BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
2026 saw Chopard introduce many novelties, and we’ve covered a couple of them, which you can read by clicking here and here. Although we’re drawing our coverage of Watches & Wonders Geneva to a close now, there’s still time to view some of Chopard’s lineup. Regrettably, not every watch was available to view during my appointment, including the fabulous L.U.C. Grand Strike.
Alpine Eagle 41 AM
The AM in this watch’s name stands for anti-magnetic,, and there’s a small symbol on the dial to represent that. The self-winding calibre 01.01-C within this watch features Chopard’s first anti-magnetic balance spring; although Chopard doesn’t announce on its website how resistant it is to magnetism, I guess that’s something to ask at the boutique. The 01.01-C calibre is a good one; it’s made in-house by Chopard’s watchmaking subdivision, Fleurier Ebauches, and features a 4Hz beat rate and a 60-hour power reserve. It’s a COSC-certified chronometer, not an Excellence Chronometer, although the anti-magnetic hairspring in this watch could signify Chopard’s intent to have its watches be Excellence Chronometer-certified, as resistance to magnetism is something tested to gain that award. We’ll see, it’s early days yet. The case of the Alpine Eagle 41 AM is made of Lucent Steel, Chopard’s special alloy, and measures 41mm x 9.7mm with 100m of water resistance. “Moss Green” is the name of the dial colour, and it’s brand new for 2026. The price is CHF14,100.
Alpine Eagle 41 XP CS Gold
Next up is the Alpine Eagle 41 XP CS Gold, which builds on the success of the extra-thin version of the Alpine Eagle, made in platinum and introduced in 2025. Crafted from 18k ethical rose gold, this watch features a 41mm x 8mm case with 100m of water resistance. The now-iconic Alpine Eagle’s dial, inspired by the irises of eagles living in Switzerland’s Alpine regions (who’d have guessed that?), features a graduated brown “Shades of Wood” colouration that matches the rose gold beautifully.
Inside it is the self-winding calibre L.U.C 96.42-L, which is just 3.3mm thick yet combines twin mainspring barrels for a 60-hour power reserve. It’s also been awarded the Poinçon de Genève (Geneva Seal), and is a COSC-certified chronometer. The price of this model is CHF74,600.
L.U.C. XPS Prussian Blue
Crafted from Lucent Steel, the L.U.C. XPS Prussian Blue is a classy dress watch with modern proportions, measuring 40mm x 7.2mm, an elegant calfskin leather strap, and 30m of water resistance. Inspired by Art Deco and Bauhaus designs, the elegant dial features a sunray finish and Chopard’s signature ‘notched dauphine’ hands. It’s very clean.
Powering this watch is the self-winding calibre 96.12-L, which is 3.3mm thick, offers a 65-hour power reserve, and runs at 4Hz. This appears to be one of the “mid-range” L.U.C. calibres. I say that because they have different levels of finishing; this one has a gold micro-rotor, whereas some models don’t, but it’s not a Geneva Seal movement either. It does help keep the cost down, though, and this watch retails for CHF11,200.
L.U.C. Strike One Titanium
Moving higher up into Chopard’s L.U.C. range, we have the L.U.C. Strike One now presented in a 40mm x 9.86mm titanium case. It’s always intriguing seeing haute horlogerie watches made in sporty materials like titanium, as it’s meant to give them a sporty edge, but without changing anything else. A Strike One calibre in an Alpine Eagle case does sound interesting… Anyway, what we have is a revival of a watch made in 2006 to mark ten years of Chopard’s L.U.C division. Over time, it faded away as Chopard moved on, but was revived in 2021 for the 2022 model year to mark 25 years of the Strike One timepiece. Chopard built on what it learned from making the Grand Strike (such as the sapphire gongs connected to the crystal for a louder chime) and incorporated it into the Strike One, a sonnerie au passage watch. This means it chimes every hour on the hour to mark that hour’s passing; this is the function of the hammer visible on the dial. A pusher hidden in the crown can be used to silence this mechanism should one wish.
The self-winding calibre L.U.C. 96.32-L makes this happen, and it has a 65-hour power reserve with a 4Hz beat rate. Presented on an alligator leather strap, this watch costs CHF55,000.
L.U.C. Quattro Spirit 25 Straw Marquetry Edition
Crafted from Chopard’s 18k ethical yellow gold, which means Chopard can verify that the gold used in this watch was sourced ethically from mining to production of the final watch, this version of the L.U.C. Marquetry watches really is something in person. Chopard introduced us to this style last year. The dial is made from rye straw that is grown in France and then hand-selected and cut into hexagons before being assembled on the dial. If you’re into your luxury cars, or you have some nice furniture hanging around, you’ll know that marquetry is the art of creating designs in veneer, typically wood, and these are typically pictures or patterns. Something a little ‘extra’ to the craft of working with veneer. The hexagonal pattern seen here represents the beehive, a symbol used by Chopard to convey the industriousness and honesty of bees in the wild. The minutes are indicated by the single golden hand, and the hours are displayed as jumping hours in the window at 6 O’clock.
Powering all of this is the hand-wound calibre L.U.C 98.06-L, which has a 4Hz beat rate and a long power reserve of eight days (192 hours) thanks to four barrels, a feature Chopard calls Quattro technology. It’s a beautiful movement that proudly bears the Geneva Seal, and it’s housed in a case measuring 40mm x 10.3mm with 50m of water resistance. The price for one of these is CHF66,700. There’s also an elegant blue version of this watch in 18k rose gold, but it wasn’t available.
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