2020 was a weird year for watch enthusiasts that owned two-timezone watches: aside from displaying local time in 12 and 24 hour timezones, there was not a whole lot of opportunity to utilise the functions of your GMT or your World Timer. As the world slowly opens up, the opportunity is slowly presenting itself for us to use one of the most utilitarian complications in the watchmaking world, and it is almost by coincidence that Chopard releases the new L.U.C Time Traveller One Black and GMT One Black at Watches and Wonders 2021.
The Time Traveller One and the GMT One were first unveiled in 2016, in stainless steel and precious metal cases, and the Time Traveller One was Chopard’s first world timer watch. These presented a new side to the L.U.C collection – one that was uniquely utilitarian in its design, ready to explore the world. For 2021, the new collection of traveller’s watches from Chopard come just in time as the world reopens, in stealthy monochrome looks that are confident enough to take on the world’s new normal.
L.U.C Time Traveller One Black
Chopard’s L.U.C Time Traveller One features a clever world time mechanism, able to display all of the world’s timezones at a single glance. An array of concentric discs display the necessary information including the date indicated by a pointer in the centre, local time, 24 hour ring for the selected city, and the city ring itself. The city ring is controlled by the crown at 4 o’clock, and will display the world’s timezones once the local city is set to 12. The world’s timezones are then read by aligning the city to the number on the 24 hour ring.
Unique to this edition of the watch is the case itself. Forged from ceramised titanium, this material guarantees lightness, whilst being incredibly hard to withstand everyday scratches – this hardness has been rated to 700 vickers, many times that of stainless steel, let alone precious metal models. Combined with the grey dial of the watch, it is a monochromatic look that is accentuated by the fully vegan rubber strap that is given a fabric texture and is on a ceramised titanium pin buckle.
Housed within the ceramised titanium case is the Calibre L.U.C 01.05-L that is manufactured in Fleurier, holding a 60 hour power reserve, and is chronometer certified.
L.U.C GMT One Black
A simpler version of the L.U.C Time Traveller, the L.U.C GMT One Black is a two timezone watch, with the crown at 2 o’clock setting the time and date, and the crown at 4 o’clock controlling the 24 hour disc. The dial features hand applied vertical brushing, and its rings give the watch a darker appearance than its more complicated cousin. Like the Time Traveller One, the L.U.C GMT One Black is executed in hard ceramised titanium, to give extra wear resistance for the rugged traveller. Mounted on a rubber strap, the watch is also on a ceramicised titanium buckle.
Housed within the case of the L.U.C GMT One Black is the L.U.C 01.10-L, that is chronometer certified, and also manufactured in Fleurier.
With these two watches, Chopard appears poised to take on the world once it reopens, providing the stylish traveller with a stealthy, yet functional option that flies under the radar. Being one of the most useful complications in the watchmaking industry, these two multi-timezone watches are both limited to 250 pieces each – get yours before your gate closes for boarding!