Haute Watch of the Week: Chopard Mille Miglia Zagato Chronograph

Chopard is set to launch a new collectors’ piece in its limited-edition Mille Miglia collection tonight in Milan. The city is a fitting setting for the unveiling, as it is also the home of Zagato, the legendary maker of bespoke sports car bodies, which partnered with Chopard on the watch. Here is our exclusive first look at the timepiece.

The Mille Miglia Zagato was designed in the spirit of classic grand touring automobiles, with Zagato’s “Z” logo printed on the dial and red accents representing the signature colors of both Zagato and Mille Miglia. It is one of the most stylized Mille Miglia designs to appear in the series, with a sleek 42.5mm case design.

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The partnership between the two family-owned businesses began when Chopard co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele met Andrea Zagato while participating in the Mille Miglia classic car race, which Chopard has sponsored for 25 years. The two companies share similar values of craftsmanship and an artisanal approach to the creation of technical objects.  Zagato has worked with all the legends of the auto world – Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati, Aston Martin, Bentley and Alfa Romeo. Zagato-bodied Alfa Romeos have in fact won four Mille Miglia races. Chopard started making the commemorative Mille Miglia series in 1988.

The Chopard Zagato is being released in two limited editions of 500 each – one in steel with a DLC coating, and the other with a rose gold bezel topped with a red insert displaying a 24-hour dual-time index. The dial is finished in a grid pattern of Z motifs representing the Zagato logo.

The chronograph pusher and sweep seconds hand are both tipped in red to match the signature color of both Zagato and the Mille Miglia, and the strap of the all-black version is finished with red stitching. Both straps, made of barenia leather, feature a central groove, echoing the architecture of Zagato’s signature “double bubble” roof.

The movement is a COSC-certified self-winding chronograph, with functions that include hours and minutes, smalls seconds at 9 o’clock, central dual-time display, chronograph hour and minute totalizers and a date window. The caseback is etched with the Mille Miglia logo – 1000 in an arrow – and a Zagato inscription.

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The Chopard Mille Miglia Zagato Chronograph will be available exclusively at Chopard boutiques and in the Chopard E-boutique. Photos courtesy Chopard.