Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit Watch Review
The Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit has just been unveiled at Dubai Watch Week 2023. Housed in ethical 18-carat gold and featuring gem-set bezels, these new models replicate the hues of the Alpine landscape in sparkling form with the masterful application of precious stones. US-based journalist, Meehna Goldsmith shares her thoughts.
Image – ©Patrick Csajko – Chopard Alpine Eagle – 295363-1008 – Vals Grey dial
Chopard Watch Review
Truth be told, I’m not one to immediately gravitate towards jewellery watches. However, when Chopard puts out a gem-set watch, my interest is piqued. Surely, you’ve seen Chopard’s dazzling jewellery gracing the stars of stage and screen as they parade down the red carpet. These magnificent creations often grab the spotlight, hence Chopard is defined predominately as a jewellery company.
If you were to classify Chopard as solely a jewellery house, you’d be missing out on some of the best high watchmaking in the business. The brand is one of the few that can legitimately claim to be a Manufacture. In fact the company not only makes movements, it does everything from smelting gold, gem-setting, component production and even bracelet manufacturing.
Image – ©Patrick Csajko – Chopard Alpine Eagle – 295363-0002 – Golden Peak dial
Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit – best of both worlds
The Alpine Eagle Summit represents the best of both Chopard worlds: fine watchmaking combined with bijouterie. The Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit isn’t a wholly new creation. The Genevan Maison reached into its archives to revisit the St. Moritz, a sports model created by Co-President of Chopard, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele almost 50 years ago in the late 1970s. Scheufele was just 22 years old at the time. The St. Moritz was eventually phased out and other collections came to the fore, such as the Mille Miglia.
Image – ©Patrick Csajko – Chopard Alpine Eagle – 295363-5013 – Pink Dawn dial
Chopard Alpine Eagle (2019)
Inspired by the St. Mortiz, the Alpine Eagle collection was launched in 2019. Taking cues from the St. Moritz, the case of the Alpine Eagle features eight screws adorning its bezel, acting as a decorative element that adds character to the overall design. While the St. Moritz had a defined angular construction, the Alpine Eagle is more refined and elegant. Although the lines are softer, the watch still retains a sports watch feel. As indicated by the moniker, the Chopard Alpine Eagle takes inspiration from the Swiss Alps, reflected in the textured dials and natural colours found in the Alpine scenery.
Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit – a collection of gem-set models
The newest addition to the collection, the Alpine Eagle Summit, a gem-set model comes in four different dial treatments: two in white gold, one in yellow gold and one in rose gold. The yellow gold features a ‘Golden Peak’ colour, named after the summit in the ‘Swiss part of the Mont Blanc massif’ that shimmers with lustrous gold. The two white gold models are fitted with a ‘Zinal Blue’ dial with blue and purple coloured stones in reference to the same named glacier in the Swiss Alps. The colours of the ‘Vals Grey’ pay homage to the silvery reflections of the quartzite stone found in the canton of Graubünden and used to build the walls and roofs of houses in the region of the Vals village. Cased in rose gold, the AES’s ‘Pink Dawn’ dial is reminiscent of the lyrical light of the sun’s early morning rise over the mountain tops.
Image – ©Patrick Csajko – Chopard Alpine Eagle – 295363-1007 – Zinal Blue dial
Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit dial
Each dial features Roman numerals filled with lume at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock, with the rest of the hour indications represented by baguette-cut diamonds. Against this backdrop, luminescent hands circle to mark the time. Chopard frames the dials of each Alpine Eagle Summit with a bezel set with colourful stones that mirror each display. The bezel of the ‘Golden Peak’ shimmers with pink sapphires and the ‘Zinal Blue’ incorporates richly coloured blue and purple sapphires, while the ‘Vals Grey’ features a gradient of green tsavorites and white sapphires, and the ‘Pink Dawn’ lights up in a rich orange fire of spessartites. Chopard is committed to ethically sourcing its materials and the gold and gems in this collection prove no exception.
You might be wondering why these watches have the word “Eagle” in their moniker. It’s in reference to the radiating pattern on the dial that resembles an eagle’s eye. Other characteristics of the Alpine Eagle family are the stylised raised sides and an engraved compass rose on the crown.
Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit case
The Alpine Eagle Summit comes with an integrated 18k gold tapered bracelet with satin-brushed wide links and a raised central row of high-gleam caps. Every reference is supplied on a matching triple-folding clasp.
Chopard 01-15-C movement
Although many brands power their gem-set watches with an inexpensive quartz movement, Chopard has selected a mechanical calibre that wonderfully showcases the Manufacture’s technical virtuosity. Created in its own manufacture, the self-winding Chopard 01.15-C movement has a power reserve of 60 hours, boasts chronometer certification and a stop-seconds function for the precise setting of the time.
Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit – closing thoughts
The Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit comes in a 41 mm case that hits a sweet spot for a sports watch: large enough to have presence without being overwhelming. These beauties would look right at home on a male or female wrist and have the versatility to look appropriate whether walking across a red carpet, an office corridor or a boat deck.
Further reading
Technical specification
- Model: Chopard Alpine Eagle Summit
- Reference: 295363-0002 – in ethical 18-carat yellow gold featuring a bezel set with pink and white sapphires and a ‘Golden Peak’ dial
- Reference: 295363-1007 – in ethical 18-carat white gold featuring a bezel set with blue and purple sapphires and a ‘Zinal Blue’ dial
- Reference: 295363-1008 – in ethical 18-carat white gold featuring a bezel set with tsavorites and white sapphires and a ‘Vals Grey’ dial
- Reference: 295363-5013 – in ethical 18-carat rose gold featuring a bezel set with spessartites and white sapphires and a ‘Pink Dawn’ dial
- Case: diameter 41 mm, height 9.7 mm, sapphire crystal to front and exhibition case back
- Functions: hours, minutes, central sweep seconds, stop-seconds function
- Movement: Chopard 01.15-C, self-winding movement, frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 31 jewels, power reserve 60 hours, certified chronometer (COSC)
- Bracelet: ethical 18-carat gold tapering bracelet with satin-brushed wide link and sides, polished central cap, triple folding clasp
- Price: Golden Peak dial – 295363-0002 – £76,200 (RRP as of 20.11.2023)
- Price: Zinal Blue dial – 295363-1007 – £76,200 (RRP as of 20.11.2023)
- Price: Vals Grey dial – 295363-1008 – £76,200 (RRP as of 20.11.2023)
- Price: Pink Dawn dial – 295363-5013 – £69,200 (RRP as of 20.11.2023)