Tag: Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chrono Only Watch
Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chrono Only Watch
To support the Only Watch Charity 2021 auction, Chopard is offering a one-of-a-kind timepiece inspired by nature: the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono Only Watch chronograph.
Bearing ultimate testimony to the expertise and inventiveness of Chopard’s watchmakers, the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono Only Watch is distinguished by its dial in Swiss granite from the Graubünden region, speckled with blue and green inclusions recalling the colours of the Alpine massif seen from the sky.
This unique timepiece brings two novel touches to the Alpine Eagle collection: for the first time, a case made of bead-blasted Lucent Steel A223 and a calf leather strap. Three patents have been filed for the chronometer-certified Chopard 03.05-C flyback chronograph movement that powers it.
On the right-hand side, the chronograph pushers are subtly and discreetly integrated on either side of the protective crown guards so as to preserve the Alpine Eagle’s characteristic harmony of form and symmetry. The dial is adorned with a carefully selected natural Swiss stone quarried in the canton of Graubünden. Its blue and green inclusions have been chosen to evoke the beauty of the Alpine forests and lakes as seen from the sky by an eagle.
The addition of the black counters for the 30-minute, small seconds and 12-hour indications – respectively placed at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock – is carefully designed to highlight the natural hue of the granite.
To enhance the legibility of measurements, the dial transfers and the three hands linked to the chronograph function match these precious inclusions, as well as the tachymeter scale, also discreetly punctuated by blue-green transfers at the 100, 160 and 240 graduations. Divided into four steps, the scale features intervals varying from 5, 10, 20 or 40km/h per line. This arrangement facilitates the reading of average speed measurements.
The Alpine Eagle XL Chrono Only Watch is the first timepiece in the collection to be fitted with a black calf leather strap.
The extra-wide 44 mm-diameter case of the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono Only Watch is sculpted in Lucent Steel A223, an innovative steel alloy made from 70 percent recycled material and developed by Chopard for its anti-allergenic properties and its robustness, as well as its incomparable brilliance achieved through a meticulous re-smelting process. In another first, this material has been bead-blasted, thereby creating an even nobler texture and accentuating the avant-garde spirit of Lucent Steel A223.
At the heart of the case beats a sophisticated chronograph movement manufactured by Chopard’s Artisan Watchmakers and endowed with a precision chronometer, certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC).
Chopard Calibre 03.05-C has a 60-hour power reserve and also features an elaborate design guaranteeing accurate adjustments and optimal use of the timekeeping functions. Equipped with a column wheel, it represents the culmination of several technical innovations for which Chopard has filed three patents resulting from the daring approach of its research and development teams.
Firstly, it is equipped with a unidirectional gearing system that avoids energy losses while ensuring fast winding, a function particularly appreciated for chronographs which are known to be consistently energy-hungry. In addition, its vertical clutch mode guarantees an accurate start for time measurements. This chronograph calibre is also of the flyback variety, enabling smooth and seamless short-time measurements thanks to three elastic-armed pivoting hammers that facilitate zero-resetting the counters.
Lastly, the Variner balance equipping the Chopard 03.05-C movement ensures stability by compensating for its inertia variations throughout the period when the watch is in use.
About the Chopard Alpine Eagle collection
Devised by three generations of gentlemen in the Scheufele family, the Alpine Eagle collection is a modern reinterpretation of the St. Moritz, the first horological creation by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele in the late 1970s. With its pure and assertive design, Alpine Eagle enriches this heritage with powerful inspiration drawn from Nature.
Featuring a round case with stylised flanks; a material exclusive to Chopard (Lucent Steel A223); a crown engraved with a compass rose; a bezel with eight functional indexed screws; a textured dial with deep colours and luminescent indications; and a seconds hand shaped like an eagle’s feather, Alpine Eagle radiates a resolutely contemporary look of refined elegance.
Chopard’s independence and integrated skills enables the Maison to perform the entire range of the collection’s production and assembly stages in its own workshops, from movement to bracelet as well as components and case.