Chopard has become the go-to brand for chiming watches thanks to some extraordinary innovations. And this 43mm white gold L.U.C Grand Strike is its new halo product, combining four complications: a grande sonnerie (striking hours and quarters, every quarter), a petite sonnerie (striking the number of hours only at the full hour, but striking the quarter-hours as they pass), a minute repeater (offering chimes on demand, with a series of sounds for hours, quarters, and minutes), as well as a 60-second tourbillon with stop seconds.
How long has the Louis Ulysse Chopard Grand Strike been in development?
[Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, above] It’s the result of a project that began in 2016 with the Full Strike. As you can imagine, when you work on such innovations you must be rational and efficient, otherwise, you’d have to start from scratch every time. So, I asked the question early on: what if we build on this base and expand it to a Full Strike Tourbillon [which came in 2022], and then a Grand Strike.
Is this your most complicated watch?
I would say it can rival the L.U.C All-in-One, which combines the tourbillon, perpetual calendar, equation of time, and astronomical orbital moon phase. But those are all visual complications, not acoustic ones.
How many customers are there in the world chasing acoustic watches?
It is growing. Since we introduced the Full Strike, we have built 100-plus versions in different series, as well as several unique pieces. I didn’t entirely expect this but apparently the community who likes and collects acoustic watches is flourishing.
Obviously, a minute repeat isn’t a first watch, so are you converting existing customers or attracting new ones?
Both. The Full Strike development has brought us many new clients who never would have considered an L.U.C before and now they also consider other L.U.C.s.
How many patents did you file on this?
For the Full Strike we obtained five and we filed another five on the Grand Strike, so this new watch contains ten.
That’s amazing, is that including those ingenious sapphire gongs?
Yes, integrating the dial and gongs into a single monobloc creates the ultimate experience, and it is the most important feature of our striking watches, as it creates exceptional clarity and resonance.
We love that the Grand Strike is not a limited edition.
It is limited by production though, as we are only able to produce two to three a year. Just assembling the movement takes about two months with 686 parts [see right] coming together to work in harmony.
Chopard has enjoyed exceptional growth over the last three decades, is there a point at which could say that’s enough, let’s slow things down?
Our philosophy is that quality comes before all other considerations, and, especially in this field, we are reviewing the whole L.U.C collection, piece by piece, publication by publication. For example, we introduced the new Perpetual Calendar last year, we reintroduced the Quattro last year, and they’re both more sophisticated in every aspect, but on the other hand we cannot produce as many pieces as before. That’s a theme that carries across the collection. But, at the same time, we have a duty to continue to inspire the younger generation. So, if you see our reworked 36.5mm L.U.C three-hand 1860 in Lucent Steel, it’s a beautiful entry point into high-end watchmaking. What I mean to say is that even if we are upgrading at every level, we won’t lose touch with those entering the world of watchmaking.
What is important to Gen Z: brand, product or movement?
I think the main driver is brand, at least to start with. Recognition, wanting others to see that you have good taste is important and gets new customers into the store. Then you get into products and movements.
Finally, how important is the Middle East to Chopard nowadays?
Very important. We began selling in Saudi and Kuwait in the 1960s, and in the UAE in the 70s. I remember when I first started working with my father in the business, we would come out to the Gulf every year, spending time with our representatives, travelling, visiting clients, and discovering the desert. The US represents around 15 per cent of our business and the Middle East is roughly the same, so it’s important and dear to us.
