Stirling Moss’s 1955 Mille Miglia run inspires Chopard’s Raticosa chronograph

Chopard has been the loyal partner of the celebrated Mille Miglia endurance car rally since 1988, the close collaboration growing from brand co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s lifelong passion for owning, driving and racing historic automobiles. It is one of the longest unbroken partnerships between a watch brand and a motor sport event in history – and has enabled Scheufele to indulge his love of classics as a Mille Miglia competitor on no fewer than 38 occasions (he first drove it in 1989, with Jacky Ickx as co-pilot).

Although the 1618km course – the equivalent of 1000 Roman miles – is no longer identical to that of the original event founded in 1927, many sections of the old route are incorporated into the modern one, not least some of the legendary mountain passes that have been testing both man and machine for more than a century.

Scheufele is a particular fan of these, having been up and down them in a whole host of different classics, from his pre-war Bentley to the family’s Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing (in its original Strawberry Metallic paintwork) and from a Porsche 550 Spyder to his prized Ferrari 750 Monza.

And the pass that he loves the most is the celebrated Raticosa, which was once the only way to travel between Florence and Bologna prior to the construction of the Autostrada del Sole which has been the far quicker but much less entertaining option since its completion in 1964.

Featuring 603 turns between Bologna and the top at Summit Square, the Raticosa climbs to 3176ft above sea level – with the fastest time of 1hr 1min for the entire Florence to Bologna section being set by (you guessed it) Stirling Moss and Motor Sport journalist Denis Jenkinson during their record-breaking Mille Miglia win of 1955.

Chopard has this year celebrated the thrill of driving the Raticosa with this special edition of its Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph featuring a vintage-look, cream-coloured dial with contrasting buff hands and numerals in a 40mm case made from patented Lucent Steel, which contains 80% recycled material and is claimed to be harder and more lustrous than the regular version. But the main nod to the Raticosa is only discovered by turning the watch over to see its caseback, which carries a superb monochrome image of a Ferrari Monza (I wonder whose?) preparing to tackle the pass as a crowd of spectators at the side of the road cheer on the crew with arms raised. An aged strap in brown calfskin completes the piece, which is available to order now.

Back in 2014 Chopard introduced a new line of more contemporary Mille Miglia watches called GTS to complement the retro-styled Classic chronograph line.

GTS stands for Grand Turismo Sport, a trio of initials aimed at capturing the spirit of the Mille Miglia and the thrill of classic motoring, with a key piece in the new line being the Power Control model.

Along with the GTS Chronometer, the Power Control became the first Mille Miglia watch to feature a higher-end, in-house movement designed and created at Chopard’s Fleurier Ebauches manufacture.

In recent years, the GTS watches have been used to pay tribute to the heritage colours of some of the cars competing in the Mile Miglia through limited edition models featuring dials based on classic paint finishes.

The latest Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Grigio-Blu – 2026 Racing Edition is said, however, to have been inspired not by a car but by a road surface. Its dial is textured and coloured blue-grey to evoke Italian asphalt, with the automotive theme further expressed in a power reserve indicator modelled on a fuel gauge, a date window flanked by a miniature version of the famous Mille Miglia direction arrow, and a winding crown decorated with an engraving of a steering wheel. Black hour markers are coated with high-grade SuperLuminova for those tricky night stages, while the movement is chronometer certified for accuracy and features a hacking seconds function for precise time setting.

The textile strap, meanwhile, is rubber lined and stamped with the tread pattern of a Dunlop road tyre.

The new GTS Power Control has a 43mm Lucent Steel case engraved with the ‘Brescia – Rome – Brescia’ route of the Mille Miglia on the back, and will be made in an edition of 250 numbered examples.

The watch is available only through Chopard’s own boutiques worldwide or from its Italian retailers.

Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph Raticosa, £9360; Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Grigio-Blu – 2026 Racing Edition, £6730. chopard.com