Pair of Aces
Chopard pays homage to its founder as it celebrates two decades of its in-house movement 118
his month, chopard celebrates two decades of Swiss watch-making excellence and precision. More than 20 years ago, Karl-friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, was inspired to revive the watchmaking heritage of the company’s founding father, Louis-ulysse Chopard. His idea would come to life in 1996 and recapture Chopard’s position at the top of the horology world.
Scheufele took it upon himself to set up a full-fledged watch Manufacture in Fleurier, the historical home of Swiss watchmaking. Scheufele toiled to overcome various hurdles and made sure Chopard was recognised as a Manufacture. To be recognised as a Manufacture, one criterion had to be fulfilled: to be able to produce at least one in-house mechanical movement. Under the guidance of Scheufele, this goal was achieved within three years. To mark this momentous occasion, Chopard has launched two remarkable timepieces.
L.U.C Time Traveler One
The Time Traveler One is the first worldtime watch in the L.U.C. collection. It is the ultimate watch for travellers as it simultaneously tracks the time in every time zone across the planet. Stay in touch with all four corners of the earth with this exceptional timepiece. Working in the same way as the earth’s atmosphere, the L.U.C. Time Traveler One operates in concentric layers. A discreet central hand indicates the date, while a surrounding railway track circle serves to read off the hours and minutes of the local time zone— swept over by Dauphinetype hands that have become signature of the L.U.C Collection. A large 24-hour graduated ring operates in coordination with the disc bearing the reference cities symbolising the main 24 time zones. Once they are synchronised with the local time zone, travellers will have no trouble reading off the globe, even with successive changes of location and pace.
L.U.C GMT One
The introduction of the GMT One continues Chopard’s 20th anniversary celebration of the Chopard Manufacture. The distinguished GMT One is the first L.U.C watch to feature a dual-time function built into the movement. The GMT function displays a second time zone and tells the time in any place under any circumstance. The timepiece adjusts to local time while keeping track of time back home when travelling.
The stunning stainless steel GMT One comes with a sunburst black dial rimmed by slate grey serves to show the 24 hours of a day, with daytime hours being shown in white and night hours shown in orange. The sheer elegance of its modern design and finely crafted finishes, along with the practical nature of its horological complication, make the GMT One a standout watch for the gentleman globetrotter.
What is your take on Damiani’s collection and the way they make their pieces? (HN) When I visited their factory in Italy, I paid close attention to detail and communicated with the craftsmen on a deep level of understanding. I was also able to provide them with my experiences, which transpired into some of the items we see in the Metropolitan Dream by Nakata collection. It’s not about designing jewellery, it’s more than that.
Did you face any challenges with the collaboration? (HN) Yes, I did. I had no experience in designing and in the market so where those areas were concerned I couldn’t help much. However, I did pitch in ideas and directed the craftsmen and the team to design the products suited for the collection.