By Kien Lee
Since 1988, Chopard has been the historic partner and official timekeeper of the Mille Miglia, the legendary classic car event. It all started 30 years ago with Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele who is a discerning connoisseur of collector's cars and an accomplished driver. Every year since the partnership started, Scheufele has driven some of the most prestigious classic cars, competing in the legendary race.
Photo credit: @AlexandraPauli for Chopard
As with the tradition that began three decades ago, Scheufele drove alongside racing legend Jacky Ickx. Several friends of the brands attended the race, and these include Academy Award-winning American actor Adrian Brody who partnered the Porsche driver Timo Bernhard, as well as Albert Carreras, son of the famous tenor José Carreras, who was joined by his friend Jordi Pascual.
Photo credit: @AlexandraPauli for Chopard
This year from 16 to 19 May, 440 teams competed, open only to cars of the type that took part in the great race between the years 1927 and 1957. Chopard which entered 5 teams, joined the rest in the endurance rally covering one thousand miles from Brescia to Rome and back.
Photo credit: @AlexandraPauli for Chopard
This legendary competition which is widely referred to as "la corsa la più bella del mondo" (the most beautiful race in the world) has led to the creation of iconic watches bearing the Chopard signature. On the occasion of the 2018th edition, Chopard presented different Mille Miglia watch models, amongst them the new Mille Miglia Racing Colours collection.
Mille Miglia Racing Colours
National colours for motor racing were first attributed in the 1910s. In order to identify the nationality of the competing drivers, one colour was allocated to each country. Bright red Rosso Corsa for the Italians, British racing green for the United Kingdom, grey-white for the German "silver arrows", yellow for the Belgians as in their national flag, and finally blue for the French Bugattis and Talbots.
Therein lies the historical association of sports cars with certain colours. It is no coincidence that today, Ferraris are commonly seen and beloved in red, whilst the British Aston Martins are green.
These Mille Miglia Racing Colours are finely crafted 42mm chronographs assembled by the Chopard master-watchmakers in 300-piece limited series for each dial colour.
Inside, the calibre beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour and is COSC-certified, ensuring chronometer-worthy precision throughout the 42 hours of its power reserve. Broad Arabic numerals and hands on the dial, are luminescent at night. The slim cursive fonts, as well as the counters, are inspired by the typical dashboards of the late 1920s and stand out by their silver-toned colour. The sweep-seconds hand features a bright red tip.
An arrow-shaped Mille Miglia logo features at 12 o'clock in the heart of the dial. The chronograph functions serving to measure short times are complemented by the tachymeter scale, which is ideal for measuring average speeds, along with a date display.
The new Mille Miglia Racing Colours with a throwback reference to the heritage national colours, today symbolise an enduring passion for racing and classic cars, and an opportunity for the sartorial gentleman to match his watch to his outfit, or the paintwork of his ride.
