Striking time

K E V L A R

I S S U E

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n°

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[ The WATCH ]

Striking Time

Unscratchable, pure and transparent. Chopard has chosen sapphire crystal for the case, dial and gongs of a rather special minute repeater. Made in a series of only five examples

by Diego Tamone

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The L.U.C. Full Strike Sapphire by Chopard.

It is the first non-metal watch to be awarded the prestigious Geneva Seal.

Opposite page, a detailed preparatory sketch of the watch with a series of specifications regarding its most important features

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[ The WATCH ]

W

Left, this model has

e use the expression “crystalline” to describe a clear, pleasant sound, but in the watchmaking world

a 42.5 mm crystal

the material of choice for timepieces that mark the passing of the hours, quarters and minutes

case with an alligator

time acoustically has always fallen to metals. Noble, of course, creating a correspondence between the

strap. Above, from

precious mechanism of the movement powering the minute repetition and the more accessible material

top, the finely-made,

of the case. This practice has now been overturned by Chopard – to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its

manually-wound

foundation and the refined L.U.C mechanism created at the same time it has taken the idea of crystalline

movement visible

sound quite literally and developed first “musical” watch with a sapphire crystal case, the L.U.C. Full

through the case

Strike Sapphire. For Chopard it’s a further upgrade in a long, constant process of materials research and

bottom and a detail

development that in the past had led to using the crystal itself to produce the tones, with rings emitting

of the side with

the desired gongs when struck by small hammers. The result is a timepiece that fully deserves to be

the crown, also in

compared to a musical instrument. Developed by Chopard’s technicians alongside Professor Romain

sapphire crystal

Boulandet, who heads the Laboratory of Applied Acoustics at the HEPIA engineering school in Geneva and two exceptional virtuosos of the cello and violin, the brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon.

www.chopard.com

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