Chopard Watches – Style, Beauty and Precision
Like a lot of timepieces from Switzerland, Chopard watches date to the middle of the 19th century. The company has been around a long time, quietly building beautiful luxury wristwatches that are elegant, stylish and created with amazing precision.
A number of their models are certified chronometers, while others show lots of diamonds and still others feature amazing and precise complications. They’ve got something for everyone in a form factor that’s pleasing to the eye. If you like things of beauty and respect the fine art of watchmaking, you’ll find Chopard watches to your liking.
Read on for the full Chopard watches review.
Build Quality
Movements
Innovation
Styling and Features
Care and Maintenance
Warranty
Prices
Where to Buy
Summary
Chopard Watches Build Quality
As you might expect from a long-established maker, these watches offer great build quality. Cases are available in stainless steel, titanium, and a number of varieties of gold. Water resistance varies from model to model, but they do offer models with up to 1000 meters of water resistance, which should be good enough for just about anyone’s needs. They use sapphire crystal to protect the face, which has great scratch resistance. These are solid watches that should run well for years with proper care.
You’ll find that Chopard watches movements vary by model. They offer highly accurate quartz electronic, hand wound mechanical, and self-winding automatic movements, so you can pick the one that best suits your needs. Quartz movements tend to be in the women’s line, as they’re easier to incorporate into a design that’s mostly about beauty, rather than complications or function.
There’s lots of innovation here; they love complications, so if you like watches with lots of mechanical gadgets, such as moon phases, a tourbillon, a perpetual calendar, a 24 hour scale or the display of GMT, they can accommodate you. Their Happy Diamonds collection offers watches that appear to have free-floating diamonds within the face of the timepiece.
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If you like a lot of variation in styling, you’ll love this brand. Sure, they’ve got lots of traditional models that feature classic, old-school styling. But they also have models with lots of bling – gold, rose gold, and diamonds are frequently found in their women’s models.
If you like complications, they’ve got skeleton models that will show them off nicely. If you like limited editions, you’ll find something you like – they offer a number of models that are really limited in production; some of them are made in quantities of fewer than 20 pieces.
Displays in Chopard watches are all analog, and you can find something in the product line that offers simplicity or incredibly complex displays; that’s up to you.
The majority of models feature mechanical movements, either manual or automatic. As these are precision mechanical devices, they will require some attention beyond what you might normally expect. The company requests that you return the watch to them every few years (not stated, but most luxury watchmakers suggest every 3-5 years for servicing) for a complete servicing.
This will involve disassembling the timepiece to examine the parts of the movement. Parts are cleaned and worn parts are replaced. The entire movement is then reassembled and lubricated. Once reassembled, the watch is then tested for accuracy and water resistance. Then they’ll clean it up and return it to you and it will probably look and work as good as new. In addition, the company recommends that you have your watertight seals examined every two years to ensure that they’re working properly.
Models with automatic movements should be stored in a watch winder if not being regularly worn in order to keep it working properly. Other models should be stored in a cool, dry place, away from extremes of temperature or strong magnetic fields. With proper care, you’ll find that your watch should last for decades.
The warranty is the industry standard of two years from the date of purchase against defects in materials and workmanship. These watches are rigorously tested at the factory prior to shipping, so it’s unlikely that you’ll encounter a factory defect.
As these are high end luxury timepieces, it won’t surprise you to discover that prices range from moderately expensive to extremely expensive, depending on model, material, whether diamonds are included, whether complications are included and whether the model is part of a limited edition line.
We’ve seen stainless steel sports models for about $6000 or so, but we’ve also seen super-limited editions in their L.U.C. line priced at up to $150,000. The company offers many models of in prices ranging from $10,000-$25,000. They’re expensive, but they’re also high quality timepieces from a long-established maker with a solid reputation.
There’s a bit of collector interest in older models from the company and we expect that to continue in the future as some of their current limited edition products become unavailable. We’re not suggesting that you buy as an investment; just be happy if the watch you buy today turns out to be worth more tomorrow and consider it a nice side benefit of your purchase.
As with most luxury brands, the brand is sold through a limited number of authorized retailers, which are usually high end jewelry stores located in major cities. This is done to avoid brand dilution, which can happen when too many retailers offer a product for sale and it appears to be “too common” to consumers.
By keeping demand high and visibility relatively low, the company can continue to charge higher prices. This is common among luxury brands, but it is possible to buy discounted models online, as a few retailers do carry the brand. As the companies product line is rather extensive, it’s unlikely that any single retailer is going to carry the entire product line, so be prepared to shop around if you’re looking for something in particular.
Chopard Watches Summary
If you like fabulous design, incredible quality, and the excitement that comes with complications and fine, old-school watchmaking, you’ll love Chopard watches. They have a diverse product line that offers business models, models suitable for evening wear, and lots of diamonds and gold for those who like lots of bling on their watch.
These are high quality timepieces that are beautiful, stylish and built well enough to last for decades. If all of this appeals to you, then you should give Chopard watches a look.