The French capital has something special in store for vintage car enthusiasts this month. From 31st January to 4th February, a vast number of historic automobiles can be admired at the Salon Rétromobile in Paris. But it does not stop there: Chopard will present the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph French Limited Edition with its 100 pieces at the fair. The design, which draws inspiration from the French national flag, was personally conceived by the brand’s vice president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.
The 1000 Miglia Races in 2022 and 2023
To create a classic aesthetic, the case of the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph French Limited Edition is made of REACH-certified Lucent Steel which took Chopard four years to develop. Up to 80 percent of the brand-exclusive steel alloy, which is 50 percent harder than steel, consists of recycled material. In addition, the slim bezel, crown, and pushers are made of this lustrous material and are refined with polished and satin finishing.
In 2023, Chopard introduced subtle case updates to the Classic Chronographs
Furthermore, each of these components feature their own little details. The bezel is equipped with a midnight blue tachymetre scale with white markings that harmonize with the dial’s colours. The knurled pushers are reminiscent of brake pedals and together with the notched crown, they offer a slip-resistant grip while adjusting the timepiece. Welded lugs round off the case and provide an elegant transition to the strap.
The case measures 40.5 mm in diameter and 12.88 mm in height. It is water-resistant for up to 50 metres. A ‘glassbox’ style sapphire crystal seals off the dial and open caseback while creating an enhanced, shimmering depth effect. Two crossed flags displayed on the caseback refer to Chopard’s decade-long involvement in car racing. While the black and white checkered flag is a typical race flag, the remaining one is the French national flag.
The French national flag’s colours also feature on the dials in several subtle ways. A midnight blue railway minute track with red markings surrounds the silver-tinted dial, obtained through galvanic treatment, with its circular satin finish. This combination of midnight blue and a circular shape is also used for the three snailed subdial counters.
For increased visibility, the central seconds hand of the chronograph, the hands of the 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock and the 30-minute counter are red. Another red accent is provided by the red 1000 Miglia arrow logo in the centre of the dial. By contrast, the sword-shaped rhodium-plated hands for the hours and minutes and the small seconds at 3 o’clock are more discreet. Both the indices as well as the hour and minute hands have a Grade X1 Super-LumiNova coating. A window between 4 and 5 o’clock indicates the date.
A chronograph is essential when it comes to car racing. Therefore, this timepiece is equipped with the COSC-certified automatic calibre ETA A32.211 with a chronograph-function and stop-seconds. The movement is a Chopard exclusive and was first presented last year in the Classic Chronographs presented at Watches & Wonders 2023 as a modernized version of the previous movement. Starting, stopping, and resetting the sweep-seconds at the beginning and end of an interval smoothly works by using the chronograph-pushers.
Not only can the wearer track the calibre’s movements through the open caseback, but they can also admire at the perlage and Côtes de Genève patterns that adorn the components. The revised calibre has also received another aesthetic update: small sandblasted and snailed ball bearing and finer bridge geometry. The Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph French Limited Edition operates at a frequency of 4 Hz. In comparison to its predecessors, the movement is equipped with a larger power reserve of 54 hours instead of 42 hours.
The midnight blue strap picks up on the colour of the tachymetre scale and the subdial counters. A pin buckle made of Lucent Steel and ecru-coloured bridle stitching complete the strap. Furthermore, the perforated structure of the gloves pays tribute to traditional driving gloves. For a price of 10,400 euros, the 100 limited-edition pieces are exclusively available in France.
