For the 38th consecutive year in June, Chopard proudly strapped in as world sponsor and official timekeeper to the 43rd edition of the historic 1000 (or ‘Mille’) Miglia.
It’s not just brand hoardings or special-edition chronographs, though: the Swiss watchmaker follows through with brio, thanks to co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and his 30-something garage of high-octane classics. He joined the field yet again behind the wheel of the family jeweller’s 1955 gull-wing Mercedes Benz 300 SL, fondly familiar to the crowds and participants along the thousand-mile route, thanks to its raspberry-red paintwork.
“This was the very car in which I took part in my first ever Mille Miglia back in 1989, accompanied by the motorsport legend, and great friend, Jacky Ickx,” notes Monsieur Scheufele, referring to his co-pilot and six-times Le Mans champion.
This year, K-FS took to the start platform in Brescia with Rome in his sights alongside son Karl-Fritz Scheufele – pictured here with Mr Ickx at pre-race scrutineering wearing the new salmon-dial Mille Miglia GTS Power Control – 2025 Race Edition, (£6,540) marking a decade since Chopard introduced the GTS range – which stands for ‘Grand Turismo Sport’.
In addition, each of M. Scheufele’s fellow competitors received a special-edition Chopard chronograph in their race pack, directly informing the publically available Mille Miglia watch, now a core-catalogue collection in its own right.
These chronographs – and occasionally time-onlys – are retro-styled in accordance with the pre-’57 vehicle criteria (1957 was when a horrific accident involving public spectators put the ‘most beautiful race in the world’ on hold after 30 breakneck years), designed in a manner that’s so sumptuously sensitive to this golden age of motoring, you can practically smell the Connolly leather upholstery and leaky oil.
The Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph edition for 2025 (£9,230) pays tribute to the 70th anniversary of Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson’s unbroken record of 1955: just over 10 breakneck hours at the wheel of a Mercedes, on unforgivingly narrow and pocked country roads, at an average of 98mph.