A Closer Look at The Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon Watch
Chopard is a Swiss watchmaker that recently celebrated 25 years of watchmaking. Although a newcomer in luxury watch production, compared to some of the older brands existing for a few hundred years, its carved a niche in the industry with a reputation for quality and innovation with fascinating contributions to the watchmaking community. Chopard launched a sports line of luxury timepieces in 2019, inspired by the majesty of the Alps in Switzerland, presenting the Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon to celebrate a quarter-century in the business. It’s a lovely piece deserving a closer look and inspection.
The Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon Watch at a glance
Chopard established the Alpine Eagle collection in 2019. It’s a sports line in the luxury watch category that gives a nod of respect to the beauty of the Swiss Alps. Simultaneously, it offers a tribute to the majestic Alpine Eagle. The Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon shone at Watches and Wonders 2022. The watchmaker announced it as their latest creation scheduled for release in 2022 as the newest member of the luxury sports collection. A Blog To Watch confirms its simplicity for the casual observer with the more complex workings hidden beneath the surface. The versatile watch is suitable for everyday wear to the office or sporting events. The sporty aesthetic contains a unique complication in the floating tourbillon that adds an element of excessive luxury that moves it a notch above the average sports watch. Chopard’s noted for the Poincon de Geneve or Seal of Geneva with its COSC Chronometer certification adds a note of refinement and adds to its rarity in the watch community. At first glance, the dial emerges as a focal point with its unique spiral texture, dubbed the iris of the eagle by Chopard.
A closer look at the Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon Watch
The dial is a worthy place to start with a hidden feature. It’s blue-colored and made of gold as the base, but you wouldn’t know that unless we told you. It gets the blue color from a galvanic treatment that works well when worn with a pair of jeans. The hour indicators feature Roman numeral styling with the flying tourbillon window at 6 o’clock. The tourbillon dispenses with the upper bridge to create the appearance of floating in its cage. The innovation contributes a spectacular visual effect. Watch Time explains that the case of the Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying tourbillon watch features an in-house alloy of stainless steel that Chopard calls Lucent Steel A223. The metal possesses enhanced hardness and is shinier than the traditional 316L steel. It has a higher gloss when polished. Kudos to the research and development department for the discovery. The case measures 41 mm in width and has a low profile of just 8 mm. The case has side flanks and an integrated bracelet. Chopard finished both bracelet and the case with a combination of polished and brushed surfaces to give it an extra element of contrast and flair. The bracelet features a series of screws adding a sporty aesthetic. The design element gets repeated in the round bezel. Chopard also added a crown guard for the screw-down style crown with water-resistant to 100 meters. It’s worth noting that the metal case is hypoallergenic, it’s the tone of white gold, and it’s fifty percent more resistant to abrasion when compared with 316L stainless steel.
The movement
Quill and Pad explain that the timepiece is almost as fascinating when flipped over. The exhibition crystal on the case back reveals the COSC-certified chronometer movement Chopard calls the L.U.C. 96.24-L. It’s an automatic caliber featuring Chopard’s innovative twin technology arranging two barrels with one above the other with a micro-rotor of 22kt gold. The finish of the movement is visually stunning with its Geneva Seal. The L.U.C. 96.24-L is a complicated movement featuring stop-second hacking to set the time to the second. Functions include a one-minute flying tourbillon, hours, minutes, hacking seconds, and a power reserve of 65 hours. The movement heats at a frequency of 3.5 Hz or 25,200 vibrations per hour. The Alpine Eagle’s movement is 3.30 mm thick.
Price and availability
The Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon Watch, reference number 298616-3001, is currently available through the Chopard Watches official website and in select authorized vendors. The price is in Euros, but the translation in USD is close to $120,000.
Final thoughts
We were delighted at our first glance at the Chopard Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon watch because of its stunning visual appeal. Its classic and somewhat simple design elevates by the unique texturing and color of the dial. It grabs your attention immediately. When your fascination with the dial wanes, the floating tourbillon is another notable feature that adds to the intricacy of this high-end luxury sports watch. Chopard’s innovative new Lucent Steel is an innovative approach to improving the hardness and luster of ordinary stainless steel, creating a material more suitable for the luxury watch industry. It’s ideal for sporty timepieces that could gain exposure to the elements or rough and tumble play. Scratch and scuff resistance is essential for maintaining the original beauty of an expensive watch. It’s intended to be worn and enjoyed as a fashion accessory and functional tool for telling the time. Never mind the $120k price tag that might encourage one to keep it secured in a showcase. Chopard has raised the bar to a new level with its Lucent Steel and deserves some attention for its creation of the new wonder metal. Overall, the Chopard Alpine eagle Flying Tourbillon is an exceptional new wristwatch worthy of a collector’s second glance at a minimum. We think there’s a strong likelihood that the piece will increase in value.
