Chopard Mille Miglia 2013 Hands-On

July 18, 2013

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Mille Miglia 2013

Chopard has been partner of this famous (and beautiful) Italian rally since 1988. Every year, Chopard introduces a sporty Mille Miglia limited edition to commemorate the rally. This year, Chopard showed us the Mille Miglia 2013 timepieces when we were in Basel visiting the biggest watch exhibition in the world.

Chopard is not only a family-owned business by the Scheufele family, they also share another passion: the Mille Miglia. This passion for the Mille Miglia is shared by Chopard’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and his father, Karl Scheufele III, Honorary President of Chopard. Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s wife sometimes accompanies him as well as a co-driver.

The Mille Miglia 2013 event was held on the 16th of May till the 19th of May and while it is a rally nowadays (between 1927 and 1961 it was a race that lasted 20 hours only), you’ll still need some pretty good driving skills and a racing car that has entered the original race between 1927 and 1961 as well. This year, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Christine Scheufele roared away in a Ferrari 750 Monza followed by Karl Scheufele and Albert Carreras in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL.

Chopard Mille Miglia 2013 Chronograph Chronometer GMT

If there’s a complication you will need on a watch when being in a rally, it has to be a chronograph that also features a tachymeter scale. This watch is also a chronometer (not to be confused with chronograph), which means it is a very accurate timekeeper which has been validated by an independent organization called the COSC (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres). It will run with a maximum deviation of -4 and +6 seconds per day, which has been tested in various circumstances by COSC.

Also, this watch features a GMT complication. With a GMT complication you will be able to read a second time zone and have a 24 hour indicator. A perfect watch for travellers who stay in different time zones. You could say that the GMT and chronograph complications are amongst the most useful ones around.

Chopard introduced both an all stainless steel Mille Miglia 2013 chronograph and one in 18ct rose gold. The stainless steel version (reference 168555-3001) is limited to 2013 pieces and the rose gold version (reference 161292-5001) will be limited to 250 pieces only.

Besides the use of material, the specifications of these watches are the same. Both watches have a 44mm case and the same automatic chronometer chronograph movement with a power reserve of 42 hours. Looking at the lay-out of the dial (sub counters on 12, 9 and 6 o’clock) we suspect that there is an ETA/Valjoux 7750 based movement inside with a modification for the GMT complication. The movement isn’t visible through the caseback, as Chopard chose to have an engraving instead of the Mille Miglia arrow logo. The Chopard Mille Miglia 2013 Chronograpg GMT is 13.7mm thick, which means this watch has quite some presence on your wrist.

As you can see, the Mille Miglia 2013 watch has a lot of nice details. Not only on the dial, but also on the crown and pushers. The crown has the typical classic racing car steering wheel and the chronograph pushers have hob nails on them. I believe these represent the pedals in a racing car.

The pushers are very elegant, small buttons with no large and awkward crown guard and easy to operate. We’ve found the crown also easy to grasp due to the large motif.

The case of the watch has a wonderful finish using both polished and matt brushed parts. This will definitely look good in sunny Italy when you are driving your convertible on the 1000 ‘miglia’. The dials have nice red accents and on the stainless steel version you will find rhodium plated hands and hour markers while the rose gold version has gold plated ones. Both versions use Super Luminova for readability in low light (or at night).

One of the key features – or perhaps signatures – of the Mille Miglia chronograph is the 1960s Dunlop tyre-read motif in the rubber strap. A strap that by the way really connects with the watch, there is no ‘annoying’ space between case and strap. Although I am personally not bothered by it if straps aren’t like this, I’ve read many comments from people who do.

The Mille Miglia 2013 is really an impressive watch when worn on the wrist. During our Baselworld meeting we especially favoured the rose gold version. It suits the watch, the most famous rally in the world and the brand to have it in gold.