Chopard

quattro_spirit
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Thanks for this in-depth analysis of your thoughts on this watch!

Even though I share some of your enthusiasm, I will personally not pull the trigger on this one, nor on the 1860, both of which I have tried on at W&W where they were presented to me by the late and great Jose Garcia. Let me explain precisely why.

1/ The XPS: there are 2 details which I personally don’t warm up to:

a) The dial color is very pink, a bit too much for my taste (it's really more pink than salmon), and, more importantly, this pink has black as a contrasting color: the iris pattern has black striations, the seconds subdial has a black track, the brand name is black and the minutes track and dots are black. And this contrast of pink and black isn’t to my personal taste. Moreover, the hands and indexes are filled with white luminova, and, for me, this mix of black and white on the dial lacks coherence. It’s the reason why I systematically prefer the versions of the Alpine Eagle with white brand name and minutes track and dots, and why I much prefer the version with flying tourbillon, where the elements of contrast to the blue dial are all white (not to mention the fact that the iris pattern is spreading from the tourbillon and not from the central pinion, which gives this specific dial a very unique dynamic).

b) The small second subdial interrupts the iris pattern and implies the removal of the VI index (which is replaced by a half index, whereas in the tourbillon version there’s no index at all). Some might be very happy with this, but I personally prefer the symmetry of the regular models with the four Roman numerals.

So, for me, the strengths of this watch are the thinness of the case and bezel and the 96.40 L micro rotor caliber. But I find the dial to be a (relative) weakness rather than a strength, given my personal taste. As for the price, I find it very reasonable, not in itself of course, but compared to the competition: a Royal Oak 15550st, which is 9.1mm thick (vs 8.2mm) , has no screw-down crown, an average no-Geneva seal caliber and only 50m of water resistance (vs 100m), retails at 27,300€ (vs 24,900€).

And I would just like to add that, owning a regular grey dial 41mm Alpine Eagle, I can testify that the polished center art of each link of the bracelet is a scratch magnet. But the good point is that, each link being removable, it's possible, despite the absence of a micro-adjustment, to find a perfect fit on the wrist (at least it was for my wrist). And the case being very well designed and quite slim (9.7mm), though thicker than the XPS of course, it sits really flat and nicely on the wrist, and doesn't wear as large as the 41mm would suggest.

2/ The 1860: here again, two points tend to bother me:

a) I found the dial color (which is very different from the Monte Rosa pink of the XPS, being much more copper-like than pink), to be very close to the color of my skin, almost as if I was looking at my wrist through the dial. And I wasn’t completely seduced by that impression: so, the only thing I can say is that this color isn’t what I’m personally looking for.

b) The 1860 has a steel case and this is a no-go for me for two reasons: first, I always prefer colored gold for a dress watch. I know it’s very personal, but white metals, be they gold, platinum or steel, just don’t speak to me as much as yellow or rose gold. I find them cold and distant, metallic, whereas yellow and rose gold have warmth. Secondly, setting aside this question of color, I think such a refined dress watch with a very delicate hand-guilloché dial deserves a precious metal case and not a steel one: so I personally prefer to wait for a gold version which might come someday in the future.

So, here are the little details which will personally keep me away from both the XPS and the 1860. But I still think that they are great and very tempting timepieces in their own way. And it’s very easy for me to understand why they are exactly what others are looking for or what they have been dreaming of!

Have a very nice Christmas Sunday, all of you! 

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