CHOPARD

THE RACE OF MEMORIES

Eléonor Picciotto

The emblematic Mille Miglia rally, from Brescia to Rome, is a driving experience for gentlemen and ladies, but also a profound human adventure between impassioned enthusiasts. In 1987, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele THE IMPOSED CONSTRAINTS experienced the Mille Miglia for the first time as a spectator. He came away spellbound by what is still ARE TRANSFORMED INTO AN ADVENTURE, THE PITFALLS considered to be the most beautiful ALONG THE WAY INTO and legendary motor race in the MEMORIES. world. Then and there he decided that Chopard would participate in this event in one way or another. At that time, he persuaded his father to invest in a car: a raspberry-coloured Mercedes 300SL. "A dreadful colour... so much so that no one wanted to drive it", his dear friend, distinguished driver, and ambassador of the brand, Jacky Ickx, still laughs about it to this day. Two years later, in 1989, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele attended a speed race in Germany on the famous Nürburgring track with Jacky Ickx, whom he had not met before. He then spontaneously suggested that they race in the next Mille Miglia together. "It's quite a laugh", he says, "I have the car, but no driver". He agrees... but when the day finally came, the Le Mans legend indicated he would be sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "I'm going to sit next to you, but I'm not going to drive," he told Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, "and I'll probably fall asleep." Thus began a genuine, deep, and eternal friendship between the two men. 35 years later and almost 31 Mille Miglia races together, Jacky Ickx has become a member of the family. KarlFriedrich Scheufele left the paddocks of Brescia for Rome at the beginning of

THE MILLE MIGLIA 2022 RACE EDITION LIMITED SERIES IS AVAILABLE IN STEEL OR ETHICAL PINK GOLD AND STEEL.

WATCHES-NEWS.COM X CHOPARD the summer in tandem with his daughter Caroline-Marie, alongside 400 cars dating from the pre-war period to the end of the 1960s.

The 2022 edition is now completed with the Mille Miglia 2022 Race Edition, a limited series of 1,000 watches in stainless steel and 250 two-tone watches in ethical pink gold. KarlFriedrich Scheufele subtly applied blue, his favourite colour, to the graduated bezel of the 44mm diameter case. The watch is fitted with an Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) certified automatic calibre. Perforations on the auburn calf leather wristband lend a vintage feel, with a rubber lining textured to resemble the tread on Dunlop Racing tyres from the Sixties. Simply strap it on to your wrist and glance at the two counters to check the time... especially when you are experiencing back-to-back engine failures, which is what happened this year when we drove James Dean's iconic 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster.

Nevertheless, after such a rally, with more than 1,000km on the odometer, 2,000 photos in your iPhone, nights as short as naps, the whims of a car that you have little control over, the constraints imposed on you become an adventure in themselves. The pitfalls along the way become memories, but above all, it is an experience in which many of us would have given up at the first turn... No matter, we'll talk about it again next year.