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Harrods / London, 15th September 2021
This was my wife and I's first visit to Harrods in over two years and for the first time ever we decided to stop and look around the 'Fine Jewellery and Watches' room instead of simply walking through it on the way to the more 'regular' watch boutiques. I'm really glad we did too because we found all sorts of goodies there including a Dior boutique selling the ladies Grand Bal, all manner of bejewelled Hublots and Roger DuBois (many of which were clearly pushing the boundaries of taste) and the Chopard boutique which was well worth a visit.
I've never been a big fan of the brand if I'm completely honest, because the Mille Miglias left me pretty cold and nothing else spoke to me much either. However, that all changed today when I came face to face with the Alpine Eagle for the first time (and our Swedish friend Jim Dollares was first in line to tell me 'I told you so)'. He did actually, although I had completely forgotten about it since I saw the release photos a while back... so it came as a welcome surprise and the perfect start to a great day out in London.
I'll admit I wasn't too sure what the price point of this model was before I tried it on, I mean I knew it wasn't comparable to TAG Heuer in any way, shape or form, but whether it was £8,000, £12,000 or £16,000 I really had no clue. So I approached it completely openly and I must say that I really liked it. The dial is the first thing; you cannot help but be drawn in to the amazing texture of it, even if the blue is slightly muted in tone. The design is apparently inspired by the iris of an eagle, which is interesting, but even if it was just a random texture it looks fantastic
Next the bezel, which has a beautifully applied brushed finish. Sure those screws bring to mind Hublot or Audemars Piguet, but this watch doesn't feel like a clone at all. I will say though that on the model I tried one of the screws (bottom left) was not lined up properly. That strikes me as odd since I would assume that like with the Royal Oak those screw heads would be designed so that they could only sit as they were intended to. If not then they need to be random, like on a Hublot, otherwise having seven screws sitting all perfectly and one a bit off would drive me completely insane!
The bracelet too is gorgeously made, although on a practical level it gives me shivers when I look at the polished raised centre links; yes it looks stunning, but they are going to get scratched to hell (although probably not if I was wearing it since I would be babying it like crazy). The bracelet also features a butterfly clasp (which I've never had much personal experience of) which looks very well finished although I do find them difficult to get on and off, I guess it's just a case of practice?
The back of the watch is of course open to reveal the 'in-house' 01.01-C movement which features 31 jewels. Chopard are renowned for their movements and while this one isn't elaborately decorated it's still nicely finished and a pleasure to look at. The watch didn't strike me as particularly thin at the time but according to the website it is 9.7mm thick, so only slightly thicker than a mid 90s quartz S/EL. The Alpine Eagle is sized at a very wrist friendly 41mm and wears very well, though I might have guessed slightly higher on the diameter, but that may be in part because of the ratio to the height (or lack thereof).
So yes, I really rather liked this one, but if I had the requisite £11,200 burning a hole in my pocket would I actually spend it on this? I'm not remotely sure. It does highlight my current dilemma though, in that I have curtailed my spending on 'cheap' eBay watches in the hope of saving a chunk of money to add something more 'substantial' to my collection, but how long do you save before you splurge? I doubt very much I will be able to wait long enough to amass £11,200 in any case...
And while we're here I must mention our sales lady Rita who was delightful and very friendly and who also kindly sent me some information about a watch my wife tried on when I couldn't find it on the website.
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This one was pretty stunning in the cabinet, but unfortunately because my wife's wrist is so tiny and the way the lugs are designed coupled with the placement of the spring bars for the strap meant that it really didn't suit her. She loved it though, but she was quite shocked when I told her that it wasn't (as she rather optimistically misheard) £15,000, but actually £58,000!
Viewed from the side the watch is even more striking with an artistic wire frame holding all those very expensive diamonds! Ah yes, the diamonds... this watch is not short of diamonds. There are fifty stones in total totalling over 7 carats. The bezel wears forty of them, with one mounted in the crown and the remaining nine decorating the clasp.
The dial is mauve mother of pearl crafted with a flower motif and here you can really see the craftmanship that goes into these watches. In fact I strongly recommend that if you are ever in Harrods that you seek out the Chopard boutique because it is filled with fascinating watches which really capture your attention (like this awesome OWL GMT)
Again, it strikes me that Chopard seem to make a lot of watches which are quite beautiful but which are not overly photogenic, so you really need to view them in person because I've seen so many pre-owned ladies Chopard watches on sites like Watchfinder that have looked quite unattractive, and now that I've actually witnessed some of their range first hand it makes me wonder if I haven't given them rather short shrift in the past.
And as for the Alpine Eagle, that's definitely going on my 'maybe one day' list, even if that bracelet will give me nightmares!
Link to the product page for the Chopard Alpine Eagle:
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