With Alpine Eagle, Chopard has created a contemporary sporty-chic collection featuring a pure design paired with a sophisticated mechanism. Following a flyback chronograph movement, a high-frequency calibre and a flying tourbillon, Alpine Eagle is extending its range with an ultra-thin model featuring a small seconds indication. Measuring just 3.30 mm thick, the L.U.C 96.40-L movement is just one of the feats achieved by the watchmaking artisans of Chopard Manufacture. Its advanced features enable the Alpine Eagle 41 XPS to beat with chronometer-certified accuracy, while guaranteeing 65 hours of power reserve thanks to Chopard Twin technology. The Alpine Eagle 41 XPS with its 41 mm-diameter case and integrated bracelet is entirely crafted in the Maison’s workshops from Lucent Steel A223: an exclusive, ultra-resistant and remarkably shiny alloy made from 85% recycled materials. Its optimal proportions and textured “Monte Rosa Pink” dial endow this model with undeniable elegance and distinction; while its finishes, reflecting the highest Haute Horlogerie standards, have earned it recognition by the coveted Poinçon de Genève. Inspired by a historic Chopard Happy Sport model reinterpreted by three generations of men from the Scheufele family, the Alpine Eagle collection has been constantly enriched by new achievements since its launch. The latest of these is a signature movement from Chopard Manufacture, developed thanks to the watchmaking expertise steadily acquired by its workshops since 1996 – and to which the introduction of the L.U.C 96.40-L movement with small seconds indication within a watch in the Alpine Eagle collection bears vibrant testimony. Greatly appreciated by watch enthusiasts, the small seconds display made its collection debut with the 2022 release of the Alpine Eagle Flying Tourbillon model. It now once again embodies the horological roots of this collection comprising timepieces powered by in-house movements with chronometer-certified precision, meticulously decorated and equipped with key innovations from the Manufacture, such as the gold micro-rotor and Chopard Twin technology. With the Alpine Eagle 41 XPS, Chopard orchestrates an encounter between the finest Chopard Manufacture movements and the sporty elegance of the Alpine Eagle collection.
The main immediately identifiable characteristic of the L.U.C 96.40-L movement is its extreme thinness: resulting from the development of the first Chopard Manufacture calibre (the L.U.C 96.01-L presented in 1997), it measures just 3.30 mm thick. To facilitate precise time-setting, it is equipped with a stop-seconds function. It also features a swan’s neck enabling finer adjustment of the oscillating frequency – and thus the rate of the watch – by helping to modify the active hairspring length. In addition to its technical interest, the swan’s neck endows the calibre with a more elaborate aesthetic. The precision of this movement, which also powers a small seconds dial display, is certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, as evidenced by the “Chronometer” inscription on the dial below the logo. This demand for accuracy embedded in the DNA of Swiss watchmaking lies at the very core of the philosophy upheld by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele (Co-President of the Maison) and drives the entire creative process of the Manufacture.
Thanks to its two stacked barrels based on Chopard Happy Sport Twin technology, the L.U.C 96.40-L movement guarantees a 65-hour power reserve, and its automatic winding system operates via a 22-carat gold off-centre micro-rotor whose density contributes to the movement’s slenderness. Recalling the attention to detail cultivated by the artisans of emotions, each bridge is adorned with a Côtes de Genève motif and all other movement components are finished in compliance with the Poinçon de Genève criteria. The thin movement has contributed to optimising the proportions of the Alpine Eagle 41 XPS watch: the case is only 8 mm thick, while the sides and bezel have been trimmed compared to a classic Alpine Eagle Large model, resulting in a wider dial. These well balanced proportions that have always characterised the collection imbue this timepiece with a gracefully elegant appearance.
Drawing inspiration from the power of Nature, the Alpine Eagle collection clearly reflects Chopard’s creative richness and visionary spirit. The Alpine Eagle 41 XPS remains true to this aesthetic: a round case with stylised flanks, a crown engraved with a compass rose, a bezel with eight functional screws set at a tangent, a stamped dial with intense colours, luminescent indications and an eminently wearable metal bracelet.
A timepiece for women who stride boldly towards their destiny and whose vitality impels playful dancing diamonds to stage a mesmerising show. At the heart of the new Happy Sport, reinvented in a 25 mm diameter case in steel or steel and ethical gold, the course of dancing diamonds becomes even more fascinating. This new-sized iteration of the Manufacture‘s iconic watch comes in four variations featuring a choice of materials, straps – including a new double tour option – and diamond settings. A round dial, softly caressing like a protective cocoon and sparkling like a champagne bubble. A fascinating and soothing sight in which we come to immerse our gaze and catch our breath before setting off again on our hectic rush. A companion always on hand to provide playful, poetic time-out from the pace of a world perpetually on the move.
One glance at this watch reveals an invigorating mirror of our own energy, extended through the ballet of five dancing diamonds, caught up by means of a slim gold spinning top in a wonderful game of chance and kinetic energy. Happy Sport is the story of a free-spirited attitude and infinite Joie de Vivre daily reinvented by women everywhere.
The Chopard Happy Sport watch returns in a version that is daintier than ever with a 25 mm case celebrating the spirit of jewellery watches and staging the wonders of five dancing diamonds. The softness of the pearly silvery grey dial draws the gaze and envelops it in an ultra-chic chromatic texture. This subtle shade accentuates the jewel-like quality of the collection, forming a luminous heart that is an inexhaustible source of soothing gentleness where the eye can come to recharge its batteries at will.
This Chopard Happy Sport 25 mm has retained several of the collection’s key characteristics, including the deliberate association of materials belonging to radically different registers: steel, ethical gold and diamonds. Thus unleashed, diamonds are rendered more accessible while losing nothing of their magic and their fascination.
Four versions of this unprecedentedly sized case – the most miniature version of the Chopard Happy Sport ever produced – are available: in fully polished steel, or adorned with a diamond-set bezel; and in steel featuring a crown, cabochons and polished or diamond-set bezel in ethical 18-carat rose gold.