I became a Chopard enthusiast about 10 years ago.
I was in Singapore and saw an advert for the upcoming Steel Wings skeleton tourbillon. I was astonished by the cutting edge visual design.
So smitten that I ordered one of the limited edition of 5 pieces. Previously I had never splurged so much on a watch.
This one was different, so very special.
When the watch was delivered my faith was fully justified, it was easily as spectacular as the photos suggested. Unfortunately there was a slight technical problem. Much to my astonishment Chopard's Grand Fromage, the inimitable Karl-Fredrich Scheufele, got involved with fixing it.
He is a charming charismatic figure. What I didn't know was that he has an artists vision and a passion for pure watchmaking that is the driving force
behind the Chopard product range. The problem was completely solved and I now had a new friend. You never know where things will lead but this
was as unexpected as they come.
Since then I have owned several wonderful Chopard masterpieces (artworks?). The quality has been exceptional and the understated elegance a
wonder to behold.
Last year I saw pictures of their 8HF and knew that I really wanted to have one. An email to KFS was sent and, yes!!!, I would get one of the limited
edition of 100. The idea of the 8HF is that a very high frequency escapement will enable far better timekeeping. The technical problems of making a
reliable 57,600 bph escapement are huge: lubrication, mass and wear. And I would bet a whole list of other hidden technical hurdles that I would have
never imagined.
The year wait for my masterwork passed ( it did seem like a long time) but three weeks ago I took delivery.











Timekeeping:
This is what this watch is for and it surpassed my greatest expectations. I had expected accuracy but ….wait for it! …. In three weeks, it has lost, in total, 4 seconds. That is an accuracy rate of about 0.2 seconds a day. Incredible!
I find this hard to believe as I am sure you do. This was my method of judging the time keeping. Three weeks ago, I set the 8HF as exactly as possible with my radio controlled clock. So + or – 0.5 seconds roughly. Measured today, it reads about -4 (relative to the clock). What more can I say, its unbelievable and my brain has been reformatted!
Bravo team Chopard!



