Exclusive Video: The Beautiful Music of Chopard’s New L.U.C Grand Strike
The new L.U.C Grand Strike is not only an ode to the current state-of-the-art for chiming watches, but it’s also the most complicated watch Chopard has ever created. Watchonista’s Ash Longet recently met with Karl-Fritz Scheufele to catch the tune.
By Mike Espindle
Executive Editor
From a technical standpoint, the masterful L.U.C Grand Strike, which Chopard unveiled during Dubai Watch Week last month, stands out as an homage to the origins, heritage, craftsmanship, and sonic appeal of chiming watches, with some of the brand’s proprietary modern acoustic science rolled in, to boot.
Over 11,000 hours of research and development and a total of 10 patents were required to create a watch in which all three classic chiming variations – a minute repeater, petite sonnerie, and grand sonnerie - and a silent mode can live comfortably in a single timepiece on your wrist and sound, well, beautiful.
What’s more, Chopard’s unique (i.e., proprietary), cutting-edge monobloc sapphire crystal gong technology contributes to this musical flexibility. The dial crystal and gongs are machined from a single piece of sapphire crystal, which reduces the acoustic interference generated by traditional metal gongs beneath a crystal.
As a result, this so-called “Sound of Eternity” approach means you will hear a more direct, clearer, and purer tonal resonance every time it strikes. Enjoy the video, and do yourself a favor and turn up the volume!
For more information, check out the Chopard website.