Chopard’s in-house watchmaking took shape in the L.U.C line after the Manufacture was founded in Fleurier in 1996. From the L.U.C 1860 of 1997 through the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 of 2021, the line moved from a manual-wind wristwatch to calendars, tourbillons, chronographs, a triple-certified tourbillon, a high-frequency movement and a sapphire-gonged minute repeater. This second part of the history follows those milestones, what each one introduced, and where the evidence stops.
Where the story starts: Fleurier, 1996 and the L.U.C name
Chopard’s official history dates the founding of Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier to 1996. The L.U.C initials pay tribute to Louis-Ulysse Chopard, and the company’s official L.U.C page identifies the L.U.C 96.01-L automatic micro-rotor as the first in-house calibre and the starting point of both the Manufacture and the L.U.C collection.
The narrative in Fratello Watches’ August 1, 2021 feature by Brandon Baines begins with the L.U.C 1860 wristwatch in 1997, and treats each later watch as evidence that the Manufacture was widening what it could build. A 2001 report by the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH) on the Fleurier workshop also records Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s view of the project. Chopard’s current collection page quotes him, identified as Maison Co-President, saying: “Since 1997, the L.U.C. collection of complication watches has been the expression of a visionary conception of Haute Horlogerie.”
The Quattro and the long power reserve
The 2000 L.U.C Quattro is the earliest milestone in this part of the story that establishes a clear technical theme. Chopard’s official chronology states that its L.U.C 1.98 calibre uses four barrels, arranged as two pairs of superimposed barrels, and provides a nine-day power reserve. The watch is manually wound.
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Two numbers appear on the Quattro, and they measure different things. The movement’s power reserve is nine days. The power-reserve indicator on the dial shows an eight-day scale. Fratello explains that the shorter scale was chosen to prompt winding before the torque fell too far, so the dial works as a winding reminder rather than a precise readout of the movement’s full reserve.
The Quattro made long power reserve a visible feature rather than a footnote. The 2021 Quattro Spirit 25 returned to the four-barrel approach with a jump-hour display and up to eight days of power reserve.
Milestones at a glance
The table lists the milestones Fratello covers between 1997 and 2021. Where the feature gives no technical detail for a watch, the cell says so rather than filling the gap from other sources.
| Year | Watch | What the milestone introduced |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | L.U.C 1860 | Opens the L.U.C narrative in Fratello’s feature; movement details not stated in the feature summary |
| 2000 | L.U.C Quattro | L.U.C 1.98 calibre: four barrels in two superimposed pairs, nine-day power reserve, manually wound (Chopard’s official chronology) |
| 2003 | Quattro Tourbillon | Tourbillon version of the line; further movement details not stated in the feature summary |
| 2004 | Pro One | Diver model; technical specifications not stated in the feature summary |
| 2005 | Lunar One | Perpetual calendar |
| 2006 | Strike One and Chrono One | Two models named together; specifications not stated in the feature summary |
| 2010 | L.U.C All in One | Made for the 150th anniversary; perpetual calendar, rotating tourbillon, orbital moonphase, seven-day power reserve, day/night and sunrise/sunset indications, equation of time; 516 components (calibre 4TQE, per Fratello) |
| 2011 | L.U.C Triple Certification Tourbillon | Carries the Geneva seal, COSC chronometer certification and Qualité Fleurier certification |
| 2012 | L.U.C 8HF | 8 Hz movement, 57,600 beats per hour; Fratello reports it as the first high-frequency escapement watch to receive COSC chronometer certification |
| 2015 | Mille Miglia models | Some models received in-house movements from this year (Fratello) |
| 2016 | L.U.C Full Strike | First L.U.C minute repeater; sapphire-crystal gongs integrated with the watch crystal |
| 2019 | Alpine Eagle | Developed with three generations of the Scheufele family and a new steel alloy; not an L.U.C model |
| 2021 | L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 | Jump-hour display, four-barrel manually wound movement, up to eight days of power reserve |
Complications and high-frequency movements
Calendars and tourbillons
The Lunar One of 2005 brought a perpetual calendar into the line. The 2010 L.U.C All in One combined several indications in one calibre: a perpetual calendar, a rotating tourbillon, an orbital moonphase, a seven-day power reserve, day/night and sunrise/sunset displays and an equation of time. Fratello gives the calibre’s component count as 516. That is the feature’s figure, not an independently verified one.
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Chronographs and sports models
The 2004 Pro One and the 2006 Strike One and Chrono One show the line reaching into sports watches and chronographs in the same period. The feature names these models but gives little movement detail for them, so this account does not describe their mechanisms beyond the category each belongs to.
High frequency: the L.U.C 8HF
The L.U.C 8HF runs at 8 hertz, which is 57,600 beats per hour. Fratello reports that it was the first high-frequency escapement watch to receive COSC chronometer certification, in 2012. Higher beat rates mean more escapement cycles per second, which is why high-frequency movements are discussed in terms of timekeeping resolution. This is Fratello’s account of the watch, not an independent audit.
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The Full Strike and its sapphire gongs
The 2016 L.U.C Full Strike is the feature’s central technical milestone. It is presented as the first L.U.C minute repeater, and its gongs are made of sapphire crystal integrated with the watch crystal. Chopard’s current collection page describes the patented system in which the gongs and the sapphire crystal form one resonating entity. The “world’s first” wording comes from the brand and from Fratello’s account and has not been independently assessed.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Certifications: what a hallmark does and does not tell you
A reader comment on the feature asked whether the Geneva seal is a must-have. The answer depends on what a buyer is looking for, because each mark certifies something different. The feature notes that Geneva seal treatment differs among models, so the mark should be checked on the specific watch rather than assumed for the whole line.
- Geneva seal (Poinçon de Genève): a finishing hallmark applied to a movement. It describes how the movement is decorated and finished. It is not a timekeeping test.
- COSC chronometer certification: a timekeeping test carried out by the Swiss official chronometer testing body. It assesses the accuracy of the movement and is the certification Fratello associates with the 8HF.
- Qualité Fleurier: a quality standard linked to watches made in Fleurier. Chopard’s “20 Years of Qualité Fleurier” article explains how it relates to COSC.
The 2011 Triple Certification Tourbillon is the milestone in this period that carries all three marks together.
Beyond the L.U.C line
Not every entry in this history belongs to the L.U.C collection. The Alpine Eagle, introduced in 2019, is described as a project involving three generations of the Scheufele family and the development of a new steel alloy. It belongs to the wider Chopard watchmaking story rather than to the L.U.C line. The Mille Miglia models, which according to the feature began receiving in-house movements in 2015, fall into the same category. Keeping that distinction in mind keeps the L.U.C calibre history separate from the company’s other lines.
What this account covers, and what it does not
Fratello’s feature was published in August 2021, so it ends with the Quattro Spirit 25. Chopard’s current collection page states 22 registered patents as of October 2026. That figure describes the company’s present position and is not a count for 2021. Developments after 2021 are outside this history.
The 2001 FH report describes the Fleurier workshop and its self-winding L.U.C work at that time. Its staffing and production figures reflect 2001 plans or reports and should not be read as current. The sources used here contain no independent market data on resale prices or secondary-market values, so this history makes no claims about what these watches are worth. Fratello’s author suggests that some models look undervalued; that is an opinion in the feature, not a measured market fact.
The sources for this article are Fratello Watches’ feature by Brandon Baines, published August 1, 2021; Chopard’s official history and current L.U.C collection page; the FH report of June 6, 2001; and Chopard’s “20 Years of Qualité Fleurier” article.
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