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Iconic, Natural and Contemporary

The new Alpine Eagle sport chic collection from Chopard is a perfect reinterpretation of the first watch created in 1980 by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele: St. Moritz. Persevering and determined, Scheufele was 22 years old when he presented his first watchmaking project in the family business. His father accepted the piece immediately and thus the iconic St. Moritz was born, which encapsulates the spirit of a young man who grows up and flies on his own wings. The arrival of this watchmaking masterpiece was made possible by Chopard’s pragmatic philosophy. For the House, independence is the main value and the key to maintaining quality and constant innovation.


The piece developed years ago by the Chopard co-chairman inspired the collection, which as a whole looks modern, refined and with character. St. Moritz was the House’s first sports watch and the first steel watch made in its workshops. Due to its qualities, it quickly became one of Chopard’s best sellers. Alpine Eagle represents Scheufele’s passion for the Alps and the eagle, a bird of haughty strength that reigns over the mountains. In addition to creating a beautiful collection, the intention of the pieces was to present the firm’s commitment to protecting the alpine environment and nature, through the launch of the Eagle Wings organization.

Intended for eagles and inspiring men seeking permanent self-improvement, Alpine Eagle was manufactured from Lucent Steel A223, an ultra-strong steel capable of reflecting light. Considered a rare metal, this new material, rich, precious and as complex as gold, arises from a recast process that took four years of research and development. This novel alloy has three unique characteristics. The first of them is its hypoallergenic composition with properties comparable to those of surgical steel, which make it dermocompatible. The second wonderful property of this rare metal is its resistance of 223 Vickers, this means that it is 50% more resistant to abrasion than classic steels, with a unique hardness. The third characteristic is its highly homogeneous crystalline structure that allows it to grant a unique reflection of light. Like diamonds whose brilliance depends on a low level of impurities, Lucent Steel A223 has fewer impurities than classic steel, giving it a luminosity comparable to gold. In developing all the pieces, Scheufele was guided by Louis Sullivan’s principles of harmony according to which form follows function. Thus, the case and strap are integrated and its dial is rough in texture like a rock, reminiscent of the eagle’s iris. The spiers resemble feathers and glaciers are represented by reflections from cold steel. The strap is made up of a single ingot-shaped link and falls slightly taper. The link is crowned in its center by a raised finishing piece. A historic compass rose, a tool that guided adventurers in ancient times, is engraved on the box. It also works as an allegory of the eagles’ effectiveness in finding the right course at their destination. The bezel is round and decorated with eight screws grouped two by two on the four cardinal points.

Its indentation is tangent to the circle of the bezel, which demonstrates the perfection of the finishes and the search for aesthetic order. But beauty is not the only quality of the screws: they have a technical function and guarantee the watertightness of the watch to 100 meters. Alpine Eagle has all its satin flat surfaces, a delicate finish that allows interesting plays of light that are amplified by the polishing of the chamfers. Like snow and alpine rocks, Alpine Eagle ranges from glossy to matte. To give better night readability, the hour and minute hands; and the indexes are coated with Super LumiNova Grade X1. To this masterpiece is added the magic of the rhythm of the Chopard movement with a certificate issued by the Swiss Official Control of Chronometry. The two automatic movements that lie at the heart of Alpine Eagle watches have been entirely developed in Chopard’s workshops. Rich in design and production, the Alpine Eagle collection is presented in ten references: steel; Ethical 18K Rose Gold; two materials and gold; and diamonds.

The unisex models are in two different sizes. One version is 41mm in diameter and the other 36mm. The 41mm pieces house the caliber 01.01-C with a 60-hour power reserve, while the 36mm models feature the caliber 09.01-C with a 42-hour power reserve. The latter, despite its size and having 8 lines, is one of the smallest to receive COSC certification. Both calibers are visible through a transparent sapphire back, allowing you to enjoy these masterpieces. As mentioned above, the collection represents Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s passion for hiking and skiing, a love that moves to the Swiss mountains. The Alps represent inspiring and relaxing landscapes that open your eyes and inspire action. Like Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, and moved by his feelings for the Alps, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele joined the Alp Action program in the 2000s. Currently, he is a founding partner of the new organization Eagle Wings, from where innovative multidisciplinary environmental projects are carried out. The role of the projects is to sensitize the public about the importance, beauty and fragility of alpine biotypes. The organization offers a vision of the Alps through the eyes of man, the satellite and the eagle. One of the first Eagle Wings actions took place in September 2019 with the Alpine Eagle Race. There the participants were able to observe the images captured by an eagle carrying a camera, and which had been launched from five mythical peaks, spread over five countries: Zugspitze in Germany, Dachstein in Austria, La Marmolada in Italy, l’Aiguille du Midi in France and the Piz Corvatsch in Switzerland. As a tribute to the piece that inspired Alpine Eagle, the race ended in St. Moritz. The new Alpine Eagle collection represents much more than just a beautiful collection. Within it, these new ties with nature are forged, which mark the path of an eco-responsible initiative by the Chopard house.

www.chopard.com