Throwback Thursday: Chopard Mille Miglia

Classic car enthusiasts follow their passion with a devotion similar to that of watch aficionados, and the Mille Miglia, a 1,000-mile classic car race from Brescia to Rome, is one of their most important events. Only classic cars that actually took part in the Mille Miglia between 1927 and 1957 are entitled to compete in the modern-day event. Chopard owner and classic car enthusiast Karl Scheufele and his son, (now co-president of the company) Karl-Friedrich, first drove the route in 1987, and were struck by the breathtaking scenery of central Italy. Karl-Friedrich has participated in race ever since, at the wheel of his own classic cars. In 1987, they became the event sponsor, and created the brand’s first limited-edition watch to mark the event. Each competitor receives one engraved with their own starting number.

For the limited-edition Mille Miglia collection, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele imagined sporting lines and an ultra-precise mechanism designed to time races. The first was introduced at the height of the quartz era, and like the vast majority of watches at the time, had a quartz movement. More recent examples contain high-performance Chopard in-house mechanical movements. The Mille Miglia timepiece has become a much-anticipated annual collectors’ piece both for watch lovers and classic car enthusiasts who want to celebrate their participation in what Enzo Ferrari calls “the world’s most beautiful race.”