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Luxury watchmakers have to do more than just give you something to tell the time these days, they have to hand you a story to go with it. Far beyond skimming the booklet you inevitably throw away when you unbox your timepiece, it’s a rewarding experience to have a reservoir of historical knowledge on your watch to reveal to a dinner party audience.
Placed onto the horological battlefield wearing a ticker you know little more about than its power reserve and price is an injustice to the industry you’ve just invested in. Here to prove historical and horological interest should be intertwined is Chopard and its brand new Alpine Eagle line. A collection that is as much of a conversation starter as it is a timekeeper—maybe even more so.
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Reset time back to 1980, and a 22-year old budding watchmaker named Karl-Friedrich Scheufele is already showing a natural gift for watch design. Proudly following in the footsteps of his parents, the owners of Chopard, he had imagined with just a pen and paper what would later become one of Chopard’s most popular men’s collections for more than a decade; the St. Moritz.
The St. Moritz broke every rule set by Chopard. At the time Chopard was proudly tinkering away exclusively with gold watches that were often bristling with diamonds. The St. Moritz came along—a steel sports watch—and proved itself to be a much-appreciated change for the snazzy watchmaker.
Now adjust time back to 2019, and that 22-year old is now running Chopard as co-president; Chopard is now cool kid in the watch world associating itself with racing, and the St. Moritz has been reborn into the Alpine Eagle.
Each design choice in the Alpine Eagle family is either inspired by its older brother, or by the passions of its creators. Drawing design cues from both the Swiss Alps and the abundance of eagles that reside there, every detail on the watch has a story for you to tell.
A love letter to the St. Moritz, the Alpine Eagle has a sporty integrated strap, a rounded bezel with robust screws, and a 100m water resistance. The collection uses a mixture of satin and gloss finishes as to mimic the light iterations on the peaks of the Alps. Similarly, the brass dial has a sunburst pattern, evoking an eagle’s iris.
Like the watch it draws inspiration from, the Alpine Eagle was born out of a son having to win over his parents. Karl-Fritz, son of Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, had to sway the co-president to go ahead with the re-imagining, initially hesitant, the project thankfully got the go-ahead.
The collection comes in steel, gold, bi-material or diamond-set gold, available in unisex models in two different 41 mm and 36 mm sizes. Although a brand new line, the Alpine Eagle is full of heritage. But if all that information seems a little hard to remember, at least make a note that for a men’s steel reference the pieces’ power reserve is 60 hours, and the price AED47,310. As you were.
