Chopard marks thirty years of in-house watchmaking with the L.U.C Grand Strike, its most complex chiming watch to date.
The model combines a grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, and minute repeater, employing proprietary sapphire crystal gongs to deliver a precise resonance that reflects decades of sonnerie development.
The movement, calibre L.U.C 08.03-L, consists of 686 components and integrates ten proprietary patents. It represents a significant technical evolution of the L.U.C 08.01 architecture found in the 2016 L.U.C Full Strike.
While the predecessor was a pure minute repeater, the 08.03-L expands the strike-work to include automated grande and petite sonnerie modes.
The watch has been certified by both the Poinçon de Genève and COSC, establishing it as one of the most rigorously tested chiming timepieces currently produced.
Housed in an 18-carat ethical white gold case measuring 43 mm in diameter and 14.08 mm thick, the watch presents its movement through an open dial.
The case is rated for water resistance to 30 metres, providing standard protection for the intricate internal assembly.
Two polished steel hammers at 10 o’clock indicate the chiming mechanism, which can be set to grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, or silence via a sliding selector.
The lower half of the dial displays a 60-second tourbillon, a continuous indicator of the movement’s chronometric performance.
Solid gold hands indicate the time and power reserves.
The chiming system is built around Chopard’s sapphire crystal gongs, machined in a single monobloc unit with the dial crystal.
This construction improves sound transmission by reducing energy loss, while the orthogonal cross-section of the gongs enhances tonal clarity.
The chime, tuned to a C#–F natural interval, is produced by 34 components that move into position within just 0.03 seconds, guided by 22 hand-adjusted springs to ensure precise hammer strikes.
The hand-wound calibre operates at a frequency of 4 Hz (28,800 vibrations per hour) and offers a 70-hour power reserve for timekeeping.
A separate barrel provides at least twelve hours of chiming when operating in the energy-demanding grande sonnerie mode.
The watch also includes a stop-seconds function, allowing the time to be set to the precise second.
Chopard has conducted extensive testing to ensure long-term durability. The sonnerie mechanism has undergone tens of thousands of activations in accelerated conditions, while the sapphire crystal gongs have been struck over half a million times, confirming the resilience of the 08.03-L calibre.
The mainplate and bridges are made from German silver, admired for the warm patina it develops over time.
The bridges are decorated with Côtes de Genève, while the tourbillon bridge features mirror-polished stainless steel.
Paired with an alligator leather strap with an 18-carat ethical white gold folding clasp, the Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike, ref. 161994-1001, is priced at CHF 780,000. chopard.com
