WT 2003 04: TEST: CHOPARD L.U.C PRO ONE

TEST: CHOPARD L.U.C PRO ONE
The Pro One is Chopard’s
first diver’s watch.
A stylish bezel and a
highly legible dial are its
most salient features.
Patrician

The case’s solid, screw-in back is decorated
with an elaborate engraving patterned
after the eight-pointed star on a compass.
Diver
Chopard is starting to
carve out a sizable niche in
the highly competitive
world of diver’s watches.
But does the blue-blooded
brand’s L.U.C Pro One
have what it takes to
handle the deep seas
BY ALEXANDER LINZ
August 2003 WatchTime 55

In addition to the word “Swiss,“ which is a
given, the latest offering from the Chopard
manufacture sports an elegant black dial
crowded with the words: “Chopard,“ “Automatic,“
“Pro One,“ “Certified Chronometer,“
and “300 m/1,000 ft.“ Here in Fleurier, idyllically
situated in the center of the Swiss Jura,
and far from the hustle and bustle of Chopard’s
Geneva headquarters, a closely knit and
well-orchestrated team of designers, watchmakers,
engineers, and specialists collaborates
on the tasks of producing the watches in Chopard’s
L.U.C collection. Their latest brainchild is
a diver’s watch that strives for the heights...or
rather, the depths...of excellence. The arena in
which Chopard aims to position its Pro One is a
hotly contested one, and the names of the
competitors there number among the best
known and most respected brands in the
world: Rolex, Breitling, IWC, Omega, Panerai,
and TAG Heuer are all heavyweight champions
in the diver’s watch division. Many of the timekeepers
made by these brands embody the
56 WatchTime August 2003
Screws rather than
a springbar: the
clasp is firmly
anchored to the strap.
The L.U.C 4.96 is a genuine Chopard
manufacture caliber with two
barrels and an off-center micro-rotor.
very best of what can be achieved in the field
of sports and diver’s watches. Can Chopard
outshine its high-karat competitors Not likely,
and perhaps that’s not even Chopard’s goal.
The Pro One simply wants to be a good diver’s
watch. The primary intention was to create a
beautiful, valuable, elegant watch that would
appeal to the firm’s discriminating clientele,
and that’s exactly what Chopard has accomplished.
As far as its physical attributes are concerned,
the Pro One has all of the typical features
that make good diver’s watches so coveted,
whether or not you actually plan to wear
one while diving. The Pro One’s designers
drew up a to-do list and then methodically set
out to “do“ each one. Consider each of the
following characteristics found on the new Pro
One: a muscular 42-mm case; a bezel that ro-

Lovingly executed
details adorn the wellcrafted
rubber strap.
Advantages
+Interesting manufacture caliber
+This watch has obviously been
crafted with a great deal of love
for details
+Very beautiful and highly lebigle
dial
Disadvantages
- The rotating bezel shifts position
too easily
- No stop-seconds function
tates in one direction and clicks neatly into
each successive minute increment; a screwdown
crown with lateral protection; a readily
legible dial; and a visually appealing rubber
strap. Connoisseurs will instantly recognize
that this watch is a Chopard. Even the screw-in
back has been lovingly engraved and attractively
designed. But the beauty of the Pro One
is by no means skin deep: Unscrew its sturdy
back, and you’ll find a technically discriminating,
fully automatic caliber 4.96. Produced in
Chopard’s ateliers, the 4.96’s twin barrels store
enough power to keep it ticking for up to 70
hours.
Sturdiness, of course, plays a crucial role in
any diver’s watch. By necessity the toughest
and best protected of all sports watches, a diver’s
watch is designed to cope with tough conditions
above and below (sometimes well below)
the surface of the briny deep. This steel
watch is very solidly built, a fact which is immediately
evident the moment you heft its
masculine bulk: including its strap and clasp,
the Pro One weighs in at 134 grams. It definitely
makes its presence felt on the wrist, but
it manages not to feel too cumbersome.
It takes six full rotations to unscrew the
well-protected crown and arrive at the setting
mode. Three rotations would have sufficed if
the threads had been cut more steeply, but this
fine threading is greatly reassuring to anyone
hoping to take the Pro One in water conditions
more hazardous than the shower stall.
To facilitate orientation, the unidirectional
bezel has been given a luminous triangle filled
with Superluminova C1. The bezel rotates easily
in a counterclockwise direction only, which
ensures that the preset interval is always shorter
and never longer than intended. This detail
© 2003 Caterpillar CATERPILLAR and CAT are Registered Trademarks of Caterpillar Inc.

DATA PAGE
L.U.C Pro One
Manufacturer: Chopard SA, 8, rue de Veyrot,
CH-1217 Genève-Meyrin
Reference number: 16/8912
Functions: Displays the hours, minutes,
seconds, and date.
Movement: Chopard manufacture caliber
L.U.C 4.96; diameter = 27 mm (12 lignes);
height = 3.3 mm; 31 jewels (plus 3 nonfunctional
jewels); 28,800 beats per hour;
Swiss lever escapement; Anachron flat
balance-spring; annular balance with three
spokes and smooth rim; find adjustment via
Spirofin mechanism for the index; automatically
wound by a heavy metal micro-rotor; two
barrels (mainsprings made of Nivaflex 1); 65 to
70 hour power reserve; Kif shock absorption;
no stop-seconds function; C.O.S.C. chronometer
certificate.
Wristband and clasp: Rubber strap with steel
folding clasp.
Running test when fully wound
(deviations in seconds per 24 hours):
Dial up: +2
Dial down: +3
Crown left: +5
Crown up: -5
Crown down: -3
Greatest deviation of rate: 10
Average deviation of rate: +/- 0
Average amplitude: 280°
Dimensions: Diameter = 42 mm; height =
12 mm; weight = 114 grams (including strap
and clasp).
Special features: Comes standard with both a
rubber strap and a leather wristband
Price: $6,230
A tiny fly in the ointment is the unidirectional bezel. It shifts positions a little too easily.
The Chopard Caliber
4.96 may not be the
workhorse that you’ll find
inside a Rolex Submariner,
but it’s tough enough
and is certainly much
better looking.
is particularly crucial if the watch is worn while
diving, since it means you won’t risk running
out of air. But we must report that the Pro
One’s bezel turns perhaps too easily, with the
corresponding danger that it’s apt to rotate
further than intended. We’d like to recommend
that Chopard rework the bezel so that it
clicks a bit more stiffly, or at least install a
mechanism to lock it into place.
On a happier note, there’s absolutely nothing
to criticize about the dial and the legibility
of its time display. Superluminova C1, a new luminous
material which glows
as green as a cat’s eyes, has
been used on the hands and
indices, where it contrasts unbeatably
well against the
black background of the dial.
Chopard has wisely dispensed
with unnecessary complications
or other dial clutter that
could potentially interfere
with the simple task of telling
the time. Even the aforementioned
writing on the dial is in unobtrusively
small type and located towards the dial’s center.
Further improvements in the legibility include
the antireflective coating that’s been applied to
both sides of the domed sapphire crystal. This
coating assures a limpid/crystalline readout in
even the brightest lighting.
Like they used to say in 17th-century verse,
‘A pretty face has its place, nor does she lack a
pretty back.“ The Pro One’s back is embellished
with elaborate engravings and tasteful decorations
that list the name of the manufacturer, the
name of the watch, the maximum
dive depth, the reference
number and serial number,
and there’s also an attractive
eight-pointed star like the
one that’s typically found on a
compass. This star serves no
function but is cool nonetheless.
Similar adjectives characterize
the impressively thick
rubber strap. Lovely little decorative
waves decorate its out-
58 WatchTime August 2003

TEST: CHOPARD L.U.C PRO ONE
TEST RESULTS
Chopard L.U.C Pro One
Wristband and clasp (max. 10 points): 8
Beautiful, well-crafted rubber strap with
pronged buckle.
Operation (5): 3
The displays can be easily set and adjusted via
the screwed-in crown, but this model doesn’t
have a stop-seconds function.
Case (10): 8
Solidly crafted, heavyweight steel
case with many interesting details and an
elaborately decorated, screw-in back.
Design (15): 13
Appealing, contemporary, Chopard design;
very beautiful dial.
Legibility (5): 5
The time is readily legible under
all conditions thanks to the high-contrast dial,
which is also optimally legible in the dark.
Wearing comfort (10): 8
A heavyweight watch, but nonetheless comfortable
on the wrist.
Movement (20): 17
Elaborately made and beautifully decorated
Chopard manufacture caliber L.U.C 4.97 with
double barrels and micro-rotor.
Rate results (10): 8
Well-balanced adjustment; the average was +/-
0 seconds per day, but there were relatively
large differences between the various positions
Overall value (15): 11
A good investment in a diver’s watch for some
one who wants something different from what
everybody else has. It has Chopard’s inimitable
elegance, style and name.
TOTAL: 81 points
The screw-down crown with lateral protection is both beautiful and built to last.
er surface, and the inner surface is marked with
a variety of useful information such as the
amount of weight the strap will bear before it
tears, how much heat it can withstand, and other
data about its creation. Those are extra features
that testify to the love for detail that went
into the birth of the Pro One. The clasp is big,
bold, and beautifully engraved. Rather than using
just a springbar or a single screw to attach
the strap to the case, Chopard’s designers opted
for two large screws on either side of the case,
thus giving the lugs a technical look that’s a
good match for the watch’s tough, no-frills
face. We shouldn’t forget to mention that the
Pro One is also optionally available with either a
leather wristband or a steel bracelet.
Safely ensconced inside the protective steel
case, a stalwart old friend, the 12-ligne L.U.C
caliber 4.96, does its admirable timekeeping
job. The power is supplied by two barrels which
are serially switched and situated one atop the
other. (Chopard’s own designation
for this item is L.U.C
‘Twin.“) The duo stores
enough power to keep the
Pro One running for up to 70
We field tested the Pro
One on the ski slopes and
during a snowball fight.
hours. A heavy-yet-agile micro-rotor made of
metal automatically winds the mainsprings inside
the barrels. The annular balance has three
spokes and oscillates at today’s more or less
standard rate of 28,800 beats per hour. The
seconds-hand is centrally axial, but the caliber
doesn’t support a stop-seconds function: a pity,
really, because its absence complicates the task
of setting the watch with to-the-second accuracy.
All of the bridges are beveled on their
edges and elaborately engraved with côtes de
Genève (Geneva Waves) decoration. The steel
components are polished and the heads of the
screws are polished flat. The caliber is embellished
with a variety of black engravings, including
the watch’s name prominently cut into its
rotor. A C.O.S.C. certificate rounds out the list
of attributes and definitively confirms that Chopard
has indeed done its homework. This caliber
debuted in 1996 and has been performing
virtually problem-free ever since. Some critics
initially whispered that the
micro-rotor could perform its
task of winding the mainsprings
with only moderate
success, but they’ve long
60 WatchTime August 2003

Superluminova C1, a new
luminous material that
glows as green as a cat’s
eyes, has been used
on the hands and indices.
since stopped their whispering.
How well will the caliber
4.96 perform inside a genuine
diver’s wristwatch This
motor has already passed its
first “acid test“ inside a similar
watch. For several years,
the L.U.C Sport 2000 has
been powered by a version of
the caliber 4.96 which is virtually identical to
the one inside the Pro One. The only differences
between the versions involve the embellishment
and engravings. The tough life led by the
L.U.C Sport 2000 hasn’t harmed its caliber, so
there doesn’t seem to be any reason to be concerned
about the well-being of the Pro One’s
motor either. We wanted to make sure, so we
queried several watchmakers who regularly
service Chopard’s watches. Each one expressed
his own opinions and all of them agreed that
“the caliber 4.96, unlike a typical Rolex caliber,
isn’t a workhorse. It’s more like a sports car, but
it can take a lot of punishment nonetheless.“
Unfortunately, we couldn’t actually take the
Pro One along with us on a real dive before we
went to press. But we did strap on the timepiece
before we went skiing. We already knew
that the caliber 4.96 had delivered very good
results on the timing machine, so we wanted
to conduct an empirical test of the watch’s performance
on the slopes and during a subsequent
snowball fight.
Throughout this latter ordeal,
as well as during an on-thewrist-testing
period of several
weeks’ duration, the watch
ran with a slight and consistent
“plus“ of a very few seconds
per day. In other words,
it passed both the laboratory
and the practical tests with flying colors!
The Chopard Pro One is a successful, technically
mature diver’s watch, but perhaps a bit
too elegant and refined to bear comparison to
the rugged stars in the diver’s watch firmament.
This timepiece is sort of like a reserved
gentleman who can prove his mettle if need
be, though the need seldom if ever arises. The
rest of the time he’s soft-spoken, elegant, and
handsome, just like his wristwatch. For Chopard’s
traditionally loyal clientele, the Pro One
embodies a genuine alternative to sports or
diver’s watches made by other brands. And for
Chopard’s new customers, it’s a wristwatch
that combines attractive styling on the exterior
with a genuine manufacture caliber on the inside.
We’d liken the Pro One to a Porsche
Cayenne, a driving machine that can take punishment,
but prefers not to. A classic diver’s
watch is more like a good old Jeep: it takes the
punishment and keeps on rolling, and rolling,
and rolling....
Chopard’s Growth Assures an Independent Future
Chopard’s manufacture in Fleurier, Switzerland is
now entirely owned by the Scheufele family.
In the past, only one floor of the building belonged
to the clan. The other three stories, owned by the
Swatch Group AG, were vacant. Now that the
Scheufeles have the run of the place, the total
manufacturing area has grown to 1,750 square
meters; five times the previous size. The number of
employees has also dramatically increased
during the past six years from the original 3 to the
current total of 73, and the number of models
produced has quadrupled from one to four.
This figure is a bit conservative, since it doesn’t
take into account the several versions available
for each model, in which case the total would be
more than ten.
Chopard is striving towards progressively
greater autonomy for its manufacture, and Karl-
Friedrich Scheufele, the company’s vice-president
and the man responsible for the overall development
of both the manufacturing site and the
L.U.C. watches made there, is quite clear about
his company’s goal, which is to create as many
components as possible on site and thereby ensure
Chopard complete quality control. This is
particularly important because part of the firm’s
production is slated to earn the coveted Geneva
Seal, which requires that companies conform to
superlative standards of quality. How good is the
quality of Chopard’s regular L.U.C watches Karl-
Friedrich Scheufele explains that “all of the 2,900
calibers that we’ll make during the year 2003 will
be crafted according to extremely strict in-house
quality guidelines. It really isn’t possible to distinguish
between calibers that will earn a Geneva
Seal and calibers that won’t. One has either
achieved a certain level of quality, or one hasn’t.
We have.“
AL