Chopard Skeleton Dial in platinum

1990 | Platinum | Automatic | 35.0mm

Chopard was founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard, and in 1963 it passed to the Scheufele family, who still run it today. Years before its first L.U.C skeleton appeared in 2012, the Maison was already making classic openworked dress watches, the kind where the dial disappears and the movement becomes the decoration. This one dates from the 1990s, and its movement was skeletonized by Armin Strom. Known as the “master skeletonizer”, Strom opened up and engraved movements by hand in his Burgdorf workshop, and in the 1990s several major Swiss houses entrusted him with series of their own watches.

The case is platinum, polished all over, with a slim black chapter ring and two simple black hands. Everything else is movement: engraved bridges cut down to the bare minimum, red jewels and gilded wheels turning in the background. The watch is in excellent condition and comes with its original strap and Chopard buckle, its box and its service card.

From across the room, a quiet dress watch. Up close, the work of one of the great names in skeletonization.