Chopard L.U.C QF - Revolution Edition

The QF Jubilee project started several years ago at the Basel fair. For all its multi-accredited performance élan, what we had long admired about the original 2005 QF case was its beauty, in particular related to its shaped soldered lugs that are concupiscent. This type of complex case making is something of a lost art form and is reminiscent of the output of the extraordinarily creative case makers from the 1950s. Then there was the size of 39mm, which to us was the perfect balance between visibility and elegance. At 8.9mm in thickness, the case was also suitably elegant. When discussing it, Mr Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Pau Infante, at the time the man in charge of all things L.U.C, the conversation rapidly arrived at the idea of a steel case watch.

 

For the 2021 L.U.C QF Jubilee, Chopard L.U.C combined this steel case with a stunning dial that is, from a design perspective, a faithful tribute to the original watch from 2005. In parallel, thanks to the kindness of Mr Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, we were given the opportunity to work on a second design for a steel QF Jubilee watch with a slightly more adventurous or “racy” dial.

 

We immediately felt that for a steel timepiece that features the greatest accreditation for accuracy and quality in the world, we wanted to use a scientific or sector dial. This type of dial was popularized in the 1940s for scientific chronometer-type watches. But in order to get it just right, we knew we had to consult a certain gentleman that we consider to be one of the greatest watch collectors on earth, Mr Auro Montanari, otherwise known by his nom de plume John Goldberger. A man of extraordinary generosity, he immediately agreed to help. But after testing several designs, the watch still did not feel right.

 

Then everything came together when Mr Scheufele and Mr Montanari met each other at Chopard’s headquarters in Meyrin, Switzerland. Flipping through his treasure trove of images on Mr Montanari’s iPad, we all suddenly stopped at something we collectively loved. It was a watch with a black dial featuring a luminous sector track and luminous Arabic indexes. Says Mr Montanari, “This kind of dial is very appealing. And is something more unique. You will have to find the perfect shade of LumiNova to hint at the inspiration, which are these old radium dials, but at the same time you don’t want to go too far.” In agreement Mr Scheufele shares, “The character of the dial works very well with the identity of the QF watch, especially in steel, and I like the practicality of this fully luminous dial.” With that, he and his team worked on several renderings before we arrived at a design we all loved, which is what you see before you today. The L.U.C QF - Revolution Edition is limited to 25 pieces and comes fitted on an aged brown calfskin strap. We would like to thank Mr Scheufele and Mr Montanari for their wonderful input into this project, and we see this beautiful timepiece to be far more an expression of their creativity than it is ours.