Chopard

The movement is not as highly decorated as in a LUC watch, of course, but features all the relevant characteristics, nonetheless. A column wheel vertical clutch design, 45 jewels, over 60h power reserve... And a major upgrade when compared to the ETA based predecessors. 

The case seems truly gigantic for someone of feeble wrists like me. It has a diameter of 46mm, and I was truly interested if it would hang over my wrist like an adult's watch on a child Turns out it's nowhere nearly as bad and that the lugs conspire to make it a comfortable fit. Chopard definitely makes it possible for me to wear larger watches than I'm used to Still, I would have preferred it to be 2-4mm smaller - the movement would surely fit in a smaller design (Chrono One is 42mm). As it is, the size fits on the wrist but makes the watch appear sportier in my opinion - very much a weekend watch at my wrist size...

I guess the date will bother some but luckily it is on a dial coloured disc in this case (unlike the 2014 Edition, for instance). The dial design IMHO fits the MM bill perfectly, especially the pre-WW2 era. Bold numerals with excellent lume, nice hands, good legibility.

Finally, as usual, the strap is supremely comfortable. Judging by the Barenia on my wife's 2014, it should be very comfortable in summer, too - and show a relatively good longevity / robustness. Unusual size at 22/20, though. I'm actually thinking of getting it as a summer strap for the Chrono One (unfortunately I'm a bit late, as the summer vacation seems to already have started at the Manufacture, so the express 14 day strap making is not available till September or so). 

So if you always liked the looks of MM chronos but were deterred by the movement, now's a good time. There are only 1.000 pieces in SS available (about half as many as previous Race Editions) and I can imagine they'll go fast. Certainly a decent deal for an in-house chrono with this level of finish and the provenance. 

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