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In-depth review: The Chopard L.U.C Tech Qualité Fleurier

I first encountered the Chopard L.U.C. when Walt Odets published his outstanding review on TimeZone about ten years ago (one of a series of incredibly detailed watch reviews he did). Then in 2002 or 2003, I acquired one of the first series of L.U.C. watches, in rose gold with a silver guilloche dial and the 1.96 movement.

The watch was everything I expected it to be – well made, finely finished and very elegant. It even reminded me of the Dufour Simplicity. As Walt Odets wrote, it was probably one of finest modern Swiss movements available. And so a short while later I bought the L.U.C. Sport 2000 on impulse.

Unfortunately, I quickly tired of both watches. Both are astonishingly well made and finished, especially at the price point, but they were uninteresting. The 1.96 was exceedingly stiff and old fashioned, while the Sport 2000 was one of the most lacklustre sports watches I have ever come across.

However I did always wanted another L.U.C. with the 1.96 movement because of its unusual qualities. But despite the vast and sometimes confusing range of L.U.C. watches available – the website lists over 60 models – I could not find one I liked.

While Chopard has excelled in creating wonderfully constructed and finished movements, I found two things lacking in the range – good design and a coherent identity. Most of the designs were uninspired, tending to look plain and formal. And when Chopard tried to be contemporary with watches like the Tech Twist, the result just did not look right.

But Chopard bravely soldiered on, unveiling a huge number of L.U.C. models – an achievement in itself since many of them have different in-house calibres – resulting in an L.U.C. line that is oversized and confusing. This is still the case unfortunately though it seems like improvements are planned.

I am being harsh since the L.U.C. range is just over ten years old. But it is a shame to see such wonderful movements underappreciated due to the problems I outlined. I am hopeful though that the line will evolve over time.

L.U.C. Fleurier

But a few months ago a watch caught my eye at the Chopard boutique. I literally stopped at this watch while scanning the L.U.C. display case – it looked different from all the other L.U.C. watches. It turned out to be the latest L.U.C. Fleurier, or to be specific, the L.U.C Tech Qualité Fleurier. The Tech appellation refers to the open dial which I presume is a more high-tech design. I was surprised it looked worlds apart from the previous iterations of the L.U.C. Fleurier.

The L.U.C. Fleurier line was introduced in 2006 to mark the tenth anniversary of the L.U.C. collection. These are distinguished from other L.U.C. watches by the Fondation Qualité Fleurier (FQF) certification each timepiece undergoes, hence the name L.U.C. Fleurier. Thus far only the L.U.C. Fleurier watches have the FQF seal; the other high horology L.U.C. watches like the tourbillon or Quattro still bear the Geneva Seal.

It was the inimitable Dr Bernard Cheong (former moderator of the now defunct Gerald Genta and Harry Winston forums here) who first brought the L.U.C. Fleurier to my attention. Being the compulsive seeker of the best and the newest, he bought one of the first, in rose gold with a black and silver dial. Oddly enough he regards it as the most brilliant L.U.C. watch – because it has soldered lugs. As an obsessive connoisseur of case and dial quality and construction Bernard probably has no equal hence his stand on the soldered lugs. (Click here and here to see some of Bernard’s old posts from 2006 on this.) While I did agree the soldered lugs were a marked improvement in the look and feel of the case, the dial design seemed ho-hum.

Compared to the version being reviewed, the previous versions are identical in design but differ in dial and case colour. This year’s edition is the first with an open dial, but the movement remains the same superb cal. 9.96 as found in previous editions. Each edition is limited to 250 pieces.

Fondation Qualité Fleurier

Launched in 2001, the FQF organisation and test is in theory independent but it is used only by the firms that had a hand in setting it up, Chopard, Bovet and Parmigiani. I do not foresee other brands taking part any time soon.

Essentially the FQF is a three pronged certification that sets out certain technical, timekeeping and reliability criteria a watch must pass in order to receive the certification. Its construction and finishing criteria are similar to that of the Geneva Seal, while the timekeeping and reliability tests are done by COSC and Chronofiable, respectively. Finally the finished timepiece undergoes a 24 hour Fleuritest procedure which sees the watch mounted on a Fleuritest machine – a high tech winder that runs in multiple directions and speeds that apparently simulate the movement of an arm – during which it cannot gain more than 5 seconds. Click here for a PDF with the complete regulations of the FQF; page 34 of the regulations list the motions that the Fleuritest machine supposedly imitates, including “Take files” and amusingly, “Have coffee” and “Undress”. Unusually the Fleuritest machine measures timekeeping via an ultra-precise camera, rather than the conventional acoustic pick-up.

The FQF certification is comprehensive and likely the most stringent, formal test available to the industry at large. Does it really make a practical difference to the finished watch?

Not in my opinion – the Chopard L.U.C. Fleurier watches are outstanding timepieces regardless of however they are certified. It is more useful as a marketing device because fine watches speak for themselves.

Case

All L.U.C. Fleurier watches use the same case that measures 39.5 mm wide and about 10 mm high. They also have unusual soldered lugs (thank you Bernard), I can’t think of any other L.U.C. watches with soldered lugs, which gives the case a level of detail and feel of quality that a one-piece case rarely possesses.

The case has a bright white colour that is characteristic of rhodium-plated white gold; I’d be very surprised if it was unplated. Because of its colour and design (the lugs are a fairly narrow 19 mm); it has visual presence and does not look small.

Chopard has opted for a mirror-polished finished on the entire case, giving it a formal look suited for a dress watch. Given that this is not strictly a dress watch given its dial design, I would have preferred more variation in the case finish, perhaps a brushed finish on the side of the case that would contrast nicely with the highly polished lugs.

The text on the case back is laser engraved, unlike the original 1860 L.U.C. which had charming hand engraved lettering.

Both the crown and buckle feature text in relief and are of very high quality in finish. Notably, the buckle is fairly hefty for such a slim watch. Chopard does it metal work in-house and both the case as well as buckle are hallmarked “L.U.C.”. Given Chopard’s background as a jeweller, the competence evident in the case and buckle is not surprising.

Dial

The most obvious weakness of this watch is its dial. This is also the case for other L.U.C. Fleurier watches I have examined, including samples from the earlier series.

There is a single imperfection with the dial: the minute markers on the outermost ring do not line up exactly with the luminous marker on the white gold ring around the 12 o’clock region.

This is a very, very slight deficiency, but I noticed it quickly when I first handled the watch. I noted this imperfection before deciding to buy it – the overall value proposition was so compelling I could forgive this. And I am sure it can be corrected by having the dial replaced.

Beyond that imperfection, the dial is well made but is not of the same astonishingly high standard of the movement, or even the very good quality of the case. Changes that would raise the dial to a different level would be thicker hands with more volume for instance. The applied white gold portions, the numerals and the two rings circling the hour markers, could also be more precisely machined with sharp edges or the edges could be chamfered.

However, I do like the aesthetics of the dial. This is one of the best looking L.U.C. dials in my opinion. The dial is open in the centre and uncluttered save for the unobtrusive, applied Chopard logo. This reveals the bottom plate in all its glory and gives the dial a great deal of visual interest. And because the Geneva stripes are so finely applied, at the right angle the bottom plate catches the light and glows.

Some stylistic details seem out of place though, namely the hands and the seconds sub-dial. The rather traditional hands, carried over from the earlier L.U.C. Fleurier editions, do seem a bit incongruous with the dial design.

On the other hand, the seconds sub-dial looks odd in comparison to the rest of the dial; it is executed in plain white with a fine circular guilloche and numerals marking at each ten second mark. And while it doesn’t bother me, I know it might irk some – the seconds markings are radially flipped, so the seconds numerals are the right way up, while the hours on the dial are not.

Yet for some strange reason, the elements of the dial come together nicely and the result is attractive.

Movement

The highlight of this watch is the cal. 9.96 inside. Originally known as the ASP 94 (Association Scheufele Parmigiani, thanks to Patrick Wehrli for this information), the movement was created as a result of a collaboration between Chopard and Michel Parmigiani, it is small and thin by today’s standards, but it is cleverly constructed and finished to a marvellous level.

Thirty or forty years ago when slim watches were much more desirable, micro-rotors were in fashion. Universal, Patek Philippe, Piaget and of course Jean Lassale (which made the thinnest movement ever) all produced micro-rotor movements. But then as watches grew larger, so did the movements and now micro-rotors are rare.

The 9.96, along with its ancestors the 1.96 and 1.98, is one of the few micro-rotor movements introduced in the past decade or so, with the others being Lange’s Langematik and a couple of underappreciated movements from Piaget. Patek Philippe still uses its cal. 240 extensively but that movement is thirty years old.

Because of its micro-rotor, the 9.96 manages to be deliciously thin at 3.30 mm while managing a considerably long power reserve of 65 hours thanks to its twin stacked barrels. The second mainspring begins to unwind as the first winds down, maintaining a fairly constant torque over the entire power reserve, giving the balance excellent isochronism.

Unlike the 1.96, the 9.96 lacks a swan neck regulator and Breguet overcoil. Purists (with a small “P”) would prefer the traditional set-up of the 1.96. The balance wheel is a smooth Glucydur balance. I would have preferred a balance wheel with adjustable weights à la Gyromax or Variner just for the aesthetics.

The winding system is compact but efficient. Briefly, the rhodium-plated 22k gold micro-rotor sits on a two-armed rocker – the bevelling on the rocker is a good example of the high level of finish found throughout the watch – and a triangular cam that allows it to be wound bi-directionally. The winding cam is visible from the dial side through an aperture in the top plate which I assume is there for ease of servicing rather than aesthetics though it looks perfect on the open dial.

The smart design of the calibre is matched by its brilliant level of finish. Though the 9.96 lacks the Geneva Seal of the 1.96, the decorative and functional finish is as good as that of its cousin.

The visible finish from the front and back is easily on par with that of the very best found in any Swiss watch produced on a large scale. Côtes de Genève, anglage, perlage and snailing are all artfully executed. Furthermore the finish is consistently high quality in all components, for instance the plate covering the keyless works (for winding and setting the hands) is delightfully brushed and bevelled on its edges.

Evident in the movement is a level of genuine, high quality craftsmanship that is uncommon. It is refreshing and deeply appealing.

Ownership experience

This watch is more legible than I thought it would be. I’ve worn it very often over the past few months, including while travelling, encountering different climates and lightning conditions. The outer minute track is easy to read while the hour numerals on the inner track are quickly distinguishable.

The case is slim so it fits well under a cuff. Aesthetically it is versatile, going well with a suit but not so formal that it looks out of place on casual attire. But it is out of place in an extremely formal setting, black or white tie for instance, though most would not even notice.

What I do miss is a date. I wish Chopard had included an discreet date at six. And sometimes when I look at the watch the sub-seconds dial is jarring; it is stark white and seemingly unsophisticated compared to the rest of the dial. But those quibbles are minor and overall the ownership experience is fully satisfying.

Miscellaneous

Chopard delivered this watch on a crocodile skin strap; while I have no doubt the strap is of superb workmanship it looked plain. I replaced it with a custom made strap that has stitching to match the dial. The custom strap is an improvement but is not quite perfect either so the search continues.

This watch was delivered in a large and impressive wood box along with a variety of papers and a hardbound L.U.C. booklet. One thing I would change is the style of the FQF certificate. The current certificate looks like a safety certificate for an industrial washing machine. And as a point of interest, the signature of the President of FQF on the certificate is that of Antoine Simonin, the former head of WOSTEP.

Conclusion

If someone had described the dial of this watch to me, I would have dismissed it as yet another oddball attempt by Chopard to make an unusual looking watch. But somehow the design pulls through, it looks good and is distinctive in its own way. The movement of course is the piece de resistance and is alone worth the price of admission. I hope to see more of such watches from Chopard.