Chopard Celebrates The 30th Anniversary Of Its Manufacture With The Stunning L.U.C Grand Strike

As 2025 draws to a close, we are slowly getting ready to look back at some of this year’s best releases. But the wonderful people at Chopard said, “Hold your horses! We are not done yet.” With the stunning L.U.C Grand Strike, the brand celebrates the 30th anniversary of its manufacture in style. Incidentally, it is one of this year’s horological highlights. The L.U.C Grand Strike is the outcome of more than 11,000 hours of focused research and development. The result is a wonderfully complicated watch with a grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, and minute repeater. On top of that, it is an effortlessly elegant timepiece that makes for an impressive celebratory statement.

Simply reading through the press materials is a remarkable historical journey through three decades of Chopard innovation and watchmaking excellence. It makes it hard to break it down into an introduction article that does both the manufacture and the watch justice. That’s because the L.U.C Grand Strike is literally the culmination of a series of in-house technological developments that have been showcased in a range of Chopard timepieces over the past 30 years. Let’s take a concise trip through the Chopard archives.

Understanding the background of the Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike

To understand the history of this new L.U.C. Grand Strike, we have to walk two paths in Chopard Manufacture’s history. The first is the brand’s history in chiming watches. When Chopard Manufacture first opened three decades ago, Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele led the manufacture on its first steps into the domain of chiming watches. Through a series of remarkable chiming releases, including the L.U.C Strike One from 2006 and the L.U.C Full Strike from 2016, the path has led to today’s L.U.C Grand Strike.

These two timepieces were pivotal in the development of the brand’s chiming watches. The first opened the door for Mr. Scheufele’s idea to create Chopard’s very own movement featuring a grande sonnerie. The second was the world’s first chiming watch that struck the hours, quarters, and minutes on gongs made of sapphire crystal instead of steel. By combining those two stories, you get the first path that led to the creation of the L.U.C Grand Strike, which offers an unobstructed view of its revolutionary chiming mechanism.

The story continues…

The second path was influenced by Chopard’s relentless pursuit of strict performance standards. If you are a Chopard enthusiast, you are aware of the brand’s rigorous in-house caliber testing and certification through bodies like the Poinçon de Genève and the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC). One of the impressive examples of this quest for accuracy was the 2012 L.U.C 8HF. This watch featured a caliber beating at 8 Hz (57,600 vibrations per hour) and was the first high-frequency escapement to receive COSC chronometer certification.

It started the story of an ever-increasing number of impressive watches produced according to the brand’s strict performance standards. This is the second historical path that played a part in the creation of this L.U.C Grand Strike. As you might know, all sonnerie watches use a multi-barrel construction to power the caliber and the chiming mechanism. With Chopard’s extensive knowledge of advanced power distribution systems, exemplified by the four-barrel L.U.C Quattro, the brand was able to merge the two historical paths seamlessly.

The 60-second tourbillon, located at the 6 o’clock position, serves as a visual reminder of the COSC-certified performance of the movement. Combined into the new L.U.C Grand Strike, all these elements create a watch that tells a story of three decades of in-house technological development.

The details of the new Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike

Let’s look at the L.U.C Grand Strike in a bit more depth. The watch features a 43mm case crafted from ethically sourced 18K white gold. This elegantly shaped case has a 14.08mm profile and features a crown with an integrated strikework pusher. Positioned just above the crown is the sliding selector switch. It lets you switch between the three sonnerie modes – Grande Sonnerie (G), Petite Sonnerie (P), and Silence (S).

The case features a vertically satin-brushed case band, while the bezel and case back’s high-polished finishes bring extra visual brilliance. Thanks to the sapphire display in the hand-engraved case back, owners and admirers can also get a great view of the intricate inner workings of this complex chiming watch from the rear.

The Chopard L.U.C 08.03-L

The in-house L.U.C 08.03-L caliber, which makes all the magic possible, features a two-barrel construction and comprises 686 meticulously finished parts. The mainplate and bridges are German silver, and the latter display Côtes de Genève. Furthermore, the tourbillon bridge is crafted from mirror-polished stainless steel for extra visual impact. The balance spring features a Phillips terminal curve for increased accuracy. Additionally, the caliber boasts the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark, indicating the rigorous testing it has passed.

The manual-winding caliber operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour, has 67 jewels, and offers 70 hours of power reserve. Additionally, the sonnerie has a minimum power reserve of 12 hours in the Grande Sonnerie mode.

The technical magic is nothing short of impressive

If you look closely, you will see that a small seconds indicator tops the 60-second tourbillon. Not only does it show you immediately whether the watch is running, but it also serves as a subtle sign of the caliber’s timekeeping precision. Additionally, when you pull out the crown, it will stop the balance and the seconds hand, allowing you to accurately set the time.

Allow me to give you an idea of the impressive precision of the watch. The caliber was awarded the COSC certification when tested in Petite Sonnerie mode. This feat might seem less remarkable than it would in Grande Sonnerie mode, but you would be mistaken. In the Petite Sonnerie mode, the mechanism halts the chiming system to prevent it from striking the hours at the quarters. As you will understand, this requires extra energy and effectively shortens the power reserve.

The Grand Strike is all about a crystal-clear sound

Chopard developed and now harnesses all that technical mastery to create a watch that sounds wonderfully crisp when it is chiming. As already mentioned, the technique used to optimize the sound is a sapphire crystal chiming system that separates itself from traditional systems using steel gongs. First, Chopard’s proprietary chiming system combines the gongs and dial crystal, which are machined out of a single piece of sapphire crystal. This drastically improves the clarity and tonal purity of the chime.

Secondly, the crystal gongs have a different shape. Traditional gongs have a round cross-section, whereas Chopard’s sapphire gongs have a square one. The first of two advantages of using that shape is an increased area of contact between the sonnerie hammers and the gongs, which leads to greater efficiency in energy transfer. The second benefit is the acoustic properties of a square cross-section. The complex vibrational pattern results in a rich chime that sounds beautifully layered.

The chiming mechanism strikes a special chord

Chopard’s chiming system has a distinct sound due to the sapphire crystal, and unlike steel, this material cannot be deformed thanks to its exceptional hardness. As a result, the characteristic sound is always the same. It’s a feat unmatched by stainless steel gongs. So, how does all of this sound?

You would think that it’s a matter of hearing it. You would not be wrong. However, Chopard provides insight, as the notes played by the L.U.C Grand Strike are tuned to produce a C#–F♮chord. This chord was chosen explicitly because our brains interpret it as conveying stability and unity. A nice detail is that Mr. Scheufele will test each L.U.C Grand Strike himself, ensuring it receives his approval before leaving the manufacture.

Final thoughts on the new Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike

All in all, this new Chopard L.U.C Grand Strike is the perfect timepiece to kick off the brand’s 2026 celebrations. However, there is more to the watch than its technical story and 10 patents, five of which were specifically developed for this watch. On top of being a stunning piece of high horology, this new L.U.C Grand Strike is also very wearable. My fellow Fratello writer Daan had an opportunity to try one and was seriously impressed by the spot-on proportions and comfort.

It shows that Chopard never creates watches just to impress. There is always a personal story behind the technological developments that will benefit the wearer. It’s why so many enthusiasts love the brand. I, for one, am one of them. Chopard has consistently impressed me over the past few years with stunning, technically impressive watches that I could see myself wearing. As a result, there is a connection that is hard to beat. Surely, this new L.U.C Grand Strike will only land on the wrists of a few fortunate owners who will pay approximately CHF 800,000 for it. But what they’ll get in return is a stunning timepiece that is one of this year’s late highlights. What a way to kick off 2026 for Chopard!