This Collector-Darling Watch Is Reaching New Heights

The new Grand Strike expands on Chopard’s L.U.C collection, one of the most underrated sets of watches in the industry that has quietly become something of a collector favorite. Enthusiasts love hunting down the original L.U.C 1860 from the 1990s, which laid the foundation for Chopard co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s vision of in-house watchmaking. Meanwhile, this year’s updated L.U.C Quattro and Qualité Fleurier 20th anniversary edition have also become darlings.

Now, Chopard is elevating its L.U.C collection, which shares its initials with brand founder Louis-Ulysse Chopard, by bringing a sonnerie and minute repeater function into the fold. Chiming watches sit near the top of the horological food chain. Like all mechanical watches, their original purpose—telling time in the dark—is now obsolete. They’re a way for top manufacturers to showcase all their complicated watchmaking chops.

The minute repeater on the new Grand Strike is especially pretty. Thanks to the open dial, you can see what lies at the heart of the Grand Strike: a mechanically powered system with two polished steel hammers (visible at 10 o’clock) that automatically chime the hours and quarter hours when in grande sonnerie mode. You can also switch to petite sonnerie, which chimes only the hours on the hour and the quarters at each quarter, or silence it entirely. And if you want to know the time on demand? There’s a minute repeater function to chime whenever you want.

But Chopard’s chiming watches sound different. That’s because, unlike other chiming watches, those steel hammers strike sapphire gongs, an ultra-hard material that makes the chimes louder, crisper, and more resonant than most other minute repeaters.

Chopard first debuted the sapphire-gong tech in 2016 with its L.U.C Full Strike; the Grand Strike builds on that breakthrough. The L.U.C. Grand Strike isn’t just the culmination of Chopard’s sonic innovation. It also marks the 30th anniversary of the Chopard manufacture in Fleurier, Switzerland.