The Alpine Eagle 41 XPS, with its stunning salmon dial and extra-slim L.U.C. Chronometer movement, marks yet another chapter in a journey of self-discovery for Chopard.

The Alpine Eagle XPS is made of Lucent Steel, a proprietary metal made of 70% recycled steel

As Chopard (chopard.com) President Karl-Frederick Scheufele tells it, the Alpine Eagle nearly never happened. If, in fact, had the watch’s existence had been left up to him, Chopard’s latest masterpiece, the 41 XPS, wouldn’t exist at all. Thankfully (for us!), the Alpine Eagle became a family affair.

Three generations of Chopard know how. Karl-Fritz, Karl, and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.

The impetus for its raison d’être came from Scheufele’s son, a hotel management student who was not yet in the business of making watches. One day while poking around Chopard’s archives, the younger Scheufele struck inspiration. It was the Chopard St. Moritz, an integrated-bracelet design from 1980. Those familiar with trends in the watch market over the past decade will understand why that discovery felt something like an epiphany.

“My son came up to me and said, ‘Dad, I discovered the St. Moritz in the museum, and I think it’s really a great looking piece. Can we relaunch something like that?’” “Look, we have enough collections,” the elder Scheufele replied. “We don’t really need an additional line.”

Scheufele’s son went to his grandfather with the same plea, circumventing Scheufele’s judgment. Both son and grandfather argued for a revived St. Moritz. In the end, the majority ruled.

That arm twist led directly to the introduction of the Chopard Alpine Eagle in 2019, based on that historic St. Moritz design. Chopard’s refinement of the Alpine Eagle has led now to the 41 XPS, an ultra-thin version of the watch with a stunning salmon dial and gorgeous L.U.C. micro-rotor automatic.

Concept sketches of the current Alpine Eagle inspired by the St.Moritz timepiece designed by Chopard in the 1980s.

Close inspection of the 41 XPS reveals that Chopard understands how to navigate the market’s current mania: With consumers adrift in a sea of stainless-steel integrated-bracelet sports watches, it’s the finest details that set one apart from the next.

Take, for example, this dial.

Chopard calls the color Monte Rosa, a dusty satin pink achieved through a galvanic treatment of a gold base plate. Applied Roman numerals sit at the dial’s twelve-, three-and nine-o’clock positions, with baton-style applique markers on the hours between. At six, a small seconds display replaces the Alpine Eagle’s traditional markers and date location display. Those small changes hint at something special hiding beneath the dial’s surface.

But before you flip the dial side of this Alpine Eagle over, look closer. Chopard etches a sort of whirlpool texture into the dial. This specific etching process lends visual depth by physically paring away more dial material than brushing could accomplish. That depth combines with the striking vortex pattern and earthy pink color to mesmeric effect; this is one of the most captivating dials on any watch at any price.

The L.U.C 96.40-L mechanical self-winding movement is entirely produced and assembled in Chopard’s Haute Horlogerie workshops and is COSC chronometer-certified.

Chopard pairs that dial with an equally breathtaking movement, one borrowed from its 1860 dress watch. Behind a porthole of seethrough sapphire crystal on the case-back sits the gemlike L.U.C. caliber 96.40-L. Developed, produced, and assembled in Chopard’s Haute Horlogerie workshops, 96.40-L beats away at 4 Hz. It achieves 65 hours of power reserve provided by twin mainspring barrels. A 22-carat gold micro-rotor clears room to admire the movement’s swan’s neck regulator and its many hand-finished surfaces.

At just 3.30 mm thick, the movement allows for a thinner Alpine Eagle, its case built from Chopard’s “Lucent Steel,” a material produced mostly from recycled metal that provides additional scratch resistance.

Inspired by the iris of an eagle, the uniquely textured dial in Monte Rosa pink is obtained through a special galvanic treatment.

By pairing this historic L.U.C. movement with that breathtaking dial, the 41 XPS may be the best Alpine Eagle to date. And for that, we thank a persistent son who just wouldn’t listen to dad.