Chopard L.U.C Full Strike 'Year of the Dragon’ in White Gold with a Diamond Set Bezel

Chopard is honouring the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac calendar with an exceptional interpretation of its L.U.C Full Strike timepiece. This one-of-a-kind model enhanced by the Artistic Crafts combines a dial featuring a dragon motif crafted in Grand Feu enamel by an Artisan of the Manufacture and a bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds. It is equipped with L.U.C Calibre 08.01-L, through which Chopard Manufacture has been demonstrating its perfect mastery of the minute repeater mechanism since 2016. The purity and clarity of its sapphire gongs with their sound that is unique in the world were hailed in 2017 by the “Aiguille d'Or” best-in-show prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. The successful combination of the queen of horological complications with such an original design is acknowledged by the prestigious Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark.

Inspired by the year of the dragon and its rich symbols, Chopard Manufacture merges the aesthetic theme of the Chinese zodiac with its minute repeater watch. The first creature to appear in Chinese myths and legends, the dragon represents imperial authority, wealth and fertility, as well as being a sign of good fortune. This is perfectly reflected in this L.U.C Full Strike model: the energy of this emblematic animal is matched by the melody of a minute repeater unique in its kind. This veritable connoisseurs’ timepiece combines tradition and innovation, while testifying to the Manufacture's dedication to the art of watchmaking and to celebrating the world's cultures.

Artistic Crafts: Grand Feu enamel and gemsetting celebrate the dragon’s noble allure

Around the aesthetic theme of the dragon, Chopard orchestrates an encounter between several of its Artistic Crafts, true to a design principle that is found on all its unique Grand Complication timepieces. Crafted in ethical 18-carat white gold, the L.U.C Full Strike ‘Year of the Dragon’ model first and foremost honours the skill of Grand Feu enamelling. A decorative technique practised since the 17^th century and one of Swiss watchmaking’s most prestigious traditional Artistic Crafts, Grand Feu enamelling is currently perpetuated by just a handful of master Artisans, including one at Chopard Manufacture. The enamelling process involves mixing silica with ground oxides to form coloured powders that are dissolved in water before being delicately applied to the dial in thin layers. Between each application, the dial is fired in a high-temperature kiln for a very precise length of time. Throughout this process, the Artisan’s intuition and experience are crucial, with shapes and colours ranging from grey to ochre and beige gradually emerging under the effect of the heat. The dragon’s position appears to guide the reading of the dial naturally, its tail gracefully skirting the power-reserve counter.

Secondly, Chopard has chosen to complement this dial’s extreme aesthetic refinement by a bezel richly paved with baguette-cut diamonds totalling 2.74 carats, thereby perpetuating one of the historical skills of watch ornamentation and of the Scheufele family. “In this one-of-a-kind timepiece, we combine the expertise of our gemsetters with that of our watchmakers, reflecting our heritage in these two skills perfected throughout our history and backed by our longstanding experience in gemstone selection”, says Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. The bezel is rimmed with no less than 60 diamonds, thereby picking up the same visual rhythm as the minutes engraved around the sapphire crystal.

A crystal-clear sound that is unique in the world

Equally sophisticated inside and out, this L.U.C Full Strike ‘Year of the Dragon’ watch beats to the rhythm of an exceptional movement developed by Chopard Manufacture in 2016. The L.U.C Calibre 08.01-L is a mechanical minute repeater movement which strikes the hours, quarters and minutes with timeless, crystal-clear notes. The glass protecting its dial, along with its gongs providing an audible indication of time, form a single whole. Machined in one piece from a block of sapphire, without any welding, screws or glue, it gives the L.U.C Full Strike watch a unique sound intensity. This as yet unmatched construction with its inalterable acoustics is the object of one of the many patents filed by Chopard during the 15,000 or so hours required to develop L.U.C Calibre 08.01-L: a feat acknowledged in 2017 by the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève which awarded the “Aiguille d’Or” best-in-show prize to the rose gold L.U.C Full Strike watch.

A patented strikework-pusher disengagement system

Minute repeaters are naturally exposed to the risk of breakage when mishandled. In order to provide the owner of a L.U.C Full Strike timepiece with a perfect wearing experience, its movement has been the subject of numerous developments that secure its operation. Reactivating a striking mechanism (strikework) while a sequence is already in progress can lead to breakage of certain components. To counter this risk, L.U.C Calibre 08.01-L is equipped with a disengagement system for the strikework pusher. When the watch is striking, this pusher can be activated at will without affecting the movement, from which it is disconnected. Chopard has registered a patent for this ingenious feature.

Perfectly secured sound

When the minute repeater slide is not fully depressed, the striking sequence may be incomplete and the audible time indication inaccurate. For this reason, L.U.C Calibre 08.01-L is equipped with a separate barrel dedicated to the strikework. It stores enough energy for 12 complete soundings of the longest time, i.e. the 32 strokes heard at 12:59 pm (12 for the hours, three two-tone sequences for the quarters, 14 times for the remaining minutes). The strikework will not be activated if the barrel has insufficient energy for the entire set of strikes required. Moreover, the constant intensity of each strike on the gongs is guaranteed by this separate barrel. Finally, in a supremely refined touch, the time units not struck are skipped. This means the L.U.C Full Strike timepiece does not make a silent pause between the hours and quarters, nor between the quarters and minutes. On the contrary, it sounds them smoothly in direct succession, whatever the time. The movement’s strikework power reserve is indicated by the longer hand at 2 o'clock, appearing on the graduated counter topped by a bell. In the same space, on an adjacent scale, a slightly shorter hand indicates the movement's power reserve, which is 60 hours.

The L.U.C collection: horological excellence

In 1997, Chopard Manufacture launched the first watch to emerge from its watchmaking workshops: the L.U.C 1860, equipped with the L.U.C 96.01-L movement. Since then, through the L.U.C collection, it has acquired comprehensive mastery of all the major horological complications. Between Fleurier and Geneva, Chopard Manufacture devises, develops, produces, assembles, decorates and certifies all its timepieces. Thanks to Karl-Friedrich Scheufele's commitment to watchmaking traditions, the Manufacture maintains a high level of finishing by preserving numerous Artistic Crafts.

Technical specifications

Chopard L.U.C Full Strike 'Year of the Dragon’

Reference: 161947-5005

Unique, one-off piece

Case

• Material: Ethical 18-carat white gold
• Diameter: 42.50 mm
• Thickness: 11.55 mm
• Crown in ethical 18-carat white gold: 8.80 mm
• Bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds: 2.74 carats
• Glare-proofed sapphire crystal
• Hand-engraved polished back
• Exhibition back

Dial and hands

• Dial in 18-carat white gold – Grand Feu enamel with hand-crafted dragon motif
• Rhodium-plated Dauphine fusée hours and minutes hands
• Rhodium-plated baton-type hands for the movement power-reserve and strikework power-reserve indicator
• Railway-type minute track engraved and transferred on the sapphire crystal

Movement

• Mechanical hand-wound L.U.C 08.01-L
• Number of components: 533
• Diameter: 37.20 mm
• Thickness: 7.97 mm
• Number of jewels: 63
• Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
• Power reserve of 60 hours
• Mainplate and bridges in non-treated nickel silver
• Bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève motif
• Minute repeater
• Chopard-patented monobloc sapphire crystal and gongs
• Chopard-patented variable-inertia balance
• Chopard-patented clutch-lever device serving to block the strikework so as to avoid losing power reserve while information is being picked up
• Chopard-patented dedicated ratchet-driving mechanism serving to avoid pauses during chiming
• Chopard-patented strikework activation device serving to press the pusher whether or not the mechanism is striking, and to do so in normal, slow, continuous or fast mode
• Balance-spring with Phillips terminal curve
• Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark

Functions/Indications

• Minute repeater striking on monobloc sapphire crystal gongs (Chopard-patented system)
• Central display of the hours and minutes
• Concentric displays of the watch movement and strikework power reserves at 2 o’clock

Strap and buckle

• Strap in hand-sewn brown alligator leather
• Hand-engraved folding clasp in ethical 18-carat white gold

MSRP: Price upon request

For more information, please visit chopard.com