Chopard LUC Watches

In 1996, Chopard decided to launch a new line of watches featuring horologically ambitious movements made in-house.  Chopard named this new line, “L.U.C.” in honor of its founder, Louis-Ulysse Chopard, and to mark the firm's return to its origins as a producer of ultra-high quality watches after some two-plus decades of concentrating mostly on the jewelry trade.  The initial watch was the exclusive 1.96, followed shortly by the hand-winding 1.98 (with 9 day power reserve), and slightly less finished siblings, 3.96 and 4.96 (with sweep seconds, but not Geneva Seal) and the tonneau-shaped 6.96.  esthetically, the 1.96 is an almost entirely traditional dress-watch, as epitomized by decades of Patek Philippe Calatravas and similar designs, excepting that it is a rather modern 36.4mm diameter. The extra area available to the dial is filled practically to the square millimeter by the guilloche sunburst pattern, an additional distinction. It has a relatively thin, slightly stepped bezel, is very harmonious and clean.   The case, markers, hands and silvered and hand-engraved dial are all of solid 18k gold, and their finish is very deep and clean.  Perhaps it is the result of Chopard's long association with jewelry, but the attention to detail and nuance is evident, and from the front this watch clearly connotes luxury and elegance, rather than mechanism and compromise.  On the other hand, the view from the reverse reveals the beautiful and thoroughly realized machinery which lies within a L.U.C.  In volume, the movement is a near adoption of Patek Philippe's Cal. 240, being 27.4mm diameter by 3.3mm high, courtesy of the similarly incorporated micro-rotor. It features 32 jewels, a Breguet overcoil balance spring, goose-neck fine adjustment and two stacked barrels yielding over 65 hours of reserve at 28.8kbph; the rotor is 22k gold and the entire movement is finished and anglaged by hand. The design of the 1.96 was originally commisioned from the highly regarded Parmigiani firm (before their ownership was partitioned), but completed by Chopard, and is produced in-house, and carries the Geneva Seal as well as C.O.S.C. certification.