Hands-On With The Chopard L.U.C. Engine One H Tourbillon Timepiece
Remember our previous article on the Chopard L.U.C. Engine One by our contributor Angus Davies? Earlier this year, during BaselWorld, we got acquainted with the Chopard L.U.C. Engine One H Tourbillon in titanium. Limited to 100 pieces only.
L.U.C. Engine One H Tourbillon
The L.U.C. collection of Chopard is – as you probably know already – their most prestigious selection of watches that are being manufactured in their Chopard facility in Fleurier, Switzerland.
The Chopard L.U.C. Engine One H Tourbillon has more or less the same appearance as the previous discussed Engine One Tourbillon, but with a different shaped case. Clearly influenced by racing cars, the dial had a number of red accents and the caliber L.U.C 04.02-L movement has some referrals to a car engine as well. The finish of the movement shows some resemblance with engines of sports cars with the engraved grooves and the shapes of the bridges.
The handwound movement is also chronometer certified by COSC, which means it performs with a maximum deviation of -6 and +4 seconds a day. The winding crown is located at 12 o’clock and when fully wound, the movement has a power reserve of 60 hours.
Titanium H Shaped Case
The light-weight titanium case is really pleasing for the eyes and comfortable on the wrist. With case dimensions of 35mm x 44.5mm this piece, it sits perfectly on the wrist.
On the left, at 9 o’clock you will find a power reserve indicator. Since it is a manual wind watch, it definitely has real functionality (I never get the power reserve indicator on an automatic watch, really) and indicates the power reserve between empty and full (60 hours). Positioned on the right is the tourbillon, rotating once every 60 seconds.
The ‘LUC Chopard’ name plate and the bridge below clearly show the influence of racing car engines again. Although the minute hand is a bit short when it comes to indicating the 15 and 45 minutes on the dial, it didn’t bother me when wearing it. The industrial looking racing dial seems to compensate for it.
The H shaped case is made out of titanium, and is – as you can see – finished with a high polish as well as with some satin finished parts. The polished parts look like steel – which I prefer to the darker titanium look – but make the watch much lighter and therefore more comfortable on the wrist. Perfect for race car drivers.
The strap of the Chopard LUC Engine One H Tourbillon is a beautiful black leather example with padded ‘racing’ grooves that closes with a normal tang buckle.
With only a limited production run of 100 pieces, this watch will probably become a sought-after piece by (L.U.C) tourbillon collectors. We’ve understood that Chopard will start to deliver the L.U.C. Engine One H Tourbillon in the next coming days. This also explains why the Engine One H Tourbillon is not shown on the official Chopard website yet. Keep an eye on it in the coming weeks.
List price is set to EUR 67’300.-
