On September 10th, Chopard partnered with Luftgekühlt, an annual event at Bottleworks District in Indianapolis for car and Porsche aficionados founded by race car driver and two-times Le Mans class winner Patrick Long and Southern California’s Howie Idelson. To celebrate, Chopard unveiled a new watch collaboration: the 50-piece limited edition Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Luftgekühlt Edition. The watch, an auxiliary navigation instrument, is reminiscent in color of the Porsche 550 Spyder and designed in the spirit of the 1000 Miglia, Italy’s iconic race for classic and vintage cars. Chopard became the event’s principal timekeeper in 1988, and this new addition to the Chopard Mille Miglia GTS collection builds on a tradition of sporty elegance.
The Mille Miglia GTS Luftgekühlt Edition is modeled after the Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Power Control and features a satin-brushed silver dial—the first for this collection. This timepiece is all about subtle details: the power-preserve indicator at 9 o’clock evokes petrol gauges of the 1950s; its red white accents, the aesthetics of old dashboards. The date aperture found in the Mille Miglia red-arrow race logo was inspired by the numbers on the doors and bonnets of competing cars.
Turn the watch over, and you find a clear view of Chopard’s thoughtfully decorated 01.08-C technical self-winding movement. Made in-house, the 251-part mechanism offers 60 hours of power reserve and is driven by a tungsten oscillating weight. The caseback is engraved with the Luftgekühlt logo and surrounded by a steel ring marked with the ‘Brescia > Roma > Brescia’ route of the Mille Miglia; the dial is encircled by a varnished black aluminum bezel marked in 12 increments of 5, to facilitate elapsed time recording. Each timepiece is engraved with the edition number.
The watch comes on a classic black calfskin leather strap with silver stitching and black rubber lining, inspired by the perforations in racing gloves and 1960s Dunlop racing tires. The timepiece comes in a special box featuring a grill badge designed by the Luftgekühlt team and their artists.
Inspired by Italy’s classic 1000 Miglia, Brescia to Rome and back, the Chopard Mille Miglia GTS line is popular among watch collectors and car enthusiasts. The Maison was founded in 1860 and is a Swiss family-run independent company known for high-end quality. The Mille Miglia GTS is a result of a unique collaboration: Chopard, a classic; and Luftgekühlt, very hip. This is a watch you can wear anywhere. It is cool and elegant, not an easy balance—the Mille Miglia GTS gets it right.