I am deeply interested in practically every single product which combines the aesthetics with technology. Especially in luxury timepieces, it is essential to have a perfectly working mechanic watch on your wrist accompanied with useful features among reflecting your personal style.
We are safe to say that Chopard products offer the utmost experience of brand prestige and luxury to it’s owner. In the meantime, the brand manages to be at the top level of Swiss Watchmaking with it’s facilities located in one of the most important regions of the industry – Jura, by manufacturing calibers exclusively for the L.U.C. Timepieces.
Before I start with the aesthetics of the watch, I would like to talk about the movement first. The Caliber L.U.C. 96.20-L features 296 hand assembled individual parts. Micro rotor movement offers 65h power reserve when fully wound. Transparent case back allows the user to watch the beautifully finished caliber with Cotes de Geneve decoration.
Thanks to the this stunning caliber, the watch sports several horological features. The big date display function operates through a couple of gears which independent rotate side by side. The display blends nicely with the dial which has a successful lay out.
The most significant mechanical feature of the watch is it’s moon phase indicator. The small indicator located at 7 o’clock side shows the current position on the moon for both southern and northern hemisphere.
In Western culture, the four principal lunar phases are new moon, first quarter, full moon, and third quarter (also known as last quarter). These are the instants when the Moon’s apparent geocentric celestial longitude minus the Sun’s apparent geocentric celestial longitude is 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°, respectively. The lunar cycle is 29.53 days and each of these phases is roughly 7.38 days long, but the durations vary slightly because the Moon’s orbit is slightly elliptical, and thus its speed in orbit is not constant.
Knowing the difficulties in calculating such a complicated period, Chopard engineers employed 135 gears for the moon phase indicator. They claim that the device will work perfectly with an error margin of a day per 122 years..!
The small second placed at 4 o’clock side completes the lay out nicely and allows the user to set the COSC movement precisely.
I personally prefer 40mm diameter timepieces in “dress watch” category which are mostly aimed to match with nice suits. Despite the slightly larger case at 42mm, Chopard L.U.C. Lunar Big Date sits quite nice on the wrist. The case measuring only 11mm thick is offered in 18K white or pink gold. The watch can easily go under a shirt’s cuff and it wears very comfortably. Thanks to it’s gold tones and semi-sportive dial lay out, the watch suits nicely with almost every outfit while being quite a status symbol for the proud owner.
The winding crown of the watch is made of the same type of material with the case. The crown can set time, date and second functions while the moon phase indicator requires the extra pusher for the setting.
The strap makes you feel the overall Chopard quality completely. The front and back sides of the crocodile strap successfully blends prestige with comfort.
Chopard’s choice for employing a standard buckle instead of a folding clasp ( which I believe watches wear far more comfortably this way ) takes the timepiece one more level above in my eyes.
The AR coated sapphire crystal sits over the silver colored dial. The roman numeral index, which adds a stylish touch to the dial, is slightly lost it’s unitary look due to the displays in the lower side. In my opinion, the lack of the 4 and 8 markers and the cut style of the 5 and 8 markers are the only down sides of the watch.
At the end of the day, Lunar Big Date is a seriously considerable option among it’s rivals in a class with heavy competition. The lower production number is a reason for preference for many watch aficionados making the watch is a sophisticated accessory. Bearing slight variations depending on the region, the 30.000usd price tag is also a nice figure compared to it’s rivals.
Let me remind you that the timepiece, which can be found in Chopard Boutiques and Sales Corners is hard to put away after the first moment you strap it to your wrist.
