Chopard L.U.C XPS 35mm Esprit de Fleurier 131968-1002

Fleurier is the Swiss village where Chopard's manufacture has been based since 1996, and fleurisanne is its own engraving speciality, now almost extinct. The engraver cuts away the metal around the pattern to leave it in high relief, engraves it with volutes or flowers, polishes it, then hammer-stipples the background for a grainy finish. Here the whole movement is decorated that way and shows through the case back.

The movement is a self-winding micro-rotor calibre with two barrels, a 65-hour power reserve and COSC chronometer certification, in a case 35 mm wide and 7.1 mm thick that takes a 16 mm strap. The XPS 35mm White Gold / MOP (131968-1001) shares the white gold case and diamond-set bezel with a white mother-of-pearl dial, and the 131968-5001 is its rose gold counterpart. The 39.5 mm XPS models, such as the 161920-5002, keep the same thin profile in a larger case.