When you have a company like Chopard, well known for its luxurious jewelry, the obvious questions appear: are their watches as good or the price and popularity come with the territory?
Let’s put allother products aside, and discus are Chopard watches good?
Chopard is an independent Swiss luxury watch company that produces high-end watches that are extremely high quality and reliable. Chopard’s stunning timepieces are made from the finest materials, and their in-house movements follow the highest standards in the industry.
Chopard watches are good, no question there. They are not your every day affordable timepieces though, so if you want to know more about what makes these watches expensive and how does their price compares with the quality. Keep reading.
3 Reasons Why Chopard Watches Are Worth Of Money
The craftsmanship of Chopard watches isstate of the art. Chopard manufactures unique, handmade watches withastonishing power, precision and functionality.
There is more than one reason why thesewatches are worthy of your money:
1. Chopard’s Chronometers – the symbol of power and precision.
All Chopard’s Chronometers are certified by COCS – Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute. COCS is rigorous in testing the accuracy and precision: each movement is tested for fifteen days, at different temperatures and in five positions. The movements have to be manufactured from the finest materials, and minimum precision has to be -4/+6 seconds a day.
Only 3% of Swiss watches are COCScertified.
Chopard uses L.U.C. movements (named by the founder of the company, Louis-UlysseChopard) all of which are created and manufactured in-house.
Since its beginnings in 1860, Chopard wasknown for beautiful and precise timepieces, but the real in-house revolutionstarted in 1963, when Karl Scheufele III, the company owner at the time,decided to manufacture their own, top-quality, in-house mechanisms.
Later on, the company allocated special facilitiesin Fleurier, for manufacturing their movements. With respecting tradition, theChopard movements flourished with innovations: from Quattro calibre, amechanical movement with power reserve; through movements with a tourbillon(only a handful mechanical watches have this kind of complication), to thefirst-ever high-frequency escapement (8 Hertz) movement to be COSC certified.
It is worth mentioning that the finishingtouches and assembling of the components for these superb mechanisms are mostlydone by hand.
2. Chopard watches high-end design.
Chopard’s timepieces are made with the utmost attention to detail. Not only that these watches are certified for their functionality, but also for their materials and finishing touches. Each Chopard’s watch has a Geneva Seal, which is a proof of quality and exclusivity according to the highest standards of Swiss watchmaking.
In order to even apply for this prestigiouscertificate, the movement of the watch must be top quality and mechanical;cased, assembled and adjusted in the Canton of Geneva.
Watches are tested for overallfunctionality, but the focus of Geneva Steal certification is the decoration;materials and finishing touches. To make a long list of requirements short,what’s important is to use traditional materials (no polymers), all thecomponents have to be fine-tuned with trimmed chamfers and smoothed finishings.
All components are checked with 4xmagnification, or if something is not clear enough with 15x magnification.
So basically, if you like the aestheticsand functionality of Chopard’s watches, you do not have to worry about whatlies beneath it. What you see is what you get – the beautiful, top-notchwristwatch!
3. The uniqueness of Chopard’s collections.
In the rich world of watchmaking, Chopardmanaged to set themselves apart with their luxury collections, each one of theminspired by the unique location, occasion or a life-style.
The power and functionality of their movements were something Chopard was very proud of since the early days, while the design was clear and classical up to 1976. That year, they started producing the first watch with the free-floating diamonds. This was a move towards a more lavished look for already modern and innovative timepieces.
Today, Chopard watches are the all-in-onecombination of taste, luxury and top-quality.
Where Are Chopard Watches Made?
Chopard’s Swiss luxury watches are stunninglooking, made with fascinating attention to detail of its mechanical anddecorative components and pieces, all of which are manufactured, assembled andadjusted in Chopard’s facilities in Switzerland.
Chopard produces all their watches, fromstart to finish, in three facilities across Switzerland, each one allocated fora specific workload.
- Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier is the mainproduction unit for the L.U.C. calibers; employing around 130 people.
This is where everything starts:turning rough materials into plates, springs, wheels and other basic components.The row components are then cleaned, brushed and trimmed.
The finishing touches on thecomponents are done by hand. That includes decoration with Seal of Geneva,engraving the signatures, and so on; all done by the hand of the artisan.
In the same facilities just on a differentfloor, the components will be assembled into the calibre.
- Fleurier Ebauchesis where theother movements are produced, for Mille Miglia, Classic Racing and a lot ofdifferent ladies watches. 60 people produce around 15,000 movements per year inthe Fleurier Ebauches.
The number of people and calibres isgrowing, as Chopard is determined to keep all of its production in-house.
- The third facility is Chopard’sheadquarters in Meyrin (just outside of Geneva). Here is where all othernon-movement parts are made, like casing and bracelets.
Interesting fact: Chopard smeltstheir own gold, which is then shaped and cut into the case blank.
In-house production for Chopardwatches indeed is 100% in house!
Best Chopard’s Watch Collections For Men
Choosing a Chopard’s watch is not an easytask because options are so many. All of the Chopard’s watches are of thetop-quality and decisions will depend on your personal taste. Their collectionsare unique, and each collection the signature look that will represent acertain lifestyle.
Here are some of the most known Chopardcollections for men:
Chopard Mille Miglia Collection
Directly translated from Italian: ThousandMile collection.
This is probably the most known collection (out of men’s watches at least) inspired and made in honor of classic and legendary racing cars. This is a masculine and powerful chronometer design according to vintage car bodies. The Classic Mille Miglia even has a rubber strap resembling the 1960s Dunlop tire.
You can choose different options and colorsof Mille Miglia, according to your own taste, but if you are a car lover andsitting behind a nice wheel is a part of your lifestyle, then Chopards’s MilleMiglia is a must-have accessory. These watches are not just high-precision,powerful chronometers; they make a statement when on your wrist.
Starting price for this iconic collectionis around $4.000.
Chopard Alpine Eagle Collection
The first watch in this collection wasdesigned in 1980. by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. The watch represents the beautyof the Alps and the strength of an eagle.
This exclusive looking timepiece is madefrom exclusive materials, Lucent Steel, which is ultra-resistant,light-reflecting metal. Alpine Eagle collection is a perfect combination ofstrength and elegance.
From the movement, a Chopard01.01-Ccaliber, with 28,800 vibrations per hour and 60 hours power reserve to thefinishing touches of each component these watches are made for those who likeovercoming challenges.
The starting price for this collection is $10,100.
Chopard L.U.C. Collection
For those who want to show and shine allthe way, there is always a L.U.C. collection.
L.U.C. collection, with its differenttimepieces, from their functionality to aesthetics, are luxury and elegant toexcentricity. They use an in-house patterned twin technology with two coaxialbarrels in 3.3 mm movement, wound by a micro-rotor in 22K gold.
As an official partner with Cannes International Film Festival since 1998, the L.U.C. collection is made for a red carpet.
The L.U.C. collection is for those who have chosento shine with tasty and exceptional luxury.
You can start, for example with beautiful L.U.C XP(with 3.3. mm L.U.C 96.53-L movement and Twin technology) for $8,810.00, but ifyou want the top of this collection that includes gold micro-rotor, the pricewill be more than a double.
Best Chopard’s Watch Collections For Women
Chopard produces a vast number of well-known ladies’ watches.
Here are some most-known collections, highlyrecommended as a unique and luxurious present for some special occasion.
Happy Sport an Iconic collection of the industry, launched in 1993, as a first wristwatch that combines diamonds with stainless steel.
Imperial a dazzling feminine collection inspired by historical empresses also has a wide range of astonishing shiny and busy, or more classical timepieces.
Millie Miglia, Classic Racing, Alpine Eagle or L.U.C collections also have timepieces that are designed for women.
No need to add that the quality and attention todetail for all Chopard’s watches are the same (for both women’s and men’scollections).
If you like quartz mechanism, then you can findsome of the watches from these collections for an entry price around $2.000,but if you want automatic movement (which really is the signature of thiscompany), then the entry price for ladies collection is around $6,000.
Conclusion – Buy it or Try it?
If you are inquiring about getting aChopard watch In the first place, I can only presume you are already a horologylover and ready to spend some money on a fantastic timepiece.
In that case, there is no need to “try it”as if you get yourself a Chopard’s watch you will surreally be satisfied withits power, quality and functionality.
Spend some time researching the Chopard’swatch collection, to make sure you chose the watch that will perfectlycomplement your style, and do not worry about the quality as the standard foreach timepiece in Chopard is equally high.
