Even I have been guilty ...

... of letting the success of Chopard jewelry and fashion overwhelm my opinion of the watchmaking. But Chopard have been making watches since 1860, and under the Scheufele family since 1963. Two owners in more than 150 years is not insignificant in this industry. And Chopard have a very long term view on the company, vertical integration, independent verification of their products (via VOSC, Geneva Seal and QF) and a very high standard of design and finish. It is here that I see their skills as jewelers and metalworkers and designers positively influencing the watchmaking. They even smelt their own gold, and there are not many in the industry that do that.

Next time you get the opportunity, walk into a large Chopard Boutique with a 10x loupe and ask to see some of the L.U.C pieces. You will be impressed, as I have been.

Regards

Andrew

The development of the L.U.C. 1963 Chrono PuristS Edition

By: AndrewD : April 10th, 2014-04:16

It is very exciting to see the Chopard L.U.C. 1963 Chrono PuristS Edition come to fruition. I was able to speak with Guy Bove back in November 2012 during the early design and development stages. Guy is Director of Product Development and is deeply involv...

Pity ...

By: Marcus Hanke : April 10th, 2014-05:16

... that the Luminova was apparently deleted on the production timepiece, especially when legibility was a major driving force behind the design. With luminous material on the hands, it would not be a problem if the rest is rhodium-plated or diamond-polis...

There are a few specific reasons for the hand colour and design

By: MTF : April 10th, 2014-09:39

I will let Messrs Bove and Daley explain the design reasons but from my perspective, Mr Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and I shared one driving ambition for the LUC 1963 Chronograph HW PuristS Edition: it has to be "a pure distillation of the function and form ...

Never underestimate our criminal energy ...

By: Marcus Hanke : April 10th, 2014-12:10

... prowling through the night, with our faithful black dog on side, following a second-critical plan to acquire the Topkapi dagger ... :) Marcus

Correction:

By: AndrewD : April 10th, 2014-16:17

Hi Marcus, Guy Bove has provided more detail below on the hand design . My apologies for the confusion regarding SLN and I have edited the text of the interview to correct this. Guy did go on to say in his reply to our questions … “ Understanding that we ...

Very nice - questions?

By: timctang : April 10th, 2014-08:39

Awesome post, Andrew! Thanks! Questions: 1) On the final watch, will the hour, minute and second hands be "white white" or "white metal" as in white gold or steel? They look like white metal on the prototype. 2) There is talk of Superluminova but is any p...

Some answers on the LUC 1963 Chronograph HW PuristS Edition

By: MTF : April 10th, 2014-09:52

1) On the final watch, will the hour, minute and second hands be "white white" or "white metal" as in white gold or steel? They look like white metal on the prototype. White metal hands as it is conventional at LUC to match the case metal colour. 2) There...

Agree, a dressier version?

By: timctang : April 11th, 2014-06:28

Thanks... I agree. In terms of longevity and color coding separation of feature, a platinum cased version of this watch with white dial, white metal time hands and crown, and rose gold chrono hands and pushers would be very nice.

Thanks for the four questions...

By: patrick_y : April 13th, 2014-06:09

Thanks for asking these questions, one of my own questions were answered in the process!

Comments from Guy Bove regarding hand design:

By: AndrewD : April 10th, 2014-15:36

I passed on the communities questions regarding the hand design to Guy Bove and here is his reply: “Our L.U.C hands are nearly always designed to go with the case colour – here they are rhodium-plated to match the polished steel bezel and, as in all 1963 ...

Thanks Andrew

By: Spellbound : April 10th, 2014-16:25

The most important factor for me in considering a watch is that it should have an exceptionally finished and aesthetically beautiful movement and this watch certainly has that. The only dilemma I have is rose gold vs stainless steel. If you know my collec...

This is a very desirable watch

By: AndrewD : April 10th, 2014-17:05

Hi Dean, I also like the warmth of rose gold, and it always looks great in pictures. I think the movement looks fantastic and particularly in that arena display. I know that the level of finish planned for this watch is very high. Chopard finishing is usu...

Chopard