Chopard and Mille Miglia

Chopard, Official Timekeeper of the 1000 Miglia 2022

An enduring passion for racing

For the 35th consecutive year, Chopard once again proudly took its place as world sponsor and official timekeeper to the 40th edition of the historic 1000 Miglia car race, which occurred from 15 to 18 June 2022. The illustrious race, widely regarded as the most beautiful in the world, saw 404 cars made by 63 car manufacturers on the starting line in Brescia. The 1000 Miglia 2022 was won by Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli, after travelling the 1,609 km (1,005 Roman miles) route.

The 1000 Miglia 2022 award winners

Crew number 46, formed by Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli aboard the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 SS Zagato of 1929, repeated the success achieved in the 2021 edition of the race. For Andrea Vesco, also first in 2020 alongside his father Roberto, there is the double satisfaction of having conquered a 22-year long taboo, previously accomplished by Giuliano Canè who managed to win three consecutive editions of the "most beautiful race in the world” between 1998 and 2000.

In second place, just like a year ago, was Crew number 40, with Andrea Luigi Belometti and Gianluca Bergomi in a 1929 Lancia Lambda Spider Type 221. The third step of the podium went to Crew number 8 formed by Lorenzo and Mario Turelli in a 1929 O.M. 665 S MM Superba 2000. Silvia Marini and Irene Dei Tos, in a 1929 Bugatti T40, won the Ladies Cup.

The intense, challenging 1000 Miglia 2022 required great skill from the crews on 115 Time Trials and 8 Average Trials, with the Capodimonte dirt road trials on the shores of Lake Bolsena proving particularly popular.

On the road again

Despite the massive expansion of Italy’s road network over the past 95 years, the route of the 1000 Miglia has remained remarkably close to that of the original course from Brescia to Rome and back.

‘Clockwise’ was back this year, however, after the anti-clockwise format last used in the 1950s was re-visited in 2021, and after the starting flag dropped at 1.30pm on Wednesday 15 June, the cars headed off from Brescia in one-minute intervals going in order of age (oldest first). Initially contestants made for Lake Garda, passing through the waterside towns of Salò and Sirmione along the way before proceeding to Mantua and on to the first overnight stop in Cervia-Milano Marittima – a total run of more than 300km that, for the drivers of older cars, meant at least six hours on the road.

Day Two on Thursday 16 June, saw the convoy head for Rome on a more arduous, 500-km drive that took them via the remarkable mountain top republic of Norcia before bringing them into the Eternal City well after dark, prior to Friday morning’s rude pre-dawn awakening.

With another 500 km representing a good, nine-hour day during which the cars began their return journey north, Friday 17 June was the toughest day of the event with the route initially travelling inland to the half-way point in Siena before veering west to begin skirting the coast at Viareggio and then heading north-north-east to the challenging Passo della Cisa. Here, the climb ascends to more than 1,000 metres above sea level, before dropping down the other side and heading for a welcome overnight stop in Parma.

Saturday’s fourth and final leg followed a route of little more than 150 km that was punctuated by a stop at the Monza race circuit in order to complete a tricky, timed auto-test – for which the teams certainly needed their Mille Miglia Race Edition chronographs – and the magnificently beautiful city of Bergamo. After this it was (literally) downhill all the way to the finish line in Brescia – where Andrea Vesco and Fabio Salvinelli were declared winners of this memorable edition of the 1000 Miglia.

Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition: a precision chronograph designed for motor racing enthusiasts

The 1000 Miglia celebrated its 40th reissue and Chopard, its partner and official timekeeper, was once again on the starting grid. As is the case every year since 1988, during an exclusive dinner held at the Albereta Hotel the day before the race, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, along with Jacky Ickx, unveiled a duo of stunning watches to commemorate the event in the form of the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Editions.

Featuring a 44 mm case in ethical 18-carat rose gold and stainless steel or all-steel versions, this chronometer-certified chronograph picks up all the codes that Chopard instils into the identity of this sporting collection: masculine elegance, mechanical precision, watchmaking performance, racing ergonomics – all dedicated to the beauty of driving.

A family affair

Not only has Chopard been the proud world sponsor and official timekeeper to the celebrated 1000 Miglia since 1988, this year, for the 34th time, the Maison’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele joined the 404-strong field of cars behind the wheel of the Scheufele family’s 1955 Mercedes Benz 300 SL, well-known to the 1000 Miglia due to its strawberry-red paintwork.

On 15 June, Chopard Ambassador Jacky Ickx was on the start ramp in Brescia to wave Chopard’s Co-President away as he set off beside his daughter Caroline-Marie, who undertook her second 1000 Miglia after making her debut as co-driver in 2019.

Along with Karl-Friedrich and Caroline-Marie Scheufele, Team Chopard was composed of several prestigious cars, amongst them a wonderful blue Porsche 356 Speedster from 1955 – driven by Chopard Ambassador Romain Dumas, a regular at the 1000 Miglia – as well as a Triumph TR3 Sports from 1957, a Fiat 1100/103 TV Berlina from 1955 and an Austin Healey 100/6 from 1957.

Chopard

Founded in 1860, Chopard, The Artisan of Emotions, perpetuates the heritage of traditional know-how and ancestral crafts through contemporary and ethical creations.

Cultivating limitless creativity, which enables everyone to find precious objects within Chopard collections that are in tune with their own nature, the Maison takes craftsmanship to peak levels through the work of passionate and experienced Artisans. Moreover, since July 2018, the Maison has been the first watch and jewellery maker to use 100% Ethical Gold for the production of all its watches and jewellery.

Today, Chopard is run by the Scheufele family and masters more than 50 professions at its three production sites, where particular attention is paid to internal training and the transmission of know-how.

The Maison lives in step with its prestigious partnerships: a loyal official partner to the Cannes Film Festival since 1998, it has also been the official timekeeper of the legendary Italian 1000 Miglia classic car race since 1988.

A brief history of the 1000 Miglia

Founded in 1927, the 1000 Miglia is among the most famous historic motoring events in the world. When it was originally run, the 1,618km course (the equivalent to 1,005 Roman miles) was an all-out race that started and finished in Brescia, with Rome marking the turning point for home.

In 1955, the famous British racing driver Sir Stirling Moss and his navigator, motorsport journalist Denis Jenkinson, won the race in a record time that still stands today, completing the course in ten hours, seven minutes and 48 seconds at the remarkable average speed of 97.96 mph.

After ceasing to exist in its original race format in 1957, the 1000 Miglia was revived in 1977 as a time and reliability trial for cars built between 1927 and 1957. It still covers 1,000 miles following much of the original route through the heart of Italy from Brescia to Rome and back.

The event sees some of the finest, rarest, most important and most valuable cars of the original era take to the roads in the manner for which they were intended, creating an intoxicating assault on the senses of sight, sound and smell and turning back the clock as they pass through the same towns and villages where crowds lined the roads during the 1000 Miglia's early decades.

Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition

In a 1,000-piece stainless steel limited edition
along with 250 in stainless steel and ethical 18-carat rose gold
A precision chronograph designed
for motorsports enthusiasts

A new vintage brings a new livery for the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition chronograph. Chopard's emblematic watch collection appears attired in grey and blue as a tribute to the most prestigious of the classic open-road races. The 1000 Miglia is celebrating the 40th edition of its re-enactment, for which its partner and official timekeeper Chopard is once again lining up on the starting grid. Featuring a 44 mm case in ethical 18-carat rose gold and stainless steel or all-steel versions, this chronometer-certified chronograph picks up all the codes that Chopard instils into the identity of this sporting collection: masculine elegance, mechanical precision, watchmaking performance, racing ergonomics – all dedicated to the beauty of driving.

Partner to the 1000 Miglia since 1988, Chopard is issuing a new limited series of its eponymous chronograph. Two series in fact, since this chronograph based on the design of the Mille Miglia GTS collection is available in two versions. The first all-steel iteration will roar off the starting ramp in a run of 1,000 timepieces; while the second interpretation featuring ethical 18-carat rose gold adorning the crown, pushers and bezel will be produced in a 250-piece edition.

A watch collection honouring a legendary race

The Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition is a perpetually renewed yet always subtly different tribute to the "Corsa Più Bella del Mondo". The 40th re-enacted edition of the 1000 Miglia will be held from 15 to 18 June, and the route will be as intense as ever, running from Brescia (Lombardy) to Rome and back according to an itinerary that is slightly modified each year.

In the same spirit, the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition timepiece differs from previous editions of the collection in a number of ways. First and foremost, it features a silver-grey dial marked by a subtle circular satin-brushed finish, and the use of an intense blue for the hands, hour-markers and bezel inlay.

An appealing and legible dial

Like every model in the Mille Miglia collection, this new interpretation reflects the codes of masculine elegance, featuring refinement applied to all areas and paying tribute to a love of fine mechanics. Its design is characterised by three technical pillars of which the first is legibility, an essential quality for any watch intended for use in racing, especially on an open road. This attribute is embodied in the size of the baton-type hands, large and rimmed in bright blue, as well as in the finishing of the hour-markers based on the same principle of contrasting blue. This concern for legibility is also reflected in the size of the date at 3 o'clock, enlarged by a magnifying glass cut into the underside of the transparent sapphire crystal.

Finally, the separation of the functional zones is established by the choice of dial finishes. The chronograph counters at 6 and 12 o'clock stand out by their peripheral snailed pattern and their offset scale, which is airier than that of the small seconds at 9 o'clock. These counters are also distinguished by the hands which – like the large central sweep-seconds hand – are red-tipped in a nod to the colour of the 1000 Miglia.

A chronometer-certified high-precision movement

The second technical mainstay of the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition model is precision. While this is first and foremost a question of running accuracy – an indispensable concept for a racing chronograph – it also and primarily stems from a strong desire nurtured by Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, himself a keen lover of classic cars and amateur driver. The movement of the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition watch is therefore chronometer-certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute.

Chopard has opted to equip this model with an ultra-reliable and well-proven self-winding calibre. It beats at a frequency of 4 Hz and has a 48-hour power reserve, making it an unfailing ally for drivers. The Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition is rimmed by a thin, slender, intense blue bezel bearing a tachymeter scale. Its contrasting white transferred graduations serve to measure average speed ranging from 60 to 400 km/h by means of the chronograph sweep-seconds hand.

Genuine user friendliness

The third fundamental quality is grip – the sign of a well-mastered vehicle, of carefully controlled driving – and hence of optimal racing performance. It is therefore logical that the watch should reflect the same quest. First of all, the mushroom-type pushers feature a large surface engraved with a knurled pattern that holds the finger while it is operating them. The large-diameter crown is also ratcheted to ensure good grip and facilitate use.

Finally, the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition timepiece is fitted with a gold-toned calfskin strap lined with rubber. In keeping with the codes established at the birth of the Mille Miglia collection, its surface is patterned like the tread of 1960s Dunlop Racing tyres. In keeping with the overall colour theme of the piece, the leather has been perforated to reveal the underlying blue and deliver a final vintage racing effect.

The passion for motor sports

Behind the deep connection that Chopard cultivates with the 1000 Miglia are values strongly ingrained in the Maison. Loyalty to a certain vision of elegance; a passion for classic cars that the Scheufele family has passed down from generation to generation; the desire to be at the heart of major events; and, above all, a commitment to high-quality watchmaking whose concepts stand the test of time. The Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition timepiece is the embodiment of this endurance, this constancy, this commitment.

Technical Details

Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition
Numbered 1,000-piece stainless steel limited edition
Numbered 250-piece stainless steel and ethical 18-carat rose gold limited edition

Case:
Stainless steel
Total diameter 44.00 mm
Thickness 13.79 mm
Water-resistant to 100 metres
Case-back in stainless steel bearing the 1000 Miglia motif
Movement:
Mechanical self-winding movement
Chronograph
Frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve 48 hours
Chronometer-certified (COSC)
Dial and hands:
Silver-toned dial with circular satin-brushed finish

Red transferred 1000 Miglia logo
Functions:
Chronograph
30-minute counter at 12 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock
Central seconds chronograph hand
Date aperture at 3 o’clock
Tachymeter scale
Stop-seconds function
Strap and buckle:
Brown perforated calfskin strap with blue rubber lining and backing
Stainless steel triple folding clasp
Ref. 168571-3010 –1,000-piece limited edition in stainless steel
Ref. 168571-6004 –250-piece limited edition in stainless steel and ethical 18-carat rose gold

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