Chopard is already chosen. What remains is the Happy Sport, the Alpine Eagle, the Mille Miglia GTS Chrono, the Mille Miglia GTS Power Control, and the L.U.C Time Traveler One.
The ranking
5 picks
No. 01
Chopard Happy Sport 278559-3002
Seven moving diamonds in 36 mm of steel. Come for those, or this is the wrong watch.
- 36 mm
- Moving diamonds
- Automatic
Why it’s here
Seven diamonds move between the crystals of the Chopard Happy Sport. They total 0.35 carats, and they do not mark the hours. They travel over a silver guilloché dial, inside 36 mm of steel, on a steel bracelet. There is nothing shy about this. The stones sit in the architecture, between two crystals, and the case is built around the fact that they move. Thirty metres of water resistance should be taken as a limit, not a mood. The movement is automatic. Catalogue money is about 44,480. That is a serious price for 36 mm of steel, and a coherent one only if those seven diamonds are what you came for.
No. 02
Chopard Alpine Eagle 298600-3001
Quiet three-hand. Unfashionable, and I prefer it that way.
- 41 mm
- Three-hand
- COSC
Why it’s here
I like the Alpine Eagle more than its quietness suggests. The Happy Sport sits within a breath of the money. Three hands and a date in 41 mm of steel, a blue dial, the 01.01-C COSC-certified. Unfashionable, and I prefer it that way.
No. 03
Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Chrono 168571-3001
A racing chronograph with about 48 hours of reserve. You have to mean it.
- 44 mm
- Chronograph
- 48 hours
Why it’s here
The Mille Miglia GTS Chrono is a racing chronograph in 44 mm of steel. Black dial, rubber strap. Automatic, COSC-certified, about 23,116, well under the two bracelet watches. About 48 hours of reserve, against a habit of around 60 on the others here. That is the catch. A chronograph that asks for the crown more often than its neighbours is a chronograph you have to mean.
No. 04
Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Power Control 168566-3001
The hand at 9, and the longer habit. Not a chronograph.
- 43 mm
- Power reserve
- Not a chrono
Why it’s here
The Mille Miglia GTS Power Control puts a power-reserve indicator at 9. It is not a chronograph. Chopard's 01.08-C automatic, a black dial, a rubber strap, about 21,749, the lowest of these five. Around 60 hours, against the chronograph's 48.
No. 05
Chopard L.U.C Time Traveler One 161942-9001
Twenty-four zones in platinum. Heat can refuse the alligator.
- World-timer
- Platinum
- 42 mm
Why it’s here
Platinum, 42 mm, twenty-four time zones held at once. The L.U.C Time Traveler One is a world-timer with a grey-blue dial and the L.U.C 01.05-L automatic, COSC-certified. A destination can be set on the dial. About 120,788, the dearest of the five. The strap is black alligator. Heat can refuse it. Water resistance is 50 metres. Every zone remains present whether this week requires it or not.