The Laings Journal
Chopard honours the 25th anniversary of its L.U.C collection with a series of new chiming timepieces. The acoustic masterpieces are infused with the expertise of brothers and musician maestros, Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, as well as the technical guidance from Chopard Co-President, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.
The first minute repeater from Chopard was released in 2016, demonstrating over six years of work, and was a monumental representation of Chopard’s fine watchmaking. While the introduction of this timepiece was a major accomplishment in the Maison, Chopard continued to strive towards the perfect melody. This year, Chopard welcomes three new chiming timepieces – the L.U.C Strike One, L.U.C Full Strike Sapphire and L.U.C Full Strike Tourbillon models.
In 2018, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele attended a concert by violinist Renaud Capuçon at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad. At this time, Chopard’s Co-President realised the profound impact of these instruments in delivering something more than sound – emotion. Inspired by the beautiful sounds of the Capuçon brothers’, Karl-Freidrich Scheufele invited them to join Chopard in the creation of the new limited series of chiming watches. Accompanied by the expertise of Chopard engineers, the artists drew on their creative strength and sensitivity to fine-tune the sound of the Chopard-patented sapphire, gong and crystal technology. Purer, longer and more harmonious than that of traditional metal repeater mechanism, the sound produced by Chopard’s sapphire gongs evokes a more elusive response, felt through the passion of the artisans who created it.
The result of culminated expertise is a series of chiming watches that unite technique and craftsmanship with emotion – the intangible components posing even greater challenges than the complexity of the craft. Existing minute repeaters from Chopard generate sound by a hammer striking metal gongs. The new trilogy of chiming watches goes beyond this complication, incorporating sapphire gongs, separate from the movement, and an integral part of the glass topping the dial. The introduction of the sapphire gong allows the L.U.C to enter into a journey of eternity, with the technology maintaining a homogeneous sound quality over time. Unlike steel, brass and gold, sapphire gongs are unalterable, resistant to the slow distortions over time of ageing and expanding with heat, allowing the watch to chime beautifully as time passes.
Each of the spectacular timepieces, uniting passions across different disciplines, are part of limited collections which demonstrate an unwavering commitment to constant innovation from Chopard.
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