A rarity: Chopard L.U.C Tourbillon Dragon

The Chinese year of the Dragon started on February 4th this year. Chopard has added a new luxury item in their L.U.C collection just for the occasion.

The timepiece is extremely elegant in the first place. The 39.50 mm case is 18 carat rose gold, as well as the lugs and the safety buckle on the brown alligator leather strap. The crown is also rose gold and is 6 mm in diameter, bearing L.U.C logo. The dial is very neatly designed. We have the retrograde power indicator at 12 o’clock, while the tourbillon combined with a small seconds chronometer dominates the space at 6 o’clock. Only the 3 and 9 numerals are Roman but both they and the hands are also rose gold. The dial is covered with anti-reflective sapphire glass.

Within the case we have the L.U.C 02.02-L hand wound tourbillon movement with 9 days of power reserve thanks to Chopard’s Quattro technology. It is quite a beautiful movement which demonstrates the traditional art of Fleurier, the hometown of Chopard Manufacture. This skill is called gravure à filet and it is the art of engraving especially on metal and gold, and watch bridges. The L.U.C Tourbillon Dragon‘s bridges are 18 carat rose gold and meticulously embellished using this rare technique. This process is very time consuming and insists on great skill, as the motifs are not traditionally engraved, but the shapes are formed by removing the surrounding layers of material. It is no wonder that the L.U.C Tourbillon Dragon is limited to just 8 pieces!

While elegant on the face, the back case brings an even more alluring side of the L.U.C Tourbillon Dragon

The back of the 10.82 mm case gives us a view of the alluring mechanism. Apart from the gravure à filet embellishments, the mechanism comprises 33 jewels that also contribute to the aesthetic appeal. The Dragon has just 30 m of water resistance, but I guess the lucky owner will take great care of it anyway. The watch received the chronometer certification (COSC). No word about the pricing just yet, but ether way I suspect that the future owners are probably already familiar to Chopard.