Chopard

Chopard LUC Sport - owner's review

 

It's not been a full two weeks yet but the LUC Sport has been on my wrist for most of that time, so here come my first impressions.

It has been a spontaneous, spur of the moment purchase but so far I still see myself fully convinced in my decision - have not regretted the choice for a second. At 40mm it is reasonably sized for my wrist, and wears well. On a strap it has a pleasant (not too heavy) feel on the wrist and the case back and lug shape both ensure it sits there securely and comfortably.

One of the highlights for me is definitely the seconds hand - and there primarily the LUC labelled counterweight. Not one of those for whom that is their first name but it is still such a well thought through touch, especially for the time, when LUC was still relatively young as a line.

The next fascinating aspect are the chiselled hour markers. They are nicely three dimensional, refelct light in many different ways depending on the angle, and are amongst the nicest executed ones I have ever seen on a sports watch. And the doubling of the indicator at 12 means there are 12 of them in spite of the date cutout (luckily on a date disk of the same blue colour as the dial) Going one level deeper, the dial is equally unusual for a sports watch, with different patterns in the centre and on the outside and a strong three dimensional component; this makes it a true standout feature of the watch.

The upper case surfaces are brushed, while the sides are polished. The brushed surface tends to reflect light quite strongly, making it somewhat more difficult to take decent spontaneous shots at my level of photographic ineptness. But in also ensures it is never a boring thing looking at the watch The sides are nicely polished, as are the lug tips. The crown is very appropriately sized - it does not dominate but is large enough to allow for comfortable time setting and winding.

From the crown to the movement. Others have already mentioned here that it is one of the standout features of the watch. It is perhaps not as finely finished as a 1.96 and lacks the golden rotor and the swan neck regulator but apart from that there is nothing to scoff at. A micro rotor movement with more than 60 hours power reserve from two barrels and a 28.800 frequency. As mine is no longer new (I believe they were all sold out some years ago), I was curious to see how it performs. If you wind it to the full manually, it easily does more than two full days unworn, so it seems there has been no degradation so far.

Winding it is a weird experience, since there is very little resistance when doing so. I tend to flip it over and observe the barrels rotating while winding it - that way there is a visual feedback at least The point where it is fully wound is also apparent both visually and haptically.

Sound is the next aspect. One needs to be in a supremely quiet room and very concentrated (with the watch almost inside the ear) to hear it ticking - it is that quiet. As far as I am concerned a bit louder would have been fully OK, too The only aspect of the watch one can clearly hear is the micro rotor. I have no experience of what is standard with micro rotors, as this is my only one but while one cannot hear the rotor in operation on either the LUC Chrono One or my Grand Seiko SBGH035, it makes for a very audible experience here. Not disturbing but noticeable.

The only fly in the ointment - movement wise - is that the seconds do not hack. While the timing accuracy remains well within COSC limits, one would hope to be able to set it completely, not to have to wait for the power reserve to run out and start winding it at the appropriate second. Not sure if this has been changed in the new develoment iterations of the movement but if not, it would be a very sensible improvement.

The hands (and hour dots) are nicely luminous and remain so throughout the night, if one exposes the watch to light before going to sleep. There it does full justice to its Sport moniker. As for exposure to water, I am too much chicken to try it out before the watch has seen a full service by Chopard, which will only be once I get one of the others back from there

Finally, the strap. It is a 20/16 rubber one, and of a LUC as opposed to MM variety. I prefer it that way and it is comfortable enough (for a rubber strap). While I am not a fan of rubber, when it comes to straps, it does the job adequately well. A replacement leather one is on order and I believe it will make the watch much more versatile for my daily wear. With the rubber strap it really screams sport, with a leather one I believe it will work much better with a shirt and jacket. The pin buckle is nice, if a bit small at 16mm. Brushed, like the case top.

As said in the beginning, I am truly happy with the watch and cannot envisage it leaving the stable soon, even if it was a spur of the moment purchase. At the prices they trade at at the moment one has to say you get a lot of watch for the money. So if you are not averse to buying pre-loved, I can only encourage you to give it a try