2019-10-01 Singapore Tatler

STYLE / Watches

EAGLE-EYED

Thelaunchwillissue 10 references,availableinunisex

modelswithtwodifferentsizes: 41 mmand 36 mm.

LiketheStMoritzwatch,theAlpineEagleis sensitive

toAmericanarchitectLouisSullivan’sprinciplesof

harmony,whichdictatethat“formfollowsfunction”.

Theeightfunctionalscrewsatthefourcardinal

pointsontheroundbezelguaranteeswaterresistance

upto100m.

Thereareseveralreferencestothemagnificent

raptor,design-wise.Thestampedbrassdialis inspired

bytheirisoftheeagle,theonlybirdthatcanlookand

fly directlyintothesun.Thedialalsocomesinwhite

orTahitianmother-of-pearl.

Uponcloserinspection,onewillnoticethatthe

rhodium-platedarrow-tippedsecondshandis shaped

likeaneagle’sfeather.ThecrownoftheAlpineEagleis

engravedwitha compassrose,aninstrumentthathas

guidedadventurerssinceancienttimes.

with gold. When I reminded him of that he answered:
‘But I want to work steel like gold, and that is precisely
what is so innovative about this project’. He had a vision,
and a typically entrepreneurial approach.” Then, Karl
saw himself in his son Karl-Friedrich and then again in
his grandson Karl-Fritz. Together, both grandson and
grandfather worked on the fi rst prototype and presented
it to Karl-Friedrich.
Karl-Fritz had to be thoughtful with his second pitch:
“I didn’t want to offend my father by saying, ‘What did
you do there with the St Moritz?’ I had the pressure to
bring something new, without offending him. We had the
historical weight [of this iconic watch].”
When he was presented the prototype, “my father’s face
lit up. He immediately saw the potential of the watch and
agreed to launch the project”.

REBIRTH OF AN ICON

We headed down to Switzerland on the exclusive invitation

ofChopardtomeetthethreegenerationsoftheScheufele

family:Karl,Karl-FriedrichandKarl-Fritz,whospoketous

aboutthisveryspecialproject.

It is interestingtonotethattheprivatelaunchwas

notdoneinStMoritz,butinanotherequallybeautiful

andluxuriousSwissskitown,Gstaad.Thefamilyhasalso

chosenanothernameforthistimepiece—theAlpineEagle.

“Thenewnamereflectsthephilosophyofourtimes

now.Plus,StMoritzis notexactlythewayI experiencedit

whenI was[Karl-Fritz’s]age.It wasa lotmorefunthanit

is today.It wasreallyhipand‘in’atthattime.It’sgoodto

turnthatpage,”saystheKarl-Friedrich,whois a hikingand

skiingenthusiast.

Thename“AlpineEagle”evokesnature,theAlpsand

thepowerfuleagleontopofitsgame.Metaphorically,

thewatchis forthecontemporaryeagles:someonewho

outperformsthemselvesdailyandfeelstheneedtoconnect

withnature.

“Wehaven’texclusivelymarketedit tomenorwomen

becausewearelookingata broadconsumerspectrum.

Thiswatchcanbewornbya 25-year-oldorsomeonein

theirsixties.Anyonewhoassociatesthemselveswiththe

mountainsorsportyactivities,”explainsKarl-Fritz.His

fatheradds,“Ifyouonlyownonewatch,thiscouldbeit.

Becauseyoucandoallkindsofwatersportswearingit,as

wellaswearit totheoffice.”

The watch is forthe contemporary eagles:

someone who outperforms themselves daily

and feels the need to connect with nature

The 41mm Alpine Eagle in

Lucent Steel A223 features a

galvanic blue brass dial with

a sunburst motif inspired by

the iris of an eagle’s eye

124 singapore tatler. october 2019