Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Chopard Imperiale Four Seasons is Poetry in Motion
A stunning Imperiale model captures the colours of the changing seasons as the mother-of-pearl scenery revolves around the dial, chaperoned by a white gold lotus flower and diamonds.
Chopard, for most of our readers, is the name behind collections such as the Mille Miglia, the Alpine Eagle, and the top-end L.U.C watches, products overseen by co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. With its own foundry and jewellery workshop in Geneva, the feminine side of the brand, represented by high jewellery collections and women’s watches, is in the capable hands of co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele. One of the most luxurious collections to emerge under her direction is the Imperiale, which returns as the limited-edition Imperiale Four Seasons, equipped with a complication that depicts the passing seasons.
When Chopard was acquired by the Scheufele family in 1963, the brand consolidated its presence on the market with jewellery watches, a tradition that had run in the family since the early 1900s. One of Karl Scheufele and his wife Karin’s first moves was to reinvent the diamond-set watch category with the iconic Happy Diamonds collection launched in 1976. Caroline, their daughter, perpetuated the Happy Diamonds theme with the 1993 Happy Sport collection, distinguished by floating diamonds on the dial secured between two sapphire crystals.
The Imperiale collection appeared in 1994, and many of its high-end jewellery models feature lotus flower motifs. A couple of years ago, we featured the Imperiale Day-Night model, a delectable high-jewellery watch with a mobile sky that indicates night and daytime hours, revealed beneath a lotus flower. No less dazzling, the new Imperiale Four Seasons combines gem-setting and miniature mother-of-pearl marquetry skills with a fascinating mechanical complication.
Designed to evoke the cyclical nature of the seasons, the lower dial, featuring changing scenery, completes a full revolution every 365 days and is crowned by a lotus flower crafted from 18k ethically sourced white gold. To capture the different palettes associated with the four seasons, the revolving disc is crafted using delicate mother-of-pearl marquetry in subtle gradient colours. The majestic lotus flower comes to life with its incredibly refined details, including satin-finished white gold petals and polished veins. To ensure maximum viewing pleasure, the gold-plated hour and minute hands are openworked.
The 36mm white gold case has a rounded central container with a height of 12.1mm, along with the characteristic bar lugs and lotus-shaped crown of the Imperiale family. The external bezel and lug attachments sparkle with large, brilliant-cut diamonds, as do the tips of the bar lugs and the lotus-shaped crown. Smaller diamonds are set into the internal bezel and the arc of the lotus flower in the lower half of the dial.
The high-end L.U.C 96.31-L movement powers this Imperiale with an exclusive Four Seasons module. This movement is a variant of the brand’s first automatic calibre (1.96) with a micro-rotor to emerge from the manufacture in 1996. Relying on Chopard’s in-house Twin Technology, the movement has a generous 65-hour power reserve. Visible through the sapphire caseback, the bridges are decorated with Côtes de Genève and circular graining.
Delivered with four interchangeable alligator leather straps in colours to match the different seasons, the straps are fitted with an ethical 18k white gold pin buckle. The Imperiale Four Seasons is a limited edition of 25 numbered pieces. It is available exclusively in Chopard boutiques and retails for EUR 103,000.
More information at Chopard.com.
