All the heavy hitters from Chopard’s 2023 collection

Fergus Nash

Chopard are capable of excellence in every field, from the loftiest of complicated haute horlogerie to the most casual of sports watches. Whatever style they cover, there’s always going to be something unique about each watch with the Swiss jeweller’s unmistakable identity. Their releases at 2023’s Watches & Wonders pretty much cover that assessment, with four watches across four distinct genres being added to their rich catalogues. If you want to see some mouth-watering footage of them yourself, be sure to watch the video below. Otherwise, read on for the full 411.

Alpine Eagle

The Chopard Alpine Eagle has drawn repeated attention ever since its release in 2019, when the designer Karl-Friedrich Scheufele was brought back after 40 years to adapt his St Moritz watch for a modern audience. Its mesmerising dial is inspired by the iris of an eagle, with deep gouges accompanying a breathtaking yet subtle spiral.

Two new additions to the Alpine Eagle collection have arrived thanks to Watches & Wonders, with each model showcasing a very different side of the watch’s personality. The Cadence 8HF version dulls down the signature dial by rendering it in black, leaving the bright red of the seconds hand to draw the eye. It also bears a red logo which signifies the incredible 8Hz beat rate, double that of a standard Swiss movement. This allows for an incredibly smooth sweep of the seconds hand for a mechanical watch, and also requires a lot of technical upgrades to support.

The other Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 XPS showcases exactly why the dial is so special. Unlike the Cadence, the dial’s intensity is really brought out by a wave of colour, with a ‘Monte Rosa Pink’ that emphasises the depths that its texture can reach. Although the Monte Rosa mountain range is named after a mistranslation rather than any actual pink colouring of the icy cliffs, the romance of the notion isn’t lost on this pink gold dial. The Lucent case has also been given a subtle makeover, with a smaller bezel and total thickness of just 8mm.

Chopard L.U.C

Despite the L.U.C collection’s relative youth at 26 years old, Chopard have also decided to reissue an old favourite from their launch in 1997. Rather than a direct clone though, the new Chopard L.U.C 1860 has been given some modifications to better suit modern tastes. The unnecessary date display has been removed, and the salmon colour of the gold dial plate is beautifully cohesive. My favourite bit of detail is the crimped sections between the dial sectors, giving a rather ornate impression.

The last release of the bunch isn’t exactly out of character for Chopard, but it is definitely a new face within the L.U.C branch. The 1963 Heritage Chronograph takes its design cues from vintage stopwatches and adapts them to Chopard’s luxurious house style. An English green dial splays out with brushing from the logo, and gleefully plays in the light. Complete with “dauphine fusée” hands and a sapphire display caseback for views of the L.U.C 03.07-L, there’s clearly been a lot of attention to detail in a relatively simple watch.