Chopard

Model Number 298623 Models In Mountain Glow and Monte Rosa

The team at Chopard has finally visited the San Francisco / Silicon Valley area to show their novelties.  In an amazing low profile VIP event.  



Chopard calls these colors Monte Rosa and Mountain Glow. I prefer to name them Rose and Champagne. The coincidental background is very apropos. For our wine drinkers; these were decadent bottles of Louis Roederer Cristal 2013 (Chopard really know how to treat their VIP guests).




The Mountain Glow variant has the new bracelet that tapers to a narrower point than the previous Monte Rosa bracelet. The bracelet also has a 2.5mm extension on each side; for a total of up to 5mm extension. Here, it is not extended.




Now, it is extended on one side. This makes the bracelet 2.5mm longer, which is great on warm days or when you’re more active. To extend, just pull, and the extension comes out.  To retract it, just push the clasp back into the bracelet and it will shorten.  




Both bracelet segments are now extended; you have now extended the bracelet a total of 5mm. Great for those times when you’re extremely active and it's a warm day!  Now, it's important to note, this is not retro-fit-able on current Alpine Eagle bracelets.  This is because the new Alpine Eagle Mountain Glow/Champagne bracelet actually tapers differently than the previous bracelets.  It tapers down to a more narrow point.  The original Alpine Eagle 41 mm bracelets taper to 20-21mm at the clasp.  The new ones taper to about 18-19mm at the clasp.  Thus, with the more aggressive taper, the watch will feel more comfortable during varying states of activity and temperature, and with the new 2x 2.5mm extensions, every possible wrist circumference fluctuation will be met!  




Mountain Glow dial has a soft pale ivory color - I just call it Champagne, it’s easier to remember. The color is subtle and warm. It will be great to pair with clothes in all seasons.  The steel is also exceptionally white.  Typical 316L steel has a very gray color and a hardness of around 150 vickers.  This is A223 steel and it's as white as platinum!  It's also exceptionally hard, with approximately 220 vickers hardness - making it somewhat more scratch resistant.  The A223 steel is nicer in my eyes than the 904L steel employed by other Maisons.  




The rose gold variant with the ombre brown dial is fantastic. Just an amazing piece. It feels more substantial and heavier than many of its competitors. The bracelet also feels more solid than anything in the category.




The same movement as the earlier Alpine Eagles is also in this classic dress watch case.  I give you the Chopard 1860 LUC watch, Chopard's first foray into high horology back in 1996!  This watch features an exquisite solid gold guilloche Metal-M dial - same dial company that produces Dufour’s dials. Just exquisite.  The piece is cased in A223 Lucent Steel.  Our Vinos will again recognize the exquisite Burgundy in the background from Nuits Saint Georges (which is about three kilometers south of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti).  Incroyable!  




This is another exquisite piece by Chopard featuring straw marquetry.




And here is a piece with a Dragon motif.  

The external beauty continues with top-tier inner beauty.  The Chopard timepieces feature a Geneva-Seal movement and a swan neck regulator!  True haute horlogerie quality.  Combined with its extra thin movement, the first micro rotor with bi-directional winding, and its high beat, this movement is a powerhouse of technology!  Debuted in 1996, this represented the next quantum leap in automatic micro-rotor extra-plate movements.  Check out this article if you would like to learn more about the Chopard Micro Rotor movement and two other important micro-rotor movements!  A Technical Discussion Patek Philippe Caliber 240 Vs The Chopard 96 40 L Two Very Similar Movements Separated By 20 Years

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