A masterpiece of sound, craft and mechanical artistry from one of Switzerland’s most refined maisons.
There are watches that tell time, and there are watches that transform it. Chopard’s L U C Grand Strike belongs to the latter category. Presented as the most complex chiming watch the Maison has ever created, it stands as a culmination of decades of work in acoustics, engineering and haute horlogerie. It is not a timepiece designed to shock with flamboyance. Instead it invites contemplation. It speaks softly yet profoundly. It sings.
The Grand Strike unites a grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie, minute repeater and a one minute tourbillon within a polished white gold case. It reflects a deep respect for tradition but also an insistence on innovation. This is the essence of Chopard’s L U C collection: technical mastery, artistic restraint and a commitment to creating objects that breathe with life.
A Symphony of Mechanics
Chiming watches have always existed at the summit of watchmaking. They require more parts, more precision and more patience than almost any other complication. In the Grand Strike, Chopard has achieved something extraordinary: a movement that feels both monumental and harmonious.
Inside the white gold case lies the calibre L U C 08.03 L, a manually wound movement composed of more than six hundred individual components. The maison has divided the power system into two barrels. One stores energy for timekeeping, ensuring a stable seventy hour reserve. The other is dedicated exclusively to the chiming mechanism. This separation allows the watch to deliver sound beautifully without compromising accuracy.
The grande sonnerie is the rarest of all chiming complications. It automatically strikes the hours and quarters in passing. The petite sonnerie offers a gentler rhythm. The silent mode gives the wearer discretion when desired. At any moment, however, the minute repeater can be activated, offering a full sequence of hours, quarters and minutes whenever the wearer wishes to hear it.
This orchestra of functions is protected by several safety mechanisms. The watch prevents accidental engagement during winding or time setting. It ensures there is enough stored energy to complete each sequence fully. The movement will never begin a chime it cannot finish. These nuances are invisible yet vital. They reveal the quiet intelligence behind the Grand Strike.
The Music of Sapphire
What elevates the Grand Strike beyond technical distinction is its use of sapphire gongs. Rather than mounting metal gongs to the movement, Chopard crafts its gongs from a single piece of sapphire that is physically fused with the crystal. The entire front of the watch becomes an acoustic body.
When the polished steel hammers strike the sapphire, sound travels directly through the crystal and into open air. The chime is surprisingly loud, crystalline, resonant and free from the metallic harshness that characterises many repeaters. The tone is rounded yet luminous. Each strike feels clear and lyrical, almost like a musical instrument rather than a mechanical device.
The choice of sapphire is not merely an aesthetic signature. It represents a philosophical departure from traditional minute repeater design. The watch is not imitating the past. It is rewriting the rules of sound.
A Case of Refined Presence
With its multitude of complications, one might expect a heavy or oversized watch. Instead, the Grand Strike presents itself with quiet dignity. The ethical white gold case measures forty three millimetres in diameter and just over fourteen millimetres in thickness. These proportions are remarkably elegant for a grande sonnerie.
A pusher integrated into the crown activates the minute repeater. A discreet slider on the flank of the case switches between grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie and silent mode. The design maintains the Maison’s signature purity, with no extraneous details. Every element is there because it must be.
Even the back of the watch reveals beauty. The movement, certified both by the Poincon de Geneve and COSC, is decorated meticulously with hand applied finishes. Bridges in German silver glow with soft light. Edges are bevelled and polished. The tourbillon at six o’clock rotates serenely, its small seconds hand turning in perfect harmony.
A Face Without a Mask
Perhaps the most striking design choice is the absence of a traditional dial. Instead, the Grand Strike exposes its mechanical soul to view. The strike work dominates the upper half of the watch, where hammers, racks and levers stand in sculptural formation. Below, the tourbillon spins at the base like a beating heart.
Indicators for power reserve, for both time and strike energy, sit to either side. A small opening reveals the mode of the chiming mechanism. Every piece has its place. The dial feels not busy but intentional, like a miniature architectural model of sound.
The absence of a conventional dial transforms the watch into a study of transparency. It allows the wearer to witness not only the passing of time but the choreography behind its music.
The Gesture of Wearing
Wearing the Grand Strike is an experience that defies normal expectations. This is not a watch one forgets on the wrist. It has presence, substance and personality. It feels like a companion that demands attention yet rewards reflection.
The alligator strap, offered in deep blue or soft grey, complements the white gold case with quiet sophistication. The buckle, polished and satin brushed, bears the L U C signature. When placed on the wrist, the watch has a surprising sense of balance, neither too heavy nor too stiff. It settles into place as though it belongs there.
And then there is the chime. Hearing it for the first time is unforgettable. It has the clarity of crystal, the warmth of a small bell and the emotional resonance of something ancient. The sound lingers faintly in the air after each strike, disappearing gently like the last note of a song.
A Testament to Haute Horlogerie
The Grand Strike is not designed for broad audiences. It is a watch made for those who understand silence as deeply as sound, who appreciate the slow work of craftspeople and engineers, who recognise that the greatest luxury is often restraint.
It is a piece created for collectors, for connoisseurs, for those who view mechanical time not as utility but as art. A grande sonnerie is one of the most prestigious complications in existence. Pairing it with a minute repeater and a tourbillon elevates the watch to the highest plane of horology.
Chopard has crafted a masterpiece that stands comfortably among the finest striking watches ever made. It is both a testament to tradition and a declaration of innovation. It reminds us that time can be heard, felt and enjoyed. It teaches us that sound is a form of beauty.
The Meaning of the Grand Strike
Ultimately, the beauty of the Grand Strike lies not only in its complexity but in its intention. It represents hundreds of years of horological evolution and thousands of hours of human labour. It is an object that gathers knowledge across generations and distills it into a single moment, the moment of a chime striking the hour.
It is not simply a watch. It is a story. A symphony. A quiet triumph of craft.
Written by: Linh Giang Nguyen
Published on: 28th November 2025