A new vintage brings a new livery for the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition chronograph. Chopard‘s emblematic watch collection appears attired in grey and blue as a tribute to the most prestigious of the classic open-road races. The 1000 Miglia is celebrating the 40th edition of its re-enactment, for which its partner and official timekeeper Chopard is once again lining up on the starting grid. Featuring a 44 mm case in ethical 18-carat rose gold and stainless steel or all-steel versions, this chronometer-certified chronograph picks up all the codes that Chopard instils into the identity of this sporting collection: masculine elegance, mechanical precision, watchmaking performance, racing ergonomics – all dedicated to the beauty of driving.
Partner to the 1000 Miglia since 1988, Chopard is issuing a new limited series of its eponymous chronograph. Two series in fact, since this chronograph based on the design of the Mille Miglia GTS collection is available in two versions. The first all-steel iteration will roar off the starting ramp in a run of 1,000 timepieces; while the second interpretation featuring ethical 18-carat rose gold adorning the crown, pushers and bezel will be produced in a 250-piece edition.
A watch collection honouring a legendary race
The Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition is a perpetually renewed yet always subtly different tribute to the “Corsa Più Bella del Mondo“. The 40th re-enacted edition of the 1000 Miglia will be held from 15 to 18 June, and the route will be as intense as ever, running from Brescia (Lombardy) to Rome and back according to an itinerary that is slightly modified each year.
In the same spirit, the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition timepiece differs from previous editions of the collection in a number of ways. First and foremost, it features a silver-grey dial marked by a subtle circular satin-brushed finish, and the use of an intense blue for the hands, hour-markers and bezel inlay.
An appealing and legible dial
Like every model in the Mille Miglia collection, this new interpretation reflects the codes of masculine elegance, featuring refinement applied to all areas and paying tribute to a love of fine mechanics. Its design is characterised by three technical pillars of which the first is legibility, an essential quality for any watch intended for use in racing, especially on an open road. This attribute is embodied in the size of the baton-type hands, large and rimmed in bright blue, as well as in the finishing of the hour-markers based on the same principle of contrasting blue. This concern for legibility is also reflected in the size of the date at 3 o’clock, enlarged by a magnifying glass cut into the underside of the transparent sapphire crystal.
Finally, the separation of the functional zones is established by the choice of dial finishes. The chronograph counters at 6 and 12 o’clock stand out by their peripheral snailed pattern and their offset scale, which is airier than that of the small seconds at 9 o’clock. These counters are also distinguished by the hands which – like the large central sweep-seconds hand – are red-tipped in a nod to the colour of the 1000 Miglia.
A chronometer-certified high-precision movement
The second technical mainstay of the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition model is precision. While this is first and foremost a question of running accuracy – an indispensable concept for a racing chronograph – it also and primarily stems from a strong desire nurtured by Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, himself a keen lover of classic cars and amateur driver. The movement of the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition watch is therefore chronometer-certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute.
Chopard has opted to equip this model with an ultra-reliable and well-proven self-winding calibre. It beats at a frequency of 4 Hz and has a 48-hour power reserve, making it an unfailing ally for drivers. The Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition is rimmed by a thin, slender, intense blue bezel bearing a tachymeter scale. Its contrasting white transferred graduations serve to measure average speed ranging from 60 to 400 km/h by means of the chronograph sweep-seconds hand.
Genuine user-friendliness
The third fundamental quality is grip – the sign of a well-mastered vehicle, of carefully controlled driving – and hence of optimal racing performance. It is therefore logical that the watch should reflect the same quest. First of all, the mushroom-type pushers feature a large surface engraved with a knurled pattern that holds the finger while it is operating them. The large-diameter crown is also ratcheted to ensure good grip and facilitate use.
Finally, the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition timepiece is fitted with a gold-toned calfskin strap lined with rubber. In keeping with the codes established at the birth of the Mille Miglia collection, its surface is patterned like the tread of 1960s Dunlop Racing tyres. In keeping with the overall colour theme of the piece, the leather has been perforated to reveal the underlying blue and deliver a final vintage racing effect.
The passion for motorsports
Behind the deep connection that Chopard cultivates with the 1000 Miglia are values strongly ingrained in the Maison. Loyalty to a certain vision of elegance; a passion for classic cars that the Scheufele family has passed down from generation to generation; the desire to be at the heart of major events; and, above all, a commitment to high-quality watchmaking whose concepts stand the test of time. The Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition timepiece is the embodiment of this endurance, this constancy, this commitment.
Technical Details Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition
Ref. 168571-3010 –1,000-piece limited edition in stainless steel
Case:
- Stainless steel
- Total diameter: 44.00 mm
- Thickness: 13.79 mm
- Water-resistant to: 100 metres
- Screw-lock crown in stainless steel
- with engraved steering-wheel motif: 8 mm
- Pushers in stainless steel with a knurled crisscross pattern
- Vertical satin-brushed case middle and lugs
- Bezel in stainless steel with blue ceramic inlay – white transfers
- Domed glare-proofed sapphire crystal with underlying date magnifier
- Case-back in stainless steel bearing the 1000 Miglia motif
Movement:
- Mechanical self-winding movement
- Chronograph
- Total diameter: 30.40 mm
- Thickness: 7.90 mm
- Number of components: 240
- Number of jewels: 25
- Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve: 48 hours
- Chronometer-certified (COSC)
Dial and hands:
- Silver-toned dial with circular satin-brushed finish
- Red transferred 1000 Miglia logo
- Snailed small seconds and chronograph counters
- Applied blue CVD-treated hour-markers hands painted with Super-LumiNova®
- Baton-type blue CVD-treated hours and minutes hands painted with Super-LumiNova®
- Baton-type blue CVD-treated, red-tipped chronograph hands
Functions:
- Central display of the hours and minutes
- Small seconds at 9 o’clock
- Chronograph
- 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock
- Central seconds chronograph hand
- Date aperture at 3 o’clock
- Tachymeter scale
- Stop-seconds function
Strap and buckle:
- Brown perforated calfskin strap with blue rubber lining and backing
- Stainless steel triple folding clasp
Technical Details Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition
Ref. 168571-6004 –250-piece limited edition in stainless steel and ethical 18-carat rose gold
limited edition
Case:
- Stainless steel
- Total diameter: 44.00 mm
- Thickness: 13.79 mm
- Water-resistant to: 100 metres
- Screw-lock crown in ethical 18-carat rose gold
- with engraved steering-wheel motif: 8 mm
- Pushers in ethical 18-carat rose gold with a knurled crisscross pattern
- Vertical satin-brushed case middle and lugs
- Bezel in ethical 18-carat rose gold with blue ceramic inlay – white transfers
- Domed glare-proofed sapphire crystal with underlying date magnifier
- Case-back in stainless steel bearing the 1000 Miglia motif
Movement:
- Mechanical self-winding movement
- Chronograph
- Total diameter: 30.40 mm
- Thickness: 7.90 mm
- Number of components: 240
- Number of jewels: 25
- Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve: 48 hours
- Chronometer-certified (COSC)
Dial and hands:
- Silver-toned dial with circular satin-brushed finish
- Red transferred 1000 Miglia logo
- Snailed small seconds and chronograph counters
- Applied blue CVD-treated hour-markers painted with Super-LumiNova®
- Applied baton-type blue CVD-treated hours and minutes hands painted with Super-LumiNova®
- Baton-type blue CVD-treated, red-tipped chronograph hands
Functions:
- Central display of the hours and minutes
- Small seconds at 9 o’clock
- Chronograph
- 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock
- Central seconds chronograph hand
- Date aperture at 3 o’clock
- Tachymeter scale
- Stop-seconds function
Strap and buckle:
- Brown perforated calfskin strap with blue rubber lining and backing
- Stainless steel triple folding clasp
Chopard
Founded in 1860, Chopard, The Artisan of Emotions, perpetuates the heritage of traditional know-how and ancestral crafts through contemporary and ethical creations.
Cultivating limitless creativity, which enables everyone to find precious objects within Chopard collections that are in tune with their own nature, the Maison takes craftsmanship to peak levels through the work of passionate and experienced artisans. Moreover, since July 2018, the Maison has been the first watch and jewellery maker to use 100% Ethical Gold for the production of all its watches and jewellery.
Today, Chopard is run by the Scheufele family and masters more than 50 professions at its three production sites, where particular attention is paid to internal training and the transmission of know-how.
The Maison lives in step with its prestigious partnerships: a loyal official partner to the Cannes Film Festival since 1998, it has also been the official timekeeper of the legendary Italian 1000 Miglia classic car race since 1988.
A brief history of the 1000 Miglia
Founded in 1927, the 1000 Miglia is among the most famous historic motoring events in the world. When it was originally run, the 1,618km course (the equivalent to 1,005 Roman miles) was an all-out race that started and finished in Brescia, with Rome marking the turning point for home.
In 1955, the famous British racing driver Sir Stirling Moss and his navigator, motorsport journalist Denis Jenkinson, won the race in a record time that still stands today, completing the course in ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds at the remarkable average speed of 97.96 mph.
After ceasing to exist in its original race format in 1957, the 1000 Miglia was revived in 1977 as a time and reliability trial for cars built between 1927 and 1957. It still covers 1,000 miles following much of the original route through the heart of Italy from Brescia to Rome and back.
The event sees some of the finest, rarest, most important and most valuable cars of the original era take to the roads in the manner for which they were intended, creating an intoxicating assault on the senses of sight, sound and smell and turning back the clock as they pass through the same towns and villages where crowds lined the roads during the 1000 Miglia’s early decades.