Chopard celebrated the 30th anniversary of its manufacture in 2026. To commemorate this milestone, they released the "LUC Grand Strike," equipped with a grand sonnerie, petite sonnerie, and minute repeater. The base model was the "LUC Full Strike" from 2016. Chopard spent time refining the mechanism, finally creating this masterpiece.
A grand complication combining a grand sonnerie, petite sonnerie, minute repeater, and tourbillon. While retaining the large, clear sound of the "LUC Full Strike," durability and safety have been further improved. Manual winding (Cal.LUC 08.03-L). 67 jewels. 28,800 vibrations/hour. Power reserve approximately 70 hours. 18K ethical white gold case (43mm diameter, 14.08mm thickness). Estimated price: 134,277,000 yen (including tax).
Text by Masayuki Hirota (Chronos-Japan)
Edited by Yuzo Takeishi
Edited by Yuzo Takeishi
[Article published in the July 2026 issue of Kronos Japan]
The vibrant sound is evidence of advanced watchmaking technology.
"Watchmaking is like winemaking." Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, once told me this. However, it's not simply a matter of taking your time. Take winemaking, for example. After acquiring Château Monestier, he replaced the soil, replanted the vines, and completely revamped the cultivation methods. The style of aiming for the best first, and then allowing it to mature, is the same for watches.
The LUC collection, released by Chopard in 1997 and featuring an in-house movement, was equipped with the historic micro-rotor automatic 1.96 (now LUC 96.01-L). The Quattro, added later with an 8-day power reserve, is also a masterpiece no less impressive than the 1.96. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the manufacture's founding, the company unveiled the "LUC Grand Strike," featuring a grand sonnerie, petite sonnerie, and minute repeater.
Generally, the chimes in watches often have large cases relative to the movement to allow the sound to resonate within the case. In contrast, Chopard's first minute repeater, the "LUC Full Strike," released in 2016, had a movement that was packed almost to the brim of the case. Theoretically, this wouldn't produce any acoustic effect, but instead, it used a single structure consisting of a sapphire crystal and a gong to produce sound. While the design is unconventional, its rationale is evident from the loud volume and the sound, which resembles the flicking of a champagne glass.
The Grand Strike can be described as a "refined" version of the Full Strike. It features three modes: Grand Sonnerie, which sounds the time every hour and 15 minutes; Petit Sonnerie, which sounds every hour and 15 minutes; and Minute Repeater, which can play sounds on demand.
The Full Strike, with its inherently large movement, offers high design expandability. In addition, Chopard succeeded in not only narrowing the gap in the repeater sound but also creating more space by making the comb teeth that drive the gong more compact. Adding the sonnerie to this setup is entirely natural. By repurposing the tourbillon used in the limited edition "LUC Full Strike Tourbillon," they were able to make the gear train smaller and effortlessly create space for the sonnerie mechanism. Incidentally, when the Full Strike was announced, I asked Chopard why they were using a separate mainspring for the repeater. One reason was to ensure water resistance, and another was that it would serve as the base for the sonnerie. In other words, the company spent 10 years perfecting the sonnerie.
Furthermore, the reason why more than 11,000 hours were spent on research and development before the product was commercialized was to enhance its practicality as a wristwatch. To prevent accidental operation, Chopard added multiple safety mechanisms to the control system, and the single-structure crystal and sapphire gong underwent more than 500,000 durability tests. The same was true for the sonnerie mechanism, with each of the two sonnerie modes undergoing 62,400 operation tests. The perception that chimes are fragile does not apply to this watch.
Chopard's approach is to create an excellent base and allow it to mature over time. This journey has finally culminated in an unprecedented sonnerie. Its level of perfection is simply breathtaking.
