For 30 years, the hearts of Chopard and Mille Miglia have been beating as one, echoing a shared love of fine mechanics and performance born of the personal passion for classic cars nurtured by Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. Both a discerning connoisseur of collector’s cars and an accomplished driver, he has been driving the most prestigious classic cars for the past 30 year, with which he annually competes in the the prestigious annual endurance rally seing more than 400 historical cars covering a one thousand-mile route from Brescia to Rome and back. The now indivisible ties, first established in 1988 when Chopard become partner and official timekeeper of the Mille Miglia, inspired an eponymous watch collection presented that same year.
National colours for motor racing were first attributed in the 1910s. In order to identify the nationality of the competing drivers, one colour was allocated to each country. Bright red Rosso Corsa for the Italians, British racing green for the United Kingdom, grey-white for the German “silver arrows”, yellow for the Belgians as in their national flag, and finally blue for the French Bugattis and Talbots. This provides a valuable explanation behind the historical colours of various speed machines. The fact that Ferraris are red and Aston Martins are green is no coincidence, instead stemming from the earliest great races, of which the Mille Miglia was one of the most popular.
This collection offering five different colours pays tribute to the heyday of motorsports and to the Mille Miglia, widely referred to as “la corsa la più bella del mondo”. It is also an opportunity for unconditional fans of the Maison to acquire a collector’s model and to match their outfits with one of these dials… or with the bodywork of their car. An original means of merging two consuming and often shared passions for fine watchmaking and historical racing cars.
These Mille Miglia Racing Colours are finely crafted 42 mm chronographs assembled by the Chopard master-watchmakers in 300-piece limited series for each dial colour. Their calibre beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour and is COSC-certified, ensuring chronometer-worthy precision throughout the 42 hours of its power reserve. The Mille Miglia Racing Colours chronographs are inspired by the cars that competed in the Mille Miglia between 1927 and 1940. The dials display optimal legibility thanks to broad Arabic numerals that are luminescent at night, as are the hands. The slim cursive fonts, as well as the counters, are inspired by the typical dashboards of the late 1920s and stand out by their silver-toned colour. The sweep-seconds hand features a bright red tip to tick off the precious seconds of the race. The arrow-shaped Mille Miglia logo appears at 12 o’clock in the heart of the dial. A successful blend of precision, comfort and elegance, these watches are authentic auxiliary instruments for drivers hurtling along Italian roads, enabling them to race in true style. The chronograph functions serving to measure short times are complemented by the tachymeter scale, which is ideal for measuring average speeds, along with a date display.
Although less common in Spring when the Mille Miglia takes place, rain can sometimes play its part in the race, thus making the 50-metre water resistance of this watch prove particularly useful. In rainy conditions, mean hourly speed is never quite the same, and some teams end up finishing the race at night. In such cases, the luminescent hands help competitors keep track of the tachymeter scale surrounding the hour-markers, without taking their eyes off the road. The new Mille Miglia Racing Colours symbolise their owners’ authentic passion for racing and classic cars: a passion that a true gentleman driver will never relinquish.
