L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25 Straw Marquetry Edition

A technical feat first presented to mark Chopard Manufacture’s 25^th anniversary, the L.U.C 98.06-L jumping-hour movement now equips an exclusive new limited edition of the L.U.C Quattro Spirit 25, enhanced by a straw marquetry dial. The four barrels of the exclusive Chopard Quattro technology, offering an up to eight-day power reserve, make this technically and aesthetically sophisticated model one of the rare jumping-hour watches with this level of autonomy. Featuring the L.U.C collection’s characteristically pared-down design, its 40 mm-diameter case in 18-carat ethical rose gold frames a honeycomb-patterned dial crafted in accordance with an artisanal tradition perfected within the workshops. From movement to dial, this exceptional eight-piece limited edition showcases the finest expertise and innovation cultivated by Chopard Manufacture and ensuring excellent finishing honoured with the prestigious Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark.

Exemplifying Chopard's commitment to preserving watchmaking artistic crafts, the dial of this new model is graced with straw marquetry made by a decorating artisan within the Manufacture, specially trained in this 17th-century technique. This is the first time that a L.U.C timepiece has been treated to a dial adorned in such a way.

It all begins with the selection of the material: rye straw grown in the French region of Burgundy and carefully dyed in a beautiful shade of green. Each strand is individually split with a fingernail, before being flattened with pliers. The straw is then cut into tiny hexagons using a scalpel, which are glued onto a base in ethical rose gold to form an interlocking pattern, that owes its beauty to the artisan’s dexterity. The composition combines strands whose thickness, stripe orientation and shade vary in such a way as to create a raised, textured reproduction of the honeycomb motif that Karl-Friedrich Scheufele has chosen to associate with the L.U.C. collection since 1996. The beehive is indeed a metaphor for the collective work of the Manufacture: industrious, honest and modest, the lynchpin of a cohesive whole held together by collaborative endeavours, the bee perfectly embodies the values with which the workshops identify.

After assembly, the dial reveals its full brilliance and lustre with the final application of a wood wax coating. The hours aperture is placed in a cut-out at 6 o'clock, thus ensuring that the minutes hand does not obstruct the view of the instantaneous hour changes.