What happens when Chopard’s L.U.C collection acquires a Japanese soul?

For over 25 years, Chopard’s L.U.C collection, named after its founder Louis-Ulysse Chopard, has represented the pinnacle of the maison’s watchmaking excellence. Bearing the renowned Poincon de Geneve hallmark and often admired as a quiet statement of horological mastery, each watch is conceived, manufactured, and finished in-house.

Now, with a new collection named L.U.C Inspirations from Japan – Artistic Crafts in Time, co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele deepens Chopard’s long relationship with the nation, which has shaped his appreciation for craftsmanship. 

For more than four decades, he has travelled regularly to Japan, fascinated by its culture of perfection that transforms even the simplest objects into artworks. In the same way, the L.U.C philosophy honours the watch as a cherished artefact of discipline and humanity.

Comprising five timepieces, this collection is a tribute to that shared pursuit of excellence. Each model reinterprets a cornerstone of the L.U.C line through Japanese artistry, be it hand-engraved metal, lacquer, enamel, or, surprisingly, sound.

L.U.C Full Strike Spirit of the Warrior

Few watches combine storytelling and technical mastery quite like this one-of-a-kind creation in 42.5mm ethical white gold, paying homage to the samurai’s code of honour, discipline, and loyalty.

Anchoring the dial is the Edo period-inspired menpo mask of the warrior, fierce yet dignified, surrounded by hand-engraved scenes of combat and meditation on the caseband, evoking the duality between power and spirituality.

Between the lugs, tiny oni demons stand guard, while the crown bears a peony, symbolic of bravery. Even the bridges of the movement are engraved with waves and a guardian lion, extending the narrative to every visible surface.

Inside beats Chopard’s minute repeater calibre 08.01-L, a marvel recognised through the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve’s highest honour. Its patented sapphire crystal gongs, cut from a single block of crystal with the watch glass, create a uniquely clear tone.

Protective mechanisms ensure that even an accidental push of the repeater pusher causes no harm.

Offered with a kimono-fabric strap and a black alligator leather strap, the watch is presented in a red kamosho-lined chest with a spruce-wood resonance box that amplifies the chime.

L.U.C Quattro Spirit: Enso, Samurai Last Stand, and Meditating Daruma

For those who view time as an opportunity for reflection, Chopard offers a trio of L.U.C Quattro Spirit watches that marry spiritual symbolism with technical strength. Each 40mm creation, limited to just eight pieces, is powered by the manual-wound L.U.C 98.06-L calibre, featuring the brand’s four-barrel Quattro technology that provides an eight-day power reserve.

The Quattro Spirit Enso portrays the famous Zen circle, drawn in a single stroke to symbolise enlightenment and completeness. Its black Grand Feu enamel dial, executed in pure white gold, radiates quiet balance. 

The Samurai Last Stand, in rose gold, reinterprets the motif of a tattered battle fan once seen on a vintage kimono, which is a symbol of endurance in the face of mortality. Finally, the Meditating Daruma honours the monk who founded Zen Buddhism, capturing his rounded form and the proverb “Fall seven times, stand up eight”.

Each enamel dial is hand-painted and fired multiple times in the kiln. Through the sapphire caseback, Geneva stripes and the swan’s neck regulator reveal stoic craftsmanship that matches the dial’s spiritual calm.

L.U.C XP Urushi Ukiyo-e

Chopard’s longtime fascination with Japanese lacquer continues with this model, an eight-piece limited edition that celebrates 18th-century artist Katsushika Hokusai’s Tago Bay, one of the most evocative works from his Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series.

The 40mm ethical yellow gold watch’s dial is handcrafted by master lacquerer Minori Koizumi of Yamada Heiando, the century-old lacquer house that supplies Japan’s imperial family. Using the maki-e technique, layers of natural Urushi lacquer are applied, dusted with fine gold powder, and polished to create depth and light. The scene depicts junks battling waves below Mount Fuji’s serene peak.

Inside, the L.U.C 96.41-L calibre, with its 22-carat gold micro-rotor and 65-hour reserve, keeps perfect rhythm. The finishing is as refined as the art it carries: Cotes de Geneve stripes, polished bevels, and the Poincon de Geneve hallmark.

L.U.C XP Nihonto

If steel can hold a soul, this ethical white gold watch might just prove it. A limited edition of 25 pieces, it pays homage to the sacred art of Japanese sword-making. Its dial is crafted from damascened steel, using techniques inspired by Tamahagane, the steel once reserved for samurai blades.

Forged at the Corcelles forge in Neuchâtel by an artisan trained in Japanese traditions, each dial is composed of 120 to 160 folded layers, hammered and welded until the moire pattern emerges. Every ripple of steel tells its own story of fire and motion. No two dials are identical, and each is a fingerprint of profound craftsmanship.

Powering this feat is the self-winding L.U.C 96.41-L calibre with micro-rotor and twin barrels, offering a 65-hour power reserve. Through the exhibition back, the finely chamfered bridges and Geneva stripes gleam like reflections on polished metal.

L.U.C XP Sakura by Night

The most lyrical of the series is this beauty, an eight-piece limited edition in ethical yellow gold set with diamonds. Inspired by yozakura, the Japanese tradition of viewing cherry blossoms at dusk, this 35mm watch with a diamond-set bezel transforms an 18th-century kabuki theatre kimono into miniature art.

Its dial layers guilloche engraving, translucent lacquer, sculpted mother-of-pearl, and open-worked gold, while each bloom is set with a sparkling diamond. The effect is both delicate and luminous, like moonlight caught between branches. 

The movement, the L.U.C 96.23-L, carries on Chopard’s tradition of Fleurisanne engraving. Its white gold bridges are etched with sakura motifs, then gilded and dotted by hand to create a shimmering contrast, a process that requires 15 days of labour.

As Karl-Friedrich Scheufele noted, “Perfection is not an end, but a discipline”. In these timepieces, perfection takes the form of harmony between cultures, between materials, and ultimately, between art and time itself.