This year, Chopard marks an important milestone for Chopard: the release of its very first, all in-house, perpetual calendar chronograph, the L.U.C. Perpetual Chrono. It is only limites to 20 pieces.

The L.U.C. Perpetual Chrono has as its base a movement that is only two years old: the Chopard L.U.C. 03.07-L, which was introduced in the spring of 2014 in Chopard’s 1963 Chronograph. This is a pretty high grade movement, as you’d expect from the L.U.C. line – a contemporary vertical clutch, column-wheel, hand-wound flyback chronograph movement, 5.62 mm x 28.8 mm, with a variable inertia balance with a 60-hour power reserve, running in 42 jewels, adjusted to five positions. There’s a moonphase display accurate to one day’s error every 122 years. The movement carries the Geneva Hallmark and it’s COSC certified as a chronometer, so it pretty much ticks all the enthusiast boxes.  
The addition of Chopard’s perpetual calendar works has changed the dimensions of the movement slightly. Perpetual calendar chronograph movement L.U.C. 03.10-L is 33 mm x 8.32 mm – for comparison, Patek Philippe’s hand-wound, non-flyback, perpetual calendar chronograph movement, CH 29-535 PS Q, is 32 mm x 7 mm with a 55-hour minimum guaranteed power reserve, as seen in the reference 5270.

The increase in movement size has meant a slight increase in the size of the Chopard Perpetual Chrono over the 1963 Chronograph – the latter clocks in at 42 mm x 11.5 mm, while the new Perpetual Chrono is 45 mm x 15.06 mm. Again, just for the sake of comparison, the Patek 5270 is 41 mm in diameter; A. Lange & Söhne’s Datograph Perpetual, perhaps a closer match to the Chopard Perpetual Chrono, is  41 mm x 13.5 mm. What the Chopard brings to the table, in addition to what it offers technically, is a different, more extroverted design language than either Patek or Lange, and a pretty interesting price point. 
Chopard caliber L.U.C. 03.10-L is, like its chrono-only predecessor, a COSC-certified chronometer (it would be interesting to see how many chronometer-certified perpetual calendar watches are in existence or have ever been made – there can’t be many). It also carries the recently updated Geneva Hallmark; the latter was formerly administered by the Geneva School of Watchmaking but since 2012, it’s been under the auspices of Timelab, and includes functional, decorative, and casing up requirements.

One other point worth mentioning: Chopard sources its gold with the help of Fairmined. A seldom-discussed elephant in the room in watches and jewelry is the enormous environmental impact, and social impact, of gold mining, and Fairmined works with its partners to ensure its gold comes from ethically responsible sources; you can read more about their work right here.
As we said at the top of the story, the launch of their very first perpetual calendar chronograph is a pretty big deal for Chopard, and we’re looking forward to seeing the watch in-the-metal next week in Basel.  The perpetual calendar chronograph, especially executed in house, and with high grade finish, is not just a complication; it’s a statement of purpose and identity.  Right now, just on the basis of the initial announcement this looks like potentially a very interesting alternative to some of the usual suspects in the battle for the attention of clients interested in a top-tier perpetual calendar chronograph.

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