By John Galt
Chopard has joined the ‘Only Watch’ auction being held in Geneva in November with all funds raised benefitting research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
For Only Watch, Chopard will donate a special edition of their superfast Chrono 919 made together with Le Mans driver Mark Webber.
Chopard is renowned for their racing orientated pieces with their Mille Miglia collection and also the very masculine and robust Superfast collection which is the base to this one-off piece. Earlier this year Chopard released a special edition of the Superfast Chrono Porsche 919 dedicated to the Porsche that won Le Mans in partnership with racing legend Jacky Ickx.
The Chopard Only Watch Porsche 919 Mark Webber edition comes with the same 45 mm case as previous editions but this, however, is made for the first time in titanium with the lugs and crown protector coated in black DLC giving it a nice contrast from the silvery case. The large screwed down bezel features an engraved tachymeter with a large 60-minute scale running around the inner flange both of them combined give the piece its very sporty and rugged looks.
The silvery dial features three sub-dials slightly set into the dial that blend into it very cleanly. The sub-dial at 9 O’clock shows the hours with a bold red hand as does the minute dial at 3 O’clock, at 6 O’clock is the sub-seconds dial but Chopard chose not to use bold red hand here instead a silvery grey hand, the same as the main hour and minute hands. The chronograph seconds hand is in red which seemingly draws your eyes to it.
On the back of the case you are not greeted to an exhibition caseback but a solid base featuring unique inscriptions and Mark Webber’s signature.
The in-house Chopard Calibre 03.05-m movement is an integrated automatic movement actuated by a column wheel and features a flyback function, It’s been chronometer-certified by COSC and boasts 60 hours of power reserve. The finish on the movement is special as all the bridges fully opened with vertical lines once again in reference to it racing inspiration.
Finishing off the piece is a black rubber strap.
This unique piece will be auctioned off with the other 42 unique pieces by Phillips Watches on the 7th of November in Geneva.
Conclusion
The only thing I would have preferred to see on this unique piece is an exhibition case-back to show off that exquisite movement, but the closed caseback does add to the overall sporting flair of the watch.
For more info, please visit chopard.com
JOHN GALT – CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
John Galt caught the horology bug back in 2010 on his first visit to a London watch show and has snowballed since; John has become an avid writer and blogger of timepieces of all kinds, from everyday timepieces to modern Luxury HauteHorology, his favorite brands being HYT and GreubelForsey that push the boundaries of modern watch-making. John keeps a keen interest in the UK watch scene with their many emerging brands and timepieces. John Galt currently contributes watch related articles for online publications in the UK and USA. You can follow John on Twitter @johng73 Read his articles here.
