To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its creation, Chopard Manufacture presents its first jumping-hour timepiece: the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25.
Innovation: a jumping-hour model with a generous power reserve enabled by Chopard Quattro technology
With its L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 timepiece, Chopard Manufacture is introducing its first-ever jumping-hour watch. Much prized by collectors, this horological complication is given an extremely pure interpretation in this 100-piece numbered limited edition combining an understated design with the technical boldness typical of the L.U.C. collection. Combining tradition and modernity, its ethical 18-carat rose gold case features rounded shapes inspired by the hunter-type cases of the pocket watches once designed by Louis-Ulysse Chopard.
The L.U.C 98.06-L movement equipping this timepiece is one of the few in this category of watches – which generally consume a great deal of energy – to offer up to eight days of power reserve. Thanks to the four stacked and series-coupled barrels based on the unique Chopard Quattro technology – which usually allows up to 216 hours of autonomy – the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 maintains a reserve above 190 hours despite the amount of energy required for the rotation of the hours disc.
Visible through a transparent arena case-back, this highly complicated mechanical movement with manual winding guarantees reliability and precision within an overall thickness of just 4.85 millimetres. The balance-spring is equipped with a Phillips terminal curve that precisely controls the oscillations of the regulating organ – a feat of which only a few manufacturers are capable. The movement is also fitted with a swan’s neck regulator enabling fine adjustment of this calibre.
Artistic craft: a dial fashioned by the Chopard Manufacture enamelling Artisan
Equally noble both inside and out, the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 timepiece displays the time on a pure white dial, entirely produced in-house by Chopard Manufacture's enamelling Artisan. Crafted on an ethical 18-carat rose gold base, this Grand Feu enamelled dial is fired several times at very high temperatures (820°C). It is then lightly polished to give it a gently domed appearance that creates unique light effects. Using black enamels, the Artisan then uses the same process to reproduce the "L.U.CHOPARD" logo along with the railway-track circle and Arabic numerals indicating the minutes.
The hours appear through an aperture positioned at 6 o’clock so as to ensure that the minutes hand does not obscure the sight of the hours change, which takes place instantaneously. The rose gold aperture frame accentuates the sobriety of the large black Arabic numerals showing the hours against a white background.
Patience, constancy and meticulousness were essential to the creation of this enamelled dial. The integration of this artistic craft demonstrates Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s desire to make Chopard Manufacture a centre of excellence dedicated to traditional watchmaking expertise.
Precision: Poinçon de Genève-certified finishing
The high-quality work devoted to the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 has earned it the Poinçon de Genève. Governed by strict criteria of excellence, this highly coveted label is awarded exclusively to a few watchmaking creations whose beauty provides the perfect setting for a flawlessly functioning mechanism. It guarantees not only the quality, precision and reliability of the movement and the watch as a whole, but also ensures that the assembly was carried out in the canton of Geneva, the historical cradle of Fine Watchmaking.
Precise adjustments, wearer comfort and readability, movement bridges entirely adorned with the Côtes de Genève motif and finely bevelled components: these are the characteristics that make the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 a refined timepiece from both aesthetic and technical standpoints.
A blend of heritage and tradition: 25 years of the L.U.C collection
Since 1996, Chopard Manufacture has been perpetuating watchmaking expertise and reflecting the inspired vision of Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, committed to the quest for innovation and to defending the heritage passed on through generations of watchmakers – true artisans of watchmaking emotions – and passed on since the time of Louis-Ulysse Chopard, founder of the Maison in 1860.
Movement development, finished product design, gold smelting, case stamping and machining, calibre components, engraving and traditional hand-crafted finishes, Grand Feu enamel, surface treatments, polishing, assembly, adjustments and quality controls: its Swiss workshops in Geneva and Fleurier enable Chopard to master the full range of watch production operations involved in each creation of the L.U.C collection.
The work of experienced artisans, these timepieces whose simple and pure design expresses a high degree of mechanical sophistication beat to the rhythm of the emotions experienced by the contemporary gentlemen for whom they are intended: men distinguished by their attachment to art and expertise, watchmaking enthusiasts who lead their lives with boldness and passion.
