The 2014 Chopard Mille Miglia for the Porsche Club of America (PCA) will never become a highly sought-after collector’s item. Still, all sixty-six examples will find their owners. Not just because the brand is so strongly associated with Porsche and their entire legacy. After all, offered in precious yellow gold, as well as in a less expensive (but still impressive) stainless steel body, the new accessory looks spectacular and gives a standard-issue Mille Miglia chronograph a run for its money.
It is not the first time that one of the largest clubs of Porsche enthusiasts gets its own limited edition timekeeper. For example, back in 2010, the club has ordered a beautiful TAG Heuer Monaco PCA Limited Edition automatic chronograph that featured a nice racing-inspired color scheme and was powered by Caliber 12: a modified ETA 2892-A2 caliber with Dubois Depraz 2008 chronograph add-on module.
This new limited edition uses the current Chopard Mille Miglia Chronograph as its base. While not as classic-looking as the model from TAG Heuer, the watch still makes a great impression with its electric blue dial and pleasant color scheme.
This new timepiece still sports the same mechanism that was designed and built by ETA. This COSC-certified chronometer-grade ETA 2984-2 automatic caliber, while extremely boring in terms of both design and decoration, still does a fairly good job at keeping time. It is also reliable thanks to its extremely simple layout, and, as I never fail to reiterate, is easy (and affordable) to fix if something goes wrong. For the owner of a German car, this must be the main factor to consider when buying a new timekeeper.
The watch comes in the same 42 mm body, which is just a tad over 12 millimeters thick and offers a comfortable pair of horns. Besides the color scheme, the only thing that differentiates this limited edition version from the original is the white-red-blue PCA logo on its sapphire crystal that, while looking cool and all, also abstracts view at the self-winging mechanism.
While the placement of the logo somehow defeats the whole purpose of having a sapphire crystal on a case-back cover, the choice of the cover is understandable: ordering an exclusive solid case-back cover would probably send the selling price through the roof.
In their press release, Porsche Club of America states that the PCA Edition was issued in two versions: stainless steel and 18-karat gold. The former is limited to 60 numbered pieces to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the club and is currently offered at a price of impressive $5990 (a normal Chopard Mille Miglia Chronograph ref. 168511-3001 officially retails at $5070, but, bought at a normal online shop, would set you back at less than $3500). The latter is available in just 6 pieces and sells for $21,000: a whopping $6800 more than a normal rose gold Mille Miglia ref. 161274-5002 would cost you.
On the other hand, if you are looking for such a timekeeper, you are probably a member of the club and a proud owner of a Porsche. And owning a Porsche is, you know, a privilege.
See also: Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chrono 2014
Photos: Chopard
WWR verdict
Originality 3/5
Build quality: 5/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Legibility: 5/5
Value for money: 3.5/5
Chopard Mille Miglia Porsche Club of America (PCA) specification
Price: $5990 for stainless steel / $21,000 for version in gold
Movement: Automatic, caliber ETA 2894-2, COSC-certified chronometer Swiss Made
Number of jewels: 37
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Power reserve: 42 hours
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph
Case: Stainless steel / Gold
Shape: Round
Size: 42.00 mm
Case height: 12.31 mm
Dial: Blue
Numerals: Arabic, luminous
Hour markers: Luminous
Hands: Luminous
Water resistance: 50 meters
Strap: Blue rubber with tire thread motif
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Back: Sapphire, PCA logo
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Bought my first mechanical watch in 1986 and it took me ten more years to realize that I have a problem: at some point in time watches became my passion. Well, it could be worse.