Chopard Classic Racing Superfast with In-House Movements
The Superfast Automatic, Superfast Power Control and Superfast Chrono are indeed the first watches in this iconic collection to be equipped with Chopard movements entirely designed, developed and assembled in-house, in the Fleurier Ebauches workshops.
For many years, the House of Chopard has been a loyal partner of legendary classic car races, including the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique and the Mille Miglia a rally covering 1,000 miles (1,600 km) running from Brescia to Rome and back. While the former involves cars that have made their mark on their respective eras such as Delage, Bugatti, Aston Martin and Ferrari models; the latter also attracts historical Formula 1 cars built before 1979, headlined by Brabham, Lotus and Williams models. The SuperFast collection now takes the world of precision watch-making to thrill-seeking sports-car drivers.
The cases, in 18kt rose gold, measure 41mm (for the automatic model) to 45mm (for the power reserve and chronograph models). They have double sapphire crystals and are water resistant to 100 meters.
The dials display silver brushed vertical lines against a black background evoking the cooling fins found on air-cooled racing engines. On the inner bezel ring of the new Superfast watches, the minute numerals adopt the appearance of the markers that adorn sports-car rev-counters and speedometers. The hour, minute and seconds counters provide great legibility.
A multitude of other elements such as the Classic Racing collection's steering wheel logo on the rubber-moulded gold crown, the grooves engraved on the sides of the lugs continuing the SuperFast's cooling-fin theme, rubber-coated pushers for better grip, as well as the Allen screws on the bezel inspired by those on car-wheel rims all refer to the world of auto racing.
The Superfast Automatic is equipped with the Swiss automatic Chopard in-house caliber 01.01M with 31 jewels and a power reserve of 60 hours. It is COSC-certified as a chronometer.
The Superfast Automatic is equipped with the Swiss automatic Chopard in-house caliber 01.01M with 31 jewels and a power reserve of 60 hours. It is COSC-certified as a chronometer.
The Superfast Power Control is equipped with the Swiss automatic Chopard in-house caliber 01.02M with power reserve complication. It has 37 jewels, 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 60 hours. It is COSC-certified as a chronometer.
The Superfast Chronograph is equipped with the Swiss automatic Chopard in-house caliber 03.05M with 45 jewels and a power reserve of 60 hours. It is COSC-certified as a chronometer chronograph.
All the bridges are openworked with thin parallel lines in the style of cooling vents on sports cars an unusual finish which can be seen through the display back.
The strap is rubber (tire thread design) with 18kt rose gold folding clasps.
A Further Step Towards Independence
These Chopard movements, which for the first time equip models in the Classic Racing collection, are produced in the Fleurier Ebauches workshops. This company was founded by Chopard in July 2008 in Fleurier, in the Val-de-Travers region (Canton Neuchātel) in order to produce in-house movements for Chopard. Several months earlier, in December 2008, Chopard had acquired a 6,000 square meters plot of land that already housed an industrial building with a 5,100 square meters production surface area. Entirely renovated and equipped with state-of-the-art machinery, the new company premises were inaugurated in February 2009.
Endowed with an annual production capacity of 5,000 movements in 2012 (a figure that is expected to rise to 15,000 movements/year by 2015), Fleurier Ebauches expresses the determination of Chopard co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele to strengthen the group's vertical integration in order to ensure its long-term independence, while also increasing production. In 1996, the group had already created Chopard Manufacture, a company located near Fleurier Ebauches and which represents the Haute Horlogerie division dedicated to developing, producing and assembling L.U.C calibres. The Chopard Group currently employs around 160 people in Fleurier, exercising 15 or so different professions.
MSRP is $22,280, $28,690 and $33,190.
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