire crystal. Just below this is the element that makes the L.U.C Strike One so exclusive: a monobloc sapphire gong.

The chime-in-passing mechanism rings out only when the minutes hand reaches 12 o'clock. Twenty-four times a day, on the hour, its hammer is automatically armed and strikes the gong, just once. The sound thus produced resonates alone and must therefore feature exceptional intensity, clarity and length. In this solo performance, the chime represents a distillation of the expertise acquired by Chopard Manufacture in the field of striking mechanisms.

Unequalled mastery of chiming watches

The new L.U.C 96.32-L features the typical architecture of L.U.C calibres, with its automatic winding via a micro-rotor in engraved ethical 22-carat gold. In addition, the Chopard Twin technology, with its double barrel, ensures a 65-hour power reserve even when the chiming mode is activated. This stability demonstrates the quality of Chopard's developments and its management of energy issues.

In addition, this calibre boasts a number of new features compared to the first movement with a strikework presented by Chopard Manufacture in 2006. The first is that the pusher controlling the chime, previously located at 10 o'clock, is now integrated into the crown. It is this pusher that enables the wearer to switch between silence and striking mode, indicated by a gold-ringed aperture at 12 o'clock. More discreet and also more comfortable on the wrist, this layout remains a Chopard-specific feature to date. In addition, the L.U.C 96.32-L movement is thinner than its predecessor, the L.U.C 96.14-L. This in turn enables the case of the new L.U.C Strike One model to be less than ten mm thick at 9.86 mm, placing it firmly within the tradition of understated elegance characterising the L.U.C collection. This is also reflected in its grey alligator leather strap with tone-on-tone alligator lining, secured by an ethical 18-carat rose gold pin buckle.

Orchestrated talents

So as to optimise and perpetuate the acoustic richness of the monobloc sapphire crystal/gong system derived from the L.U.C Full Strike, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele has initiated a new approach. In 2018, while attending a concert given by violinist Renaud Capuçon, he realised that a minute repeater watch should be designed as a musical instrument and should deliver something more – namely emotion.

Renaud Capuçon is a virtuoso of his time as well as a specialist in acoustics and sound – just like his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon. Both play instruments that are several hundred years old and which embody a perfection and uniqueness that have stood the test of time. Karl-Friedrich Scheufele decided to call upon the two soloists to join forces with Professor Romain Boulandet – head of the Applied Acoustics Laboratory at Geneva’s HEPIA engineering school – whose work in an anechoic chamber perfectly isolated from noise pollution has demonstrated that the sound of Chopard's minute repeater is powerful, harmonious and crystal clear.

Together, these experts have combined their skill and knowledge to conduct an analysis that goes beyond the purely measurable criteria of acoustics to enter another dimension: that of sound as perceived by the listener. The L.U.C. Strike One timepiece benefits from their analysis and their contribution, both scientific and emotional. Thanks to Chopard's unalterable sapphire gong, the sound of the L.U.C Strike One is unchanging, stemming from the orchestration of complementary talents: Karl-Friedrich Scheufele for watchmaking precision; Renaud and Gautier Capuçon for artistic and emotional endorsement; and Romain Boulandet for scientific expertise.

A blend of heritage and modernity: 25 years of the L.U.C collection

Since 1996, Chopard Manufacture has been reflecting the inspired vision of the Maison’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. Twenty-five years after presenting its first movement, the Manufacture has acquired a degree of maturity enabling it to provide a range encompassing the entire spectrum of horological complications – all in-house crafted through an alliance of tradition and innovation.

From movement development to adjustment and quality control, along with finished product design, gold casting, the stamping and machining of cases as well as movement components, engraving and traditional hand-crafted finishes, gemsetting, surface treatments, polishing and assembly: its workshops in Geneva and Fleurier enable Chopard to master the entire production process involved in each creation composing the L.U.C collection. The work of experienced artisans, these timepieces with their simple and pure design express a high degree of mechanical sophistication.