The intersection of motorsport and watchmaking has produced its fair share of automotive-inspired timepieces, yet few achieve the authenticity and seamless integration of automotive design cues into watchmaking that Chopard's third collaboration with Zagato delivers. Although let’s not forget Audemars Piguet’s integration of auto racing design cues into several Royal Oak Offshores, like the Pablo Montoya, the Michael Schumacher, and the Rubens Barrichello.
The Zagato Lab One Concept watch is limited to just 19 pieces and commemorates the founding of bodywork specialist Zagato on April 19, 1919. This new watch is not merely an aesthetic homage but a genuine transposition of racing engineering principles into horological form for the wrist.
As a result of this shared passion, Chopard and Zagato have already collaborated on two previous occasions, the first in 2013 with the Mille Miglia Zagato Chronograph, followed in 2019 by the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph Zagato 100th Anniversary Edition commemorating the coachbuilder’s founding date.
Things to Know About the Watch
The case design follows the philosophy borrowed directly from competition car chassis design, and the ceramicised titanium 42 mm case uses a tubular architecture in which the L.U.C 04.04-L movement sits supported by a framework of tubes rather than traditional lugs.
This borrowed design principle, pioneered by Zagato for optimizing rigidity while reducing weight in racing applications, distributes mechanical stress during impacts and enhances structural integrity. Four lever arms inserted into the caseband provide additional calibre protection, while tubular open loops replacing conventional lugs feature a pivoting function with approximately 45 degrees of adjustment amplitude per side, ensuring optimal wrist conformity.
A glass-box type sapphire crystal sits flush with the caseband, maximizing legibility, while a symmetrical exhibition case back extends the caseband geometry. The crown, derived from automotive differential gears, bears Chopard's Classic Racing steering wheel engraving.
The case, movement bridges, and mainplate are crafted entirely in ceramicised titanium—an aerospace-grade material treated through electroplasma oxidation technology. This process yields a Vickers hardness of 1,000, with scratch and shock resistance comparable to that of ceramic, while maintaining titanium's characteristic lightness.
The result is a complete watch weighing merely 43.2 grams, including the technical fabric strap, or 36.5 grams without, establishing this as Chopard's lightest titanium timepiece and one of the lightest watches in the market—the Richard Mille RM27-01 Rafael Nadal is still the lightest watch ever made.
The Movement
The watch is powered by the manual-wound L.U.C Calibre 04.04-L, which represents an evolution of Chopard Manufacture's Engine One Tourbillon movement introduced in 2010. Departing from its predecessors' vertical and horizontal configurations, this 207-part mechanism adopts a round architecture.
Fully crafted in ceramicised titanium, the movement mainplate serves as the dial of the watch, adorned with Zagato's signature "Z" motif featuring rhodium-plated chamfers. Both Chopard and Zagato logos appear in positive relief with rhodium plating. Rhodium-plated openwork hour and minute hands evoke racing steering wheels with pierced spokes, while a fuel gauge-style power reserve indicator at 12 o'clock reinforces the dashboard analogy.
The 60-second tourbillon, housed in an aluminum carriage for weight optimization, features a Variner balance and Phillips terminal curve hairspring, beating at 28,800 vph to provide a 60-hour power reserve when fully wound.
COSC chronometer certification validates precision standards, while a shock-absorbing system based on silent blocks—elastomer elements that dampen vibrations analogous to automotive engine mounts—protects the movement from impacts. The material's permanent anthracite gray finish resists fading under extreme conditions, reinforcing the watch's motorsport functionality credentials.
Summary & Price
This 19-piece limited edition reference 168636-3001 exemplifies how genuine technical innovation can deliver a cohesive watch design that bridges automotive and horological DNA, creating what Karl-Friedrich Scheufele accurately describes as "bold design in the service of technical performance."
Sticker Price CHF 130,000—approx USD 170,000. For more info on Chopard, click here.
