Introducing The Chopard L.U.C. 1963 Heritage Regulator & Heritage Chronograph Limited Editions

Chopard's hit us with two new 25-piece limited editions in its L.U.C. line, the brand's in-house haute horlogerie division. The first up (and more expensive of the two) is the L.U.C. 1963 Heritage Regulator, a 40mm by 10.3mm watch in 18k ethical white gold with 30m water resistance. The dial—which conveys hours (in a subdial), regulator-style minutes, GMT, power reserve, running seconds, and date—is a sunburst-finished silver tone with blue-transferred numbers.

The caseback showcases the manually wound, four-barrel (in series) L.U.C 98.02-L movement layout that delivers a massive 9 days of power (part of the Chopard Quattro technology). This kind of high-power-reserve movement has become pretty normalised for Chopard and, because of that, I don't think it gets the appreciation it deserves. The movement, running at 4Hz, is also fantastically finished and features a Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark, plus COSC certification.

As mentioned, the L.U.C. 1963 Heritage Regulator is limited to 25 pieces and is now available, retailing for A$78,200.

On the sportier end of things is the 42mm by 11.48mm 1963 Heritage Chronograph cased in Lucent Steel. It features a deep blue sunburst-polished, galvanic-treated dial, an eggshell-colored printed dial, and rhodium-plated white gold hands for the hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph, and 30-minute and 12-hour counters. The watch has some otherwise classical styling with the mushroom pump pushers and a slightly higher water resistance of 50m.

The L.U.C 03.07-L is once again a manually wound movement, running at 4Hz and with 60 hours of power reserve. It features a column wheel, a vertical-coupling clutch, and is flyback-capable. It also has a zero-reset system for time-setting, which you don't commonly find on a chronograph (or your average watch, to be fair), and that function, plus the pivoting hammers with elastic arms for chronograph reset and the vertical clutch system, each have their own patents. The movement is also COSC-certified and has the same Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark.

Also limited to 25 pieces, the new L.U.C 1963 Heritage Chronograph retails for A$61,400.

These watches are great reminders to look at the broader range of offerings from the L.U.C. collection. I tend to focus on the 1860 as I genuinely believe it's one of the best values for a dress watch; their XPS watches are great at a more affordable price (for their market space), and things like the brand's jump hour have been used well as platforms for some great craftsmanship. Then they have the chiming watches and the super-high complication pieces. I tend to look at the two ends of the spectrum and neglect the middle. I don't think that these are the natural watches most people drift toward for the brand, but they represent the same quality of finishing and movement construction, even if the movements are both over 10 years old at this point.

Brand: Chopard
Model: L.U.C. 1963 Heritage Regulator and L.U.C 1963 Heritage Chronograph
Reference Number: 161993-1001 and 168556-3003

Diameter: 40mm (Regulator) and 42mm (Chronograph)
Thickness: 10.3mm (Regulator) and 11.48mm (Chronograph)
Case Material: 18-carat ethical white gold (Regulator) and Lucent Steel (Chronograph)
Dial Colour: Sunburst satin-brushed silver-toned dial (Regulator) and Blue sunburst satin-finished dial achieved through a galvanic treatment (Chronograph)
Indexes: Blue transfers (Regulator) and Eggshell-coloured transfers (Chronograph)
Lume: None
Water Resistance: 30m (Regulator) and 50m (Chronograph)
Strap/Bracelet: Grey alligator leather with 18-carat ethical white gold pin buckle (Regulator) and Brown alligator leather strap with Lucent Steel pin buckle with L.U.C engraving (Chronograph)

Calibre: L.U.C 98.02-L (Regulator) and L.U.C 03.07-L (Chronograph), in-house
Functions: Central hours, small hour display, small seconds, date, GMT, power reserve (Regulator); hours, minutes, small seconds with zero-reset function, flyback chronograph with 30-minute and 12-hour counter, stop seconds (Chronograph)
Power Reserve: 216 hours (Regulator) and 60 hours (Chronograph)
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 4 Hz
Jewels: 39 (Regulator) and 38 (Chronograph)
Chronometer Certified: Yes, COSC
Additional Details: Poinçon de Genève

Price: A$78,200 (Regulator) and A$61,400 (Chronograph)
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: Yes, 25 pieces each

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