What’s hot right now and has been so for a couple of decades now? Luxury stainless steel sports watches with integrated bracelets. That’s what. And Chopard has just shot across the bow of the current Masters of that segment with a release that is sure to turn heads.
Chopard has just released its highly anticipated Alpine Eagle Watch Collection.
The design is not entirely new at all to Chopard. Chopard has of course a very rich history and catalogue of watch releases to date. The Alpine Eagle is essentially a modern evolution, or revolution, of the St Moritz design it released in the Eighties.
And here today, I have no doubt many people will be drawing parallels to the ‘other’ watches in this category from for example Patek and Audemars Piguet and it is easy to see why. Note also that the St. Moritz at the time was already Chopard’s answer, so to speak, to AP’s Royal Oak.
As the watch does have the same spirit and design cues of the original St Moritz, is certainly a very different watch and I can see why they decided to go for an updated naming of this particular collection as well instead of continuing the former name. Opinions may differ on this topic I suppose.
Let’s set aside opinions for a second on originality of design. Everything about this watch has the hallmarks of fine watchmaking. Let’s dive right into it all, starting with the dial.
The striking sunburst dial is said to have been inspired by the Eagle’s iris. It’s hard to argue that this is anything but beautiful indeed.
There are more design queues to the Alpine eagle, my favorite being the little counterweight on the seconds hand being shaped like a feather.
The case is made from steel as I mentioned. The Stainless steel that Chopard has gone for is of course not just any stainless steel, it is in-house developped Lucent Steel A223. ” Uniquely durable, Chopard Lucent Steel A223 is 50% harder and significantly less scratch resistant than other steels. It is also antiallergenic, making it comparable in quality to surgical steel”. The ‘Lucent’ in the name further refers to its reflective and luminous qualities.
Very striking and true to the design here is of course the integrated bracelet. Handmade from the same Lucent Steel A223 as the case. The gently tapered Alpine Eagle bracelet features a single ingot-shaped link, topped by a raised central cap “reminiscent of its mountain biotope”.
The in-house automatic winding calibre 01.01-C is COSC certified. It measures just under 5mm thick. It further features 31 jewels, beats at 28.800 VPH offering a 60 hour power reserve.
The Alpine Eagle comes in two sizes, 41mm and 36mm. Retail prices starting at CHF 12,450 (41mm) and CHF 9,760 (36mm).
This is a fine watch indeed, and I can’t help but wonder what the reaction will be to these releases as the parallels will surely be drawn here – as they should. The watch collecting community has become quite sensitive to the originality of designs, which I wholeheartedly applaud indeed, and my spider senses tell me this release will be received with very mixed feelings as a direct result of that.
Images courtesy Chopard
I am happy that Chopard joins the pack here much like you, but I am not happy that they went with this design. This will attract negative criticism as the design is so very similar in spirit. This is sad since they are a great watchmaker. Is it that difficult to be creative in this industry? Price quality this is banging yes, but where is the creativity. This will forever be compared against the RO and even Nautilus, both of which will have much better resale value.
The measure of a good watch does not lie in it’s resale value.The RO does not have this textured dial, special scratch resistant steel, rose compass crown and all the other little details that make this piece unique. No comparison necessary. It doesn’t have the ridiculous price, waiting list or invisible halo of the RO either.What EXACTLY is so incredibly, mind boggling and marvelous about the RO? That it came first? I expect you drive and worship a Model T Ford then.
Hi Stefan! Not sure if replying to me or CallMeBrian above. Just in case you refer to me: I don’t think I disagree with any of your points mentioned and very much appreciate you joining the conversation here!
Resale value is definitely not a good measure, because a lot of innovative brands that I admire most – usually independents – don’t have great resale value.
Also completely agree that this is a fine watch on many levels (Chopard is a fantastic watchmaker) and indeed the price they set is really unbelievable (in a great way). That’s a lot of value packed in there!
However, I also can absolutely understand why comparison is made between the Alpine Eagle and the RO. I’m pretty sure the people at Chopard know this as well and I didn’t think I should ignore the elephant in the room here. On top of that, in the current ‘flipper’ market, a lot of potential buyers (not necessarily people buying to ‘keep’) will be aiming to get a safer bet which I think is what CallMeBrian was hinting at.
I also mainly ride a bike (quite modern one) and had to google the Model T Ford! 🙂
My comment about resale value was aimed at CallMe Brian , just don’t think that should be your criteria when buying a watch.Thanks for your reply! I was lucky enough to try this watch on my wrist yesterday. Amazingly the boutique already had them in. My impressions? Yes, very well made watch with a little bit of weight to it. I have a small wrist and both sizes were ok. for me, but I like the idea of the longer power reserve in the larger model. Feels comfortable to wear.The only dislike was that the blue and grey colors are quite different to what you see in the photographs. Much lighter in tone.I think this is the case with a lot of brands ( I had the same issue with the VC fifty-six where the so called Petrol Blue which looks great in photos is almost a shiny baby blue in the metal ) and the reason why you must see them before purchase. I had the impression the watch would stand up to a lot of knocks if you really decided to keep it on your wrist for real adventures. I forgot to check the quality of the lume. Note also that the warranty is only 2 years, something that could be better I think. I’m still putting this on my shortlist, I think Chopard did a good job with this one.