Gentleman Travelers: Chopard’s New L.U.C GMT One and Time Traveler One


This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Chopard Manufacture, which the Swiss brand has commemorated with a number of special timepieces and new product launches (learn more about them here). The latest, announced today, are the first world-time watch in Chopard’s L.U.C collection, the L.U.C Time Traveler One, and the first L.U.C watch with a dual-time function built into the movement, the L.U.C GMT One.

Chopard LUC GMT One - soldier

The Chopard L.U.C GMT One (above; the initials are of the company’s founder, Louis-Ulysse Chopard) is offered in a stainless steel case, with a sunburst black dial rimmed by a snailed chapter ring and a slate gray 24-hour scale divided into white daytime hours and orange nighttime hours; and in an 18k rose gold case with alternating polished and satin-brushed finishes with a half-white, half-brown ring depicting the day and night hours. The case is 42 mm in diameter, 11.71 mm thick, and water-resistant to 50 meters. It has two crowns — one positioned at 2 o’clock to adjust the date and the local time, and another at 4 o’clock to control the second-time-zone setting, indicated by a baton-style, arrow-tipped hand (orange in the steel version, gilt in the gold one) pointing at the 24-hour scale. The Dauphine hour and minute hands are rhodiumed, and Super-LumiNova appears on the hour markers and on the arrow tip of the GMT hand; the date is displayed in a window at 6 o’clock.

Chopard LUC GMT One - dial CU
Chopard LUC GMT One - crown

The watch contains an in-house Chopard movement, Caliber L.U.C 01.10-L, with an integrated GMT function and a 60-hour power reserve. Visible through a clear sapphire caseback, it features automatic winding, 31 jewels, and a frequency of 28,800 vph. Like all L.U.C movements that indicate running seconds, it is a COSC-certified chronometer and boasts a number of decorative finishes, include chamfering on all components and côtes de Genève on the bridges. Both the steel (pictured) and rose gold watches come on alligator leather straps with pin buckles matching the case material. The price of the watch in stainless steel is $9,500; the rose gold version will be available in November.

Chopard LUC GMT One - back

The other new watch is the Chopard L.U.C time Traveler One, whose dial is structured to allow world travelers to keep track of the time in nearly every time zone on earth simultaneously. Reading the indications outward, we start with a small, center-mounted, arrow-tipped hand, tucked behind the Dauphine hour and minute hands, which indicates the date on a 1-31 scale; continue with the local time, indicated on a railway-track circle; and proceed to the graduated 24-hour ring that works in concert with the outermost disk bearing the names of 24 cities representing the 24 main world time zones. The crown at 2 o’clock adjust the local time on the hour and minute hands, while the crown at 4 o’clock synchronizes the world-time disk with the local time, enabling a quick reading of the time in any of the 24 zones at a glance. A stylized globe motif appears on the 4 o’clock crown, while the l.U.C emblem adorns the one at 2 o’clock.

Chopard LUC Time Traveler One - RG soldier

The L.U.C Time Traveler One is available in three case variations, all at 42 mm in diameter and 12.09 mm thick. One is in a stainless steel, with a sunburst, satin-brushed black dial and orange accents for the hands, hour numerals and hour markers; this version’s 24-hour ring is divided into slate gray for nighttime hours and silver-tone for daytime. The 18k rose gold model (above) features a fully silver-toned dial and with a contrasting deep blue half-circle for the nighttime hours on the 24-hour scale. The most precious version, in a platinum case (below), stands out with a blue-gray dial color, with only the half-circle for the daytime hours in contrasting silver tone. Each case has alternating satin-brushed and polished finishes and is water-resistant to 50 meters.

Chopard LUC Time Traveler One - platinum - soldier
Chopard LUC Time Traveler One - platinum - dial CU

The cases also are endowed with sapphire exhibition casebacks through which the wearer can admire the movement, Caliber 01.05-L, which has been entirely developed, produced and finished at Chopard Manufacture in the Swiss town of Fleurier. Like the movement in the GMT One, this self-winding caliber stores a 60-hour power reserve and beats at a frequency of 28,800 vph. Composed of 262 components, including 39 jewels, it boasts a COSC chronometer certification and a host of haute horlogerie finishes, including chamfering and côtes de Genève. All three models are mounted on alligator leather straps with case-material-matching pin buckles. Prices are $12,800 in stainless steel, $22,500 in rose gold, and $35,200 in platinum.

Chopard LUC Time Traveler One - platinum - back
Chopard LUC Time Traveler One - platinum - steel
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