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Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chronograph: Owner Watch Review

Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chronograph: Watch Owner Review

My love affair with the new Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chronograph was a calm and considered evolution. I was informed of the novelty by a launch report on PuristSPro website (where else?) but it only registered as a splash of colour on a Classic Racing watch case. As a L.U.C. man, it did not seem likely that I would pursue watches from the Mile Miglia or Classic Racing lines this year.

Lemans 2014

The next time that I spotted the watch in-the-wild was at Le Mans 2014 when the Chopard Porsche Motorsports 919 Racing watch was launched in Paris.

Mr and Mrs Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Porsche Motorsports driver Mark Webber

Porsche Motorsport 919 Hybrid Endurance Racing Car

Chopard Porsche Motorsport 919 Chronograph Watch

Chopard Mille Miglia Vintage Chronograph with Lemania 1874 movement

I was wearing my Chopard Mille Miglia Vintage Chronograph at Lemans weekend, in honour of the history of sportive watches and motor racing.

That was the last manual chronograph that Chopard made, albeit with the iconic Lemania outsourced movement.

Chopard added decoration and fine finishing to the Lemania 1874 movement 

Since then, Chopard has launched an in-house manual wind chronograph movement in the LUC 1963 range (see below)

DANGER 

There is a danger to attending watch-related events because I had 24 hours to inspect all Chopard racing watches on offer during the lulls at Le Mans.

It was then, that I really noticed the new collection of Grand Prix de Monaco Historique watches; composed of three instruments intended to support drivers. This complete high-performance range comprises a chronograph, an automatic model and a third watch with a power-reserve indicator, all dedicated to the most prestigious of the classic Grand Prix races. They all embody Chopard’s passion for racing as well as its demanding horological standards.

GPMH 

Grand Prix de Monaco Historique features racing cars from the 1920s through to 1985; and is by nature a mixed contest that brings together very different machines. They all represent mechanical excellence of their era and are driven in real-life conditions by passionate drivers. Chopard has been sponsor and official timekeeper of the race since 2002 but Chopard is also involved for emotional reasons.

Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Jacky Ickx

Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Chopard Co-President, is a fervent aficionado of vintage cars.

For each biennial edition, Chopard has presented a limited-edition chronograph – the type of watch typically associated with racing. In 2014 and for the very first time, Chopard launched a full collection related to this race. The new Grand Prix de Monaco range offers a complete set of watches designed to closely match the needs of customers and drivers. Chopard offers three different models denoting the three vintage racing configurations of V6, V8 and V12 engines.

The Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chronograph is the V12 of the family. This powerful, sleek and noble instrument is the driver’s watch par excellence.

The three Grand Prix de Monaco Historique models stem from a shared platform and are distinguished by an entirely reconsidered and new design.

The lugs have been redesigned to ensure enhanced comfort.

But the most significant modifications relate to the dial, which features a grooved and snailed surface, thus creating an impression of constant movement reminiscent both of the sheer speed of racing cars and of chicane kerbs.

WATCH REVIEW

DIAL

If 'The Eyes are the Windows to your Soul', then the dial is the portal to the character of a watch. The 2014 Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chronograph has a distinctive dial. The striking contrast of black chronograph sub-dials on a snailed light background with yellow highlights attracts urgent and rapt attention. Maybe it’s the universal warning signal from motor racing or Nature that evokes such base feelings?  The warning yellow flags on the race track and the skin marking of venomous snakes and insects only reinforce that urgency.

I was immediately drawn to it and it has proven to be one of my more vivid watches. Every time I look at it, a little frisson of excitement courses through my being.

Officially, Chopard lists the background dial colour as 'grey' but to me, it looks more 'metallic steel grey', perhaps. There is a subliminal texture to the ostensibly 'grey' dial and close inspection with magnification reveals the snailed pattern as the root cause.

For clarity, I appreciate the choice of black subdials for the chronograph functions at 12 and 6 o'clock. This is further highlighted by the chronograph central sweep seconds hand, minute counter hand and hour counter hand being yellow. Time functions are indicated by steel hands on the steel grey portions of the dial. The time indicator hour and minute hands also have luminescent paint in their central cores.

The hour markers are luminescent appliqué chevrons similar to the Mille Miglia logo; they give an immediate automotive ambience by evoking road directional signs. Each hour marker also has the associated 5-seconds/minute marker indicated by white Arabic numerals on a black section. The concentric black minute track and yellow seconds’ chapter ring are contained in design by the black aluminium bezel with the tachymeter markings.

This is a complex dial with both hollowed out sub-dials and raised appliqué markers. There is even a raised black cartouche at 3 o’clock position incorporating the date window and acting as the nameplate for the MONACO HISTORIQUE range. Anywhere there is a transition of heights is demarcated by a silvery boundary. There are silvered boundary rings for the sub-dials and chevron markers. The depth of the dial is also enhanced by the yellow chapter ring providing an angled transition to the outer bezel.

All the printed numerals and markers have a 3-dimensional quality because the paint layers are raised thickly.

You can enjoy the clarity of the dial because of the anti-glare coating on one side of the sapphire crystal.

CASE

Another distinctive feature of this edition of the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique watches is the common 'chassis' watch case made of titanium. Apart from the idealistic racing car materials connotation, the watch is actually lighter. The bead blasted titanium finish on the case side and sides of the lugs gives a different texture to the grey titanium that contrasts well with the polished steel bezel and case back. The effect is a materials fusion sandwich, totally in keeping with the racing theme.

The choice of materials is founded on functionality because of the wear resistance of polished steel and the better quality of logo inscribed on steel. 

The logo of the Automobile Club de Monaco is featured on the steel case back.

Not content with the sporty bead blasted finish on the lugs; Chopard has given the tops of the lugs a satin polished finish, even through the transition line from shallow to deeper angle that is a third of the way along the lug. Additionally, the tops of the lugs have a convex curve from that transition line to their tips.

Polishing must not be easy. 

The sharper angle change helps to bring the lugs down to encompass all wrist sizes comfortably, even small wrists. The lugs do not protrude outside the outline of small wrists. 

All this is to preface the conclusion that the polishing process for this case is more than complex.

Some finishing details are so subtle that we may not notice their presence; and yet we would notice their absence by the drop in perceived quality.

PUSHERS and CROWN

The pushers and crown are also crafted from titanium but with a high gloss polish. The crown is set between tapered guards that continue in line with the round guards for the pushers - such is attention to detail at Chopard.  The pushers are round discs on stems reminiscent in my romantic eye to old-fashioned tappet valves in normal-aspirated racing engines. Racing fans today only know of electronic fuel injectors and turbochargers; such imagery may escape them.

The pusher tops are actually decorated with 5 circles like the hub and wheel nuts of a car wheel. The centre of the circles are bead blasted, in contrast to the gloss polished tops. These pushers are more elegant than standard round block or stemmed pushers. The crown is marked with the Classic Racing 3-spoke Steering Wheel logo.

STRAP and CLASP

Each black barenia calf leather strap is fenestrated with three holes in the vintage style. Barenia leather is soft and silky calfskin, which acquires a beautiful patina over time.

Full grain and double tanned, it contains 20% oil and is resistant to scratches; fine scratches can be rubbed off with our fingers easily.

Barenia also has a good water resistant characteristic.

I remember Momo steering wheels and Dents deerskin leather driving gloves embellished with the holes of graduated diameter.

These Chopard Classic Racing black straps are further embellished with yellow top-stitching to pick out the dial colours.

The double deployant titanium clasp is signed CHOPARD.

FUNCTION
So, where's the beef?
What's it like when the rubber hits the tarmac?
Does it work?

Resoundingly...YES

The time display is clearly displayed by the luminescent steel hands over the light coloured portions of the dial.

The chronograph displays are instinctively read from the yellow hands over the black portions of the dial. I prefer my chronograph displays to be white/silver font on black background so this iteration of the Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique is clearly the best, so far.

The tachymeter function is intuitively read from the outer black bezel and the font size is visible even to my vintage eyes.

The date display is large and the white printed numerals on black date disc is Clarity itself.

The STOP/START pusher action is predictable with a small 0.5mm free play before detent is felt. The break-action of the detent is crisp and instantaneous. The START action is firmer than the STOP action with no discernible inertia or 'jump' of the central seconds’ hand. The hand stops instantly without hesitation between two ticks of the gearing. As the seconds hand sweeps, the 4Hz escapement can be deduced from the regular impulses of the hand-tip. The RESET action is precise and light without harshness. To the naked eye, no discernible whiplash could be seen.

PROS
1) Striking Vintage Appearance in a Large Diameter Case (Mickey Mouse with Yellow Halo)
2) Functionally Bi-Compax Display
3) Precise Chronograph Pusher Action and 12-h counting.
4) Light Titanium / Steel Fusion Case

CONS
1) Outsourced but good COSC movement
2) Only visible with a 20x magnifying loupe: central seconds hand reset off-centre by much less than HALF a MILLIMETRE.

I know that is "picky" but I really could not find fault with this watch. To the naked eye, the seconds hand is still 'touching' the zero marker.

CONCLUSION

I am glad that I took my time to gradually decide to get this watch. Rather than the rush-of-blood in hot-headed lust, my scientific and deliberate approach has reaped benefits in promoting a more endearing and hopefully enduring love.

That this watch was one of those shortlisted for the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève "Petite Aiguille" prize showed that I was not alone in thinking this is an exceptional watch in the below CHF 8000 class.

In fact, irrespective of price, this may be my 3rd or 4th favourite chronograph ( I have more than one    )

Dr Melvyn Teillol-Foo © 2014

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chronograph Ref. 168570-3001 – leather strap

Case:
Bead blasted titanium
Total diameter 44.5 mm
Thickness 13.9 mm
Water-resistant to 100 metres
Glare proofed sapphire crystal
Stainless steel crown and pushers
Stainless steel bezel with black aluminium insert, silver-toned transfer and yellow dots
Steel case-back bearing the Automobile Club de Monaco logo

Movement:
Self-winding chronograph movement
Total diameter 37.20 mm
Number of jewels 24
Power reserve approx. 46 hours
Frequency 28,800 vph
Chronometer-certified (COSC)

Dial and hands:
Snailed grey dial with luminescent hands and hour-markers
Hollowed black-toned subdials at 12 and 6 o’clock,
Hollowed silver-toned sub dial at 9 o’clock
Steel hour and minute hands
Yellow central sweep-seconds hand

Functions:
Hours, minutes, small seconds at 9 o’clock
30-minute and 12-hour counters
Date window at 3 o’clock

Strap and buckle:
Black barenia calfskin strap with yellow stitching
Titanium folding clasp

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