Better known for its jewelry and sporty Mille Miglia watches, Chopard under the aegis of Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, its co-president took the watch world by storm in 1996 by creating its first inhouse movement caliber 1.96 (at a time where very few brands were producing manufacture calibers). A micro rotor chronometer grade movement that took 5 years to develop, it was beautifully finished and featured the Geneva Seal opening the door for Chopard to die hard horological enthusiasts. It is interestingt o note that Michel Parmigiani had originally started the development of the movement before it was taken fully inhouse.
The caliber was first introduced in the L.U.C 16/1860, the first watch in a new collection named after founder Louis-Ulysses Chopard.
In fact many considered the caliber 1.96 as one of the best automatic calibers of the time, even being elected timepiece of the year on TimeZone (the world’s very first and biggest watch discussion forum in the 90s).
Chopard produced the 1860 with caliber 1.96 from 1997 through 2002. This first series features three different references, each produced in four metals – yellow gold, pink gold, white gold, and platinum. Each reference was limited:
References 16/1860/1 and 16/1860/4 with officer's caseback; produced in 100 examples of each metal.
Reference 16/1860/2 with sapphire caseback; produced in 1,860 examples of each metal. Each reference was offered with silver, black, blue, and salmon dials however the salmon and blue dials were only available in white metals.