Chopard L.U.C Full Strike Yellow Gold

At the peak of complicated watchmaking, there is the minute repeater. A mechanism that chimes the hour and minutes with a push, the minute repeater complication is grounded in the demand to read the time before the existence of electricity. This mechanical-acoustic solution to darkness kept pocket watch owners aware of the time well before the complication was miniaturized in wristwatch form in the late 1800s. A part of watchmaking’s history with minute repeaters, we have the privilege of presenting one of the most exceptional chiming timepieces – the Full Strike Revelation in yellow gold by Chopard L.U.C.

Launched originally in 2016, Chopard L.U.C. reimagined the minute repeater complication, bringing it firmly into the 21st century. Rather than craft the gongs from metal, the brand decided to create a monobloc sapphire crystal and gong assembly. Both the gongs and the sapphire crystal on the dial-side of the timepiece form a single, three-dimensional piece. This innovative approach to crystal-clear minute repeater acoustics won the Full Strike the highest award in watchmaking in 2017, the Aiguille d’Or Award at GPHG 2017. 

A few things to note on this timepiece, the energy for the minute repeater is stored in the barrel. Usually, minute repeaters run off of the energy produced by sliding an actuator. Here, the movement is wound by the crown in one direction and the minute repeater is wound by the same crown in the opposite direction. The advantage is primarily design – the pusher to activate the minute repeater is more subtle on the case. The architecture of calibre L.U.C 08.01-L with its stacked hours, minutes, and quarters gears ensures that there are no long silences between chimes. Normally a hallmark of minute repeaters, there are no pauses between chimes on the Full Strike – a beautiful cadence ensures with the push of a button. 

Superbly designed with a view of the movement’s complexity through the dial, the Full Strike is an extremely wearable, highly complicated timepiece at 42.5mm in diameter and 11.55mm in thickness. The movement is COSC-certified and bears the Geneva Seal while the finishing is everything one would expect from an ultra-complicated timepiece. Limited to 20 pieces, this timepiece is available now.