IMPERIALE Flying Tourbillon

IMPERIALE Flying Tourbillon

Eight-piece limited edition in ethical 18-carat white gold

Chopard unites its watchmaking and jewellery skills in a truly exceptional timepiece

The IMPERIALE collection created in 1994 welcomes its first-ever flying tourbillon movement, L.U.C Calibre 96.24-C. Entirely designed and crafted by Chopard, this exclusive mechanism is one of the only ones on the market bearing both Chronometer-certification and the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark. The artisans of the Maison have crafted a magnificent robe to attire the extreme precision of the IMPERIALE Flying Tourbillon. Framed by an ethical 18-carat white gold case set with diamonds, the aventurine dial is ‘embroidered’ with a mother-of-pearl marquetry lotus blossom. Nestling within the latter is a flying tourbillon that is both mesmerising and profoundly touching.

By pushing the limits of the watchmaking and jewellery professions ever further, Chopard has chosen excellence as the signature of its creations. Witness the IMPERIALE Flying Tourbillon, issued in an eight-piece limited edition. “Very few jewellery watches are equipped with self-winding movements”, notes Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. “Those with a horological complication are even rarer. Our flying tourbillon timepieces are the only ones in this universe to guarantee COSC-certified precision and to be granted the prestigious Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark.”

Absolute precision

Entirely crafted in the Manufacture's workshops, Chopard’s flying tourbillon was launched in 2019 in the men's L.U.C Flying T Twin watch. Since then, this tourbillon, known as the "flying" tourbillon because it does not rest on an upper bridge, has also been available in ladies' limited series. It now benefits from all the technical innovations developed over the last 25 years by Chopard Manufacture. Its remarkable slenderness – at barely 3.30 mm thick for 194 components – ranks it among the thinnest in contemporary Haute Horlogerie. L.U.C Calibre 96.24-C is equipped with a stop-seconds function. This technical feature, which is extremely rare in a tourbillon, enables even more accurate time-setting, and the IMPERIALE Flying Tourbillon is indeed chronometer-certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC).

This exceptional watch has earned the Poinçon de Genève, the prestigious hallmark that has been awarded since 1886 in recognition of the highest level of production quality for each component. Just as in Haute Couture, the Poinçon de Genève is the guarantee of virtuoso accomplishments regarding the aesthetics of the calibre as well as the reliability of its operation. Finally, Chopard Twin technology (referring to the two stacked barrels) ensures that the IMPERIALE Flying Tourbillon has a 65-hour power reserve.

Splendid decoration

To highlight this horological prowess, Chopard has called upon all its jewellery-making expertise. “Dedicated to women of character, the IMPERIALE collection exudes an aura of timeless chic”, says Caroline Scheufele, Co-President and Artistic Director of Chopard. “This watch symbolises technical performance combined with great aesthetic sophistication.”

A tribute to the great historical empires, the style codes of the IMPERIALE collection are reflected in the dagger-shaped hands and the case lugs reminiscent of ancient columns. On the back of the model, a sapphire crystal reveals the Côtes de Genève motif as well as the diamond-paved platinum micro-rotor. From the front, the IMPERIALE Flying Tourbillon reveals unprecedented richness in the treatment of its case. Chopard's workshops have set the case and lugs in ethical 18-carat white gold with sparkling diamonds. Their brilliance lights up the glittering midnight-blue sky of the aventurine glass dial on which a lotus flower in mother-of-pearl marquetry has blossomed. Its wonderfully curved petals open onto a second flower, this time paved with diamonds. In place of the pistil, the flying tourbillon adorned with four petals also acquires a plant-like allure, thus instilling new poetry into the rotations of its infinitely small mechanism, like a masterful floral symphony of Time...