Chopard became the brand it is today as a result of a super-fast meeting between the Chopard family and the canny German businessman Karl Scheufele who bought the company in 1963, more or less upon a whim. Schefeule wanted to buy and the Chopard family wanted to sell as there was no one within the immediate family willing to carry on the business. Timing, as always, is everything.
Since that time, Chopard has remained in the Scheufele family. Karl Scheufele and his wife Karin have carefully overseen the company’s solid and well-earned success for more than 40 years and still remain active in the firm. Over the years, Chopard, noted for its exquisite jewellery pieces, has also developed a sterling collection of motor sports related watches, most notably with the magnificent Mille Miglia collection and the Classic Racing collection, to which this watch belongs.
But Chopard has also forged a relationship with the most revered of German sportcars, Porsche, and, to celebrate Porsche’s return to Le Mans, an event it has won nine times in the past, Chopard has released a new limited edition watch known as the Chopard Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 (Ref. 168535-3002). Chopard has also been announced as the Official Timing Partner of Porsche Motorsport.
Chopard Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Limited Edition
The 45mm watch is inspired by the Porsche 928 and the watch features vertical stripes on both sides of the dial, which are designed resemble the aluminium gas pedal of a Porsche sports car. The silver-toned dial of the timekeeper is also closely linked to Porsche’s design codes.
The handsome case is shielded with glare-proofed sapphire crystal and incorporates a steel bezel with a tachometric scale secured by eight PVD blackened steel screws. The silver-toned dial features metallic black hour and minute hands and hour markers coated with Superluminova. There’s a sexy arrowhead red sweep-seconds hand.as well as a white-on-red 919 logo inside the counter at the 9 o’clock position and a flyback function at 3 o’clock.
Chopard Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 – Caseback
The watch is powered by the COSC certified Chopard 03.05-M automatic chronograph movement specially developed for Chopard by the Fleurier Ebauches workshops with a frequency of 28,800 and an ample 60 hour power reserve. Unusually, but thematically complementary, all the bridges are open-worked with thin parallel lines reminiscent of cooling vents on sports cars, which allows the inner workings of the movement to be admired through the transparent case-back.
The Chopard Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 edition is water resistant to 100 meters (about 330 feet). The watch comes on a black rubber strap with a slick tyre-tread motif, with a polished steel folding clasp. The watch is limited to, take a guess, yes that’s right, 919 pieces and it will be available in fall 2014. The watch will retail for €9950 or $12,890 but when you consider the price of a Porsche, or anything related to Porsche, this is about par for the course.
Chopard Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 – Movement
The Le Mans race took place on June 14th and 15th. After a strong performance by both Porsche 919 Hybrids, the Porsche Team was left empty-handed after a dramatic final stage of the race. Following more than 22 hours, car No. 20, which had led for a long period of time, driven by Timo Bernhard (Germany), Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) and Mark Webber (Australia) succumbed to a powertrain problem.
However, the Porsche legend is much stronger than one race meet alone, so do not expect this disappointment to have any effect on sales of the watch. It is destined to shift, as the name implies, superfast. The watch is exclusively available at Chopard boutiques, although you can also pre-order.
You’ll find some nice Wristshot of the Chopard Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 Limited Edition on 0024WatchWorld.
