Chopard

The November 19, 2008 Chopard PuristSPro dinner event was held at the landmark 21 Club restaurant on 21 West 52nd Street in NYC.  21 Club is a 4-story townhouse with 10 private dining rooms, and 30 jockey statues line the staircase and balcony. 

 

I've never been inside 21 Club before in all my 5 years in Manhattan, but I remember walking by this restaurant couple times because it's difficult not to remember those jockey statues outside.

We had the Orchid Room to ourselves that entire night.

Table was immaculately set with rose centerpieces which were offered to any guests who wanted to take them home at the end of the night.

The entire room had pictures of orchids on the walls, and the above orchid plant had numerous bulbs and was a elegant and beautiful sight to see.

 

The table settings were immaculately set with name cards, boxes of lovely Chopard chocolates, and menus printed on high quality thick cardboard.  I was very impressed, and this surely was Chopard style. 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-11-22 11:43:08 This message has been edited by ThomasM on 2008-11-23 07:02:27

Here is Susan Duffy, executive Director of Marketing & Advertising at Chopard NA, and the gentleman wearing the orange necktie is Patrick Wehrli, Global L.U.C Ambassador.  This was my first time meeting Patrick in person, but it seemed as if I knew him already through our virtual world correspondance.  Plus, he read my PPro interview which was posted earlier this year, so it seemed as if we were already long time acquaitances. 

Susan began setting up the Chopard displays and trays with the help of other Chopard staff who left before the cocktail reception start of 6pm.

Look at all these display trays and watches!  Guess how many watches Chopard brought that night?  I think they may have the PuristSPro all-time record with an impressive 60 watches!  Unfortunately approximately half of the watches didn't have their croc straps because the straps were stuck in customs, so Chopard decided to display only the watches w/ straps.  It was not a big problem since all the "good" pieces had straps.  Nevertheless, a Chopard viewing which will make any Chopard fan drool.

Setup of the display table is complete, and Susan covers it all up.  Patrick didn't want anyone viewing the watches until after his presentation, so that meant no touching or massaging the watches during the cocktail reception which starts in 15 minutes.  That is very cruel of you Patrick   Making us PuristS wait and salivate when we know there are watches under the white cloth!

Susan and Patrick are going over last minute details.  On the right is Prerna Balani, Marketing Coordinator of Chopard NA.

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-11-22 13:01:22

 Tony Rinella and his lovely wife Angela were the first to arrive.  Tony wore his recently acquired Panerai chrono PAM122, and Patrick was eager to try it on his wrist.  Those who are struck with the deadly Panerai virus all know resistance is futile!

Here's Chopard NA President & CEO Marc Hruschka meeting and greeting the PuristS guests.  Mark Furman (on left) is captivated with Marc's eloquence and towering presence.

Here's one of the hors d'oeuvres of the evening which was fried shrimp coated w/ a beer-like crispy batter.

Here's Susan chatting with Bob White.

Patrick, Douglas McFarland, and Anna Z are enjoying their cocktails.  Douglas and Anna took a red eye flight in that morning and were extremely exhausted, so thanks for making it to the event!

These pigs in the blanket w/ sauerkraut and mustard were scrumptous.  The blanket was thin and flaky and definitely much better than the pigs in the blanket my mom used to make using Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls & hot dogs for me when I was a little kid.

I didn't get a chance to eat this hors d'oeuvres since I was too busy snapping pictures but it sure looks delicious.

Ahhh another plate of shrimps.  Yum!  Save some for me please!

Here are Catherine Bové Muller, Boutique Director of Chopard's recently opened NYC Boutique on 709 Madison Ave., and Vicky Tam, Assistant Manager of NYC Boutique.  If I remember correctly, Catherine has been with Chopard for 7 years.  For pictures of the Chopard NYC Boutique opening last November, please CLICK HERE . 

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-11-22 11:47:07

Everyone took their seats, and we were waiting for a couple more PuristS to arrive as some were running a little late.  Patrick Wehrli sat at the center of the table and posed for a quick picture when he saw I was pointing the camera at him. 

Here's PuristS Edward Etkin and his father.  Edward said he got his dad hooked on watches very recently, and this was his dad's first watch event.  And I hope it's the first of many to come!

Here is Purist Jonathan Zhang (back pictured) and his wife Han.

Our site founder Dr. Thomas Mao gave the opening speech.  Edward and his father listened with great anticipation as Thomas explained why he took a chance with opening up a Chopard forum on PuristS and how he truly believed in the L.U.C line.

Jonathan, Han, and Marc Hruschka listening to Thomas talking about the financial markets, accuracy of cell phone clocks, "timepieces", and then introducing Marc, President and CEO of Chopard NA.

Anna Z and Catherine Muller listening intently with beautiful smiles.

Marc then spoke briefly on how Chopard is a unique and rare brand with both a jewelry business as well as high-end watchmaking business.

Next was our special guest of honor Patrick Wehrli, Global L.U.C Ambassador.  Patrick used to be watchmaker before and is a very eloquent and passionate speaker.  He starts off by giving us an analogy of why Chopard is like a beautiful bouquet of flowers - one flower represents the jewelry aspect and another flower, which is his favorite, represents the L.U.C line.

Patrick states each year Chopard sells 75,000 pieces of jewelry and 75,000 watches, and of the 75k watches, a little less than 4,000 are L.U.C watches.  Chopard has 3 factories - the headquaters in Geneva, a factory in Germany, and 3rd factory for the L.U.C line.

Here are pictures of Patrick's power point presentation.  For those who don't know, L.U.C stands for Louis-Ulysse Chopard who founded Chopard in 1860.  And the reason why there is a bee hive in the L.U.C logo is because in 1860, some of the family members were bee keepers who made honey. 

Patrick explains why Chopard needs to outsource its croc leather because it's too cold for the crocodiles in Geneva :P  If the L.U.C watch comes with a croc strap, it's a hand-stitched croc strap, and all Geneva Seal models have dials made of solid gold. 

Patrick using his jacket and tie as tie-in with L.U.C watches and their finishing.  All L.U.C movements are completely decorated everywhere on the front, back, and inside of the movement.

Xuejie Wong listening closely to Patrick describing how Chopard buys its own gold and platinum bars and makes its own cases, movements, and buckles.

Patrick shows us a block of surgical steel and how Chopard makes its own watch cases.

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-11-22 14:47:25

Gentlemen,

It looks like it was a wonderful evening, too bad I could not attend.

I now can place the face of Mr. Hruschka who resolved  a delicate after sales scenario.

Best,

MSB

L.U.C Twist Tourbillon

 

L.U.C Quattro Tourbillon movement - calibre L.U.C 1.02

 

L.U.C Regulator

L.U.C Pro One GMT

L.U.C Pro One GMT

L.U.C Classic

L.U.C Classic

L.U.C Twin Jose Carreras

L.U.C Twin Jose Carreras

L.U.C Lunar One

L.U.C Strike One

L.U.C Chrono One

L.U.C Pro One

 

L.U.C Tourbillon

The L.U.C Strike One looks great on Xuejie's female wrist

 

L.U.C Classic

 

L.U.C Quattro movement - calibre L.U.C 1.98

 

calibre L.U.C 1.96

 

L.U.C Tonneau

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-11-22 12:58:54 This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2009-04-10 13:29:02

i see one i like and then i can never find it again....

i went to the chopard store in Vegas at the Caesars palace forum shops.. and tried to explain the piece i wanted and got nowhere with it.. they didnt even have a catalog of all pieces produced on hand.. :-(

do they even make a book of all pieces made?

There is definitely a concerted effort to bring the boutiques up to speed on the LUC line, and product literature and catalogs are forthcoming, if not available already.

Check again when you next have a chance; or call the flagship NYC boutique.

TM

moonphase, it is the perpetual calender Lunar One.  This model, the monthly output is on average 6 pieces.
As Thomas highlighted, better chance of the piece available for viewing at the flagship boutiques and also pick up a catalogue for L.U.C.

For quick and specific info, please let me, I could forward you some.

Kong

but there was another model i saw maybe 6 months ago, pretty sure was LUC and it had microrotor... was gorgeous and thats what i wanted when i stopped at chopard but i cant till this day figure out which model it was.. makes me upset..... one day ill find it i guess.. that moonphase is gorgeous tho.. does the entire moon rotate around the subdial? ive seen pics with moon on left and others with moon on right so im guessing the whole thing rotates?

The link is : click here


Kong

cant figure out which now.. i realy like a friends tec twist.. BUT thats not the one i saw in past i know for a fact the one i liked had cal 1.96 with the micro rotor tho... ill find it.. eventually..

all the models  are posted (except for the RG case) :

chopard.watchprosite.com

Kong
This message has been edited by Kong on 2008-11-27 23:36:10

The above is the menu for the night.  The white wine served was a 2006 Puligny-Montrachet, Jean-Louise Chavy.  Red wine was a 2004 Nebbiolo d'Alba, 'Valmaggiore', Luciano Sandrone.  I felt the white was better than the red.

 

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-11-22 12:03:34

 

Chopard Team (L-R) - Catherine Muller, Susan Duffy, Marc Hruschka, Patrick Wehrli, Vicky Tam

Many thanks to the entire Chopard team for the great event!

Best regards,
Anthony

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2008-11-22 13:10:00

Thanks so much much for this vicarious pleasure!  I'm really sorry I missed it. Toronto isn't that far away, but, alas, work was pressing.
Patrick was a great host on the visit to the Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier (Time Zone tour 2007). It would have been nice to see him again.
The watches are magnificent and I saw examples of all my Chopard watches there (5). The Boutique on Madison Ave. is great and the people at the service facility on 63rd St. are first rate.
All in all a class act from Chopard, mirrored in this terrific evening.
Thanks again for sharing.
Regards,
Joseph

remain personal and passionate.

 

Kudos!

TM

Angela and I had a great time! Thanks to Anthony, Thomas, and Chopard for making this a first class event!

Tony

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Chopard LUC watches are some of my favorites and I believe they are still underrated by the collector community. ,
My career has taken me to the Windy City, so I am afraid that I probably will not be able to make it to many NYC events. My best to all NY Purists.

Best,
Mitch

Of course, such professional reporting would not have taken place without the hard work of this fine gentleman:

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Anthony!

Thank you Thomas and Chopard for an enjoyable and informative evening!

Cheers,

Jon (Z3)

 

of event all the way from across the country just to cover the event, then went back the FOLLOWING MORNING!  Now that's dedication!

Thanks, Anthony!

Jon, it was great seeing you; next time, we've got to find time to talk more.

Facilitator...LOL! I haven't heard that one in a very long time!

TM

Your reaction was priceless when the word "Facilitator" was dropped!!! Now you guys must know how I feel when I get on her bad side!

Tony

Wonderful venue.
No other way to complete the event without the 50+ pieces of L.U.Cs . 
Seeing them is believing and touching makes them real!

Any favorite pieces for the evening?

Kong

The L.U.C Classic was amazing.  I usually always prefer white gold over yellow gold, but the YG Classic was simply beautiful.  Clean and elegant with a touch of zing to it cause of the curvy hour numerals.   I like L.U.C Classic dial design not only because it's clean and simple, but because it isn't the usual boring (IMO of course) traditional design found in many respected traditional design brands and has a unique modern twist to it.

The Chrono One just looks SOOOO beautiful in person!  I wish there were a WG version there to touch since prefer white metals.  I've seen a fellow PuristS' limited edition WG Chrono One but the look isn't the same since the regular WG model has no sapphire display.  Awesome dial design, and the watch sparkles when you look at it!

The Lunar One is an instantaneous perp calendar and has a really legible dial, considering all the displays on the watch.  It's a little too small for my preference but those who like a smaller watch will find the Lunar One perfect.

And I also loved the WG Hour Striker.  I always love "ding-dong" watches and this one only dings on the hour but nevertheless, I still classify it as a ding-dong watch.  The Hour Striker it a poor man's minute repeater IMO and something I will consider when I buy my first ding-dong watch.  I wish other brands would make Hour Striker models since the current availability of various Hour Striker models is very limited.

Cheers,
AT

Surprised to hear that the regular WG Chrono has no sapphire display... are you referring to the see-through caseback?

It should have.   Perhaps you are refering to the subdials.

Thanks.
Kong

This message has been edited by Kong on 2008-11-23 19:52:39

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are Pro One on the bracelet with the white dial and the Lunar one in rose gold. Both are on want to buy list!

Tony

I think the "favourite" you are referring to above is also known as the "Extra Plate"...or is it a separate model again?

Anyway, it's really a very fine and elegant design - the best of Chopard. (More on this elsewhere...)

Cheers
Tony P