Spotlight: Chopard’s Alpine Eagle turns 5 this year

Towards the end of 2023, I visited Chopard’s Bond Street boutique in London. After seeing some of the most recent Alpine Eagle releases, my mind wandered to the question of how long the Alpine Eagle has been around – after all, I can distinctly remember visiting that same boutique when it was launched, eager to try one on my wrist!

After the realisation that that was pre-Covid, I was somewhat surprised when I worked out October this year will mark the 5^th anniversary of the Alpine Eagle collection.

I know it’s still several months off the “official” mark of its fifth birthday, but I thought it would be a fun way to start the year by looking back at the story of the Alpine Eagle, the origins of the collection, and the journey that it has taken over the past almost-five-years to becoming a stalwart of Chopard’s catalogue.

What was the inspiration behind the Alpine Eagle?

Originally, Chopard was founded in 1860 in Switzerland as a watchmaking company by Louis-Ulysse Chopard. However, today Chopard is owned by the Scheufele family, who have been custodians of the brand since 1963 when it was acquired by Karl Scheufele III.

Chopard continues to operate as a family run business to this day.

It was 17 years after this acquisition that a 22 year old Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, the son of Karl Scheufele III, convinced his father that Chopard needed to introduce a stainless steel sports watch. Cutting a long story short, he eventually agreed, and the St. Moritz was born. It was named after the town which was home to Chopard’s flagship boutique, however, the St. Mortiz was to remain a part of Chopard’s catalogue for just 6 years before being discontinued in 1986.

The Chopard St. Moritz, despite having been out of production for 38 years, remains a collectible piece today with many references available on pre-owned marketplaces, spanning a broad price range.

Fast forward three decades, and history would repeat itself. Just as Karl-Friedrich had himself once suggested the idea of the St. Moritz to his own father, now it was the turn of his son Karl-Fritz to come to him with an idea of his own, inspired by the St. Moritz.

After finding a St. Moritz watch on his father’s desk, he fell in love with the design, and asked about taking the St. Moritz and reinvigorating it for the modern watch market. Unable to win his father over initially, Karl-Fritz sought help from his grandfather Karl to secretly create a prototype, which ultimately convinced Karl-Friedrich of the project which would become the Alpine Eagle.

There is something inherently poetic about this family story coming full circle: it can’t be very often that three generations of one family, 40 years or so apart, created two similar-but-different watch collections with an almost identical backstory and personal journey!

As they say, the rest is history – the Alpine Eagle was born, and its journey began with its launch in 2019.

2019 – Chopard launches the Alpine Eagle collection

Faithful to its predecessor the St. Moritz, the Alpine Eagle incorporates a three-link bracelet, Roman numerals, and the distinctive screws adorning the bezel of the watch. These components create a clear lineage of the Alpine Eagle as traceable to the St. Moritz, and yet if you look at the two side by side the Alpine Eagle is clearly a more contemporary, and perhaps bolder watch.

The star of the show is undoubtedly the dial which takes inspiration from the eye of an eagle – there really is nothing else like it, and it certainly serves to make the Alpine Eagle a more unique proposition in a competitive area of the market.

At launch, the Alpine Eagle was available in either a 41mm or 36mm case size, across a total of 10 references. The 41mm size was available in Chopard’s own Lucent stainless steel in either blue or grey dials, and in a two-tone steel and gold configuration with grey dial. The 36mm size had seven references, spanning stainless steel with and without diamonds, two tone with and without diamonds, and gold with or without diamonds to varying degrees. Each is also rated for 100m water resistance.

Each had an automatic in-house movement with COSC chronometer certification. The larger 41mm references were powered by the 01.01-C calibre with 60 hours power reserve when fully wound, and the smaller 36mm reference were powered by the 09.01-C calibre with a smaller 42 hours power reserve.

Another notable difference was the inclusion of a date complication and 4:30 date window on the 41mm version, where the 36mm version was time only with no date.

I vividly recall walking into Chopard’s Bond Street boutique for the first time to see the watch soon after it launched – my first photo of it (the blue dial above) is from 12^th October 2019 so I clearly moved fast! I remember when I tried the watch being in awe of the dial, and spent a long time studying it under a loupe to admire the details.

Whist it might not quite have been for me, I appreciated the Alpine Eagle more after seeing it in person and was excited to see how it evolved over the coming years.

2020 – the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono joins the ranks

Following a successful launch, in 2020 Chopard added to the collection with a chronograph complication in the form of the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono. These chronographs were in a new and much larger case size at 44mm and 13.15mm thick, compared to the previous 41mm and 9.7mm thick references, affirming the identity of the Alpine Eagle as, first and foremost, a sports watch.

Similar to the 41mm references from 2019, the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono was initially available on the same integrated bracelet across three references: two in Lucent steel as either a blue or black dial, and a two-tone reference also with a black dial.

The chronograph movement within the Alpine Eagle XL was again an automatic in-house movement with COSC chronometer certification, the 03.05-C calibre offering 60 hours power reserve when fully wound.

On the dial there are 3 sub-dials, a 30 minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock and a 12 hour counter at 9 o’clock, with a small seconds dial at 6 o’clock, and a 4:30 date window. Whilst the detailing of the Alpine Eagle dial is retained, I feel that it does get somewhat lost on the chronographs given it is obfuscated by the presence of the sub-dials, which to me is a bit of a shame.

Today, the Alpine Eagle XL Chrono remains a core part of the collection and is available in either blue or black dial on the integrated bracelet in Lucent steel, but also with rubber strap options and the black dial available with a rose gold case.

2021 – OnlyWatch, Cadence 8HF Limited Edition, and renaming a charity foundation

OnlyWatch – Chopard have contributed watches to be auctioned at the OnlyWatch charity auction since 2005, and it was fitting that their contribution for OnlyWatch 2021 was a piece unique Alpine Eagle XL Chrono. This was the first Alpine Eagle to not feature the eagle eye dial design, instead it had a dial made from Swiss granite with blue and green hues, representing the view of the Swiss Alps seen by the eagles flying above. Estimated to fetch between 30,000 – 50,000 CHF, the watch hammered at the November auction for an impressive 80,000 CHF!

Cadence 8HF Limited Edition – A notable addition to the Alpine Eagle story was the release of a 250 piece limited edition with an 8Hz high-frequency movement, presented for the first time in titanium. By no means Chopard’s first high-frequency watch, it did represent the first high frequency movement in the Alpine Eagle collection, which I see as a milestone in the collection’s journey.

The high frequency movement inside was the 01.12-C calibre, an automatic in-house movement with COSC chronometer certification offering 60 hours when fully wound. However it runs at a frequency of 8Hz, as opposed to 4Hz and 3.5Hz for the 41mm and 36mm references respectively.

Why is this important?

Well, higher frequency leads to greater precision and stability within the movement as it operates, in turn improving accuracy. Given movements which operate at 5Hz can well be considered high frequency, this movement operating at 8Hz is something pretty special.

Besides the updated movement, the Cadence 8HF limited edition was the same 41mm size as other watches, and very similar in look (notwithstanding the subtle differences in hue between the Lucent steel and titanium). One standout was the reduced use of Roman numerals, with just a XII at 12 o’clock, replacing the numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock with baton hour markers, creating a sportier aesthetic along with the high frequency logo just under the centre of the dial.

Alpine Eagle Foundation – Finally, 2021 saw Karl-Friedrich Scheufele rename the charity foundation he co-founded with Jacques-Olivier Travers and Ronald Menzel two years earlier as the Alpine Eagle Foundation. I think this reflects the strength of the Alpine Eagle brand so to speak, and it’s quite telling for me that Scheufele chose to share the name with something far detached from watches, and something incredibly important to the family in their commitment to sustainability and caring for the natural world.

Projects supported by the foundation have successfully reintroduced many eagles into the Alpine region; for more information visit AlpineEagleFoundation.org

2022 – Yellow gold and a new green dial 

In terms of new releases, 2022 introduced for the first time a full yellow gold (as opposed to rose gold) 41mm reference with gold dial, and also saw a subtle green dial introduced to the Lucent steel and rose gold 41mm references.

Yellow gold is far less common than rose gold, so to see Chopard commit to yellow gold for the Alpine Eagle I think is an interesting turn of events, making me wonder whether we will see more yellow gold to come in future.

During 2022, the Alpine Eagle collection was also recognised at the annual Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (or GPHG) awards. The Alpine Eagle 33mm in rose gold, with diamond bezel and diamond-adorned bracelet, was shortlisted for the 2023 Ladies Prize. It unfortunately did not win the prize on the night, but I think this recognition serves as an important moment in the Alpine Eagle story, and expanding beyond being “just” a sports watch.

2023 – Cadence 8HF, Alpine Eagle XPS, and the Summit Collection

Cadence 8HF – In March, Chopard announced that the Cadence 8HF, originally a 250 piece limited edition in 2021, would be added to the core collection as a non-limited edition. With the same 41mm titanium case and high frequency 8Hz movement, this time it had a deep black dial which was populated with sporty pops of orange on the minute markers, the seconds hand, and the 8Hz high frequency arrow logo.

This watch was recognised by the GPHG Awards in 2023 on the shortlist for the Sports Prize (a reminder if you needed it the Alpine Eagle is still a sports watch, too!), but again it sadly wasn’t to be on the night.

Alpine Eagle XPS – March also saw my personal favourite Alpine Eagle introduced to the collection: the XPS. Whilst it remains 41mm in Lucent steel, there are some delicate  refinements which to my eye elevate the XPS compared with the core Alpine Eagle watches.

There are some very subtle changes in aesthetics: an ever-so-slightly thinner bezel, the inclusion of a small seconds sub-dial over a central seconds hand, and much to my personal delight, Chopard removed the date complication entirely rendering the XPS a time-only watch.

The Alpine Eagle XPS contains a micro-rotor movement – a first for the collection. The L.U.C 96.40-C calibre is significantly thinner than the movement used in the other watches thanks to the micro-rotor, and this helps reduce the thickness of the watch from 9.7mm to just 8.2mm for a much more comfortable feeling on the wrist. This movement is COSC chronometer certified, offers a slightly improved 65 hours power reserve, and also finished to the higher Poinçon de Genève, or Geneva Seal, quality standard.

Simply put, I love it.

For me, the changes in aesthetic and dimensions on this watch compared to the other 41mm models demonstrate Chopard’s eye for detail, and I am excited to see where they take the XPS.

These two watches (in addition to a tourbillon introduced in 2022) made me believe the Alpine Eagle has become a foundational platform for Chopard to build upon, and later in 2023 that was proven to be spot on.

The Summit Collection – launched at Dubai Watch Week, the Summit Collection fuses Chopard’s jewellery and watchmaking savoir-faire, expanding the collection to introduce a specific haute-horlogerie branch, building from other gem-set pieces which are part of the core collection.

As such, the Summit Collection is available only in precious metals (white, yellow or rose gold) with gem-set bezels fading between colours around the bezel. I find it interesting that Chopard chose to retain the bezel screws, affirming them as a key part of its visual identity.

I find the gem-setting compliments the Alpine Eagle dial spectacularly well, and there are four different references – 2 in white gold, and 1 in each of yellow and rose gold. Chopard have even managed to elevate the dial in creating an almost pearlescent effect as seen on the ‘Zinal Blue’ reference, where the dial completely changes colour between blues and purples depending on the lighting… the photos below are the same watch:

In Summary

It’s been a whirlwind five years for the Alpine Eagle, and it’s interesting to think that it may never have even come to fruition had Karl-Fritz Scheufele not managed to persuade his father that it was a worthwhile endeavour. Fortunately, he succeeded!

Where it started as more of a sports watch, the Alpine Eagle journey has retained this basis and spread further, today including complications and even high-end jewellery. Today, Chopard’s website features 36 Alpine Eagle references, obviously not including any special or limited editions, or any now discontinued references.

I think the Alpine Eagle will continue to be a platform upon which Chopard builds: the below limited edition of just 20 pieces with a ‘sunburnt’ dial was recently made available in Australia, created with Indigenous artist Shaun Daniel Allen in support of the Ngunya Jarjum Aboriginal Corporation.

And, if that wasn’t enough… there are even Alpine Eagle pens available!

It’s been fun watching the Alpine Eagle story unfold, and I have no doubt whatsoever that it is here to stay. It’ll be interesting to see what 2024 brings for the collection, and hopefully we can all enjoy seeing it continue and become an important part of Chopard’s catalogue for years to come.

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