A new collection from Chopard, entering the genre of the luxury sports watch with integrated bracelet, the Alpine Eagle. The case material is described as Lucent Steel A223, a new material that Chopard says is as rich, precious and complex as gold. So is there a competition heating up with VC, PP, AP and yet to be announced ALS steel sports watch? And perhaps a new phase for playing with steel as used in watch making....
Yeah, I see this new Chopard splashed all over the various watch sites, it's supposed to compete with the Royal Oak and Nautilus at a far cheaper price. I think the construction is very good but the design just seems too '90's, there is nothing special or unique about it. Generic comes to mind. And I can't remember when I've even seen a Chopard AD....do they exist? I think AP, and to a lesser extent Hublot, have the market cornered on having screws/bolts on the bezel.....it's been done to death over the years. It's not a bad effort but I don't think it will make too much of an inroad in the high grade steel watch segment which is really owned by AP, with PP and VC having some success, too. And then there is Panerai and Hublot with their own renditions of steel sports watches. But good luck to Chopard.
They have taken a leaf from Rolex, & taken a simple steel & talk it up as if it were special. I had a good laugh when I googled "lucent steel". Images are all about Chopard watches & butt plugs. Probably not the association they wanted.
If you look past the "Happy Diamonds" and get to Chopard's mechanical watches, they have a lot to offer. I've been through their factory, and it's impressive. On this one though, they have missed the mark IMO... Video about the steel...with almost zero details...
Curious, why would anyone choose to make an integrated bracelet? Do some folks prefer to buy them? To me it seems to only have drawbacks - you can’t wear it on a leather strap and put the bracelet away for resale down the road; it could get damaged and then good luck 15 years later getting another at a good price, if at all
only non date model has a mop dial and diamond bezel. these watch companies need to be beaten with a bat so they can at least make some no date versions. don't know why they don't. it's only a dial.
