Driving The 90th Edition Of The Mille Miglia With Chopard
This year the Mille Miglia hit a milestone celebrating its 90th anniversary. With a route that leads to 1.000 miles of Italy’s most beautiful, and challenging, roads the event has become a legend. Since 1988 Chopard is the official timekeeper and has created a collection of watches under this name that has become a staple in the world of watchmaking.
440 teams started from the Viale Venezia in Brescia. An impressive number, especially when you take into account that only cars of the type that participated in the original Mille Miglia road race, which was held between 1927 and 1957, are allowed.
The race is divided over three days, and passes through historic cities such as Siena, San Marino, and Rome, ending back where it started. The cars participating are often both objects of automotive art, as well as very serious performers. Chopard’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele joined the Mille Miglia together with Frenc driver Romain Dumas in the legendary Porsche 550A Spyder RS.
They, unfortunately, did not win the Mille Miglia, as Andrea Vesco and Andrea Guerini claimed that title once more after their 2016 win, in an imposing 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Zagato.
To mark this edition of the event, as well as its anniversary, Chopard launched three new watches. This has become almost as much a tradition as the race itself, combining the classical appeal of vintage cars with watches. The three watches can be seen as representing the past, present, and future of the event. The Mille Miglia Classic XL 90th Anniversary Limited Edition pays tribute to the past of the legendary event, with a traditional three-compax dial layout and an 18K rose gold case, powered by Chopard’s manual wind manufacture chronograph movement L.U.C 03.07-L.
The Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph is in many ways a watch that has become a design icon in its own right. It combines a certain elegance with a timeless sportive look, and of course that famous rubber strap with tire-pattern! It now comes in both 42mm and 39mm diameter, with the 42mm version available with a black or silver dial, and the 39mm version with a silver or mother-of-pearl dial.
The Mille Miglia 2017 Race Edition is a much bolder design, emphasizing the style that we already know from the GTS collection. The chronograph pushers are more prominent, and the dial shows more contrast. Available in an all steel and a steel-gold variety is this watch the one that will hopefully usher both the Mille Miglia, as well as Chopard into another 90 years of this one-of-a-kind event.
