Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF

Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF

250-piece limited edition in ceramicised titanium

The ultimate feat of lightness: the collection’s new high-frequency timepiece

The Alpine Eagle collection has been continually enriched with new technical feats since its inception in 2019. With its third edition of high-frequency timepieces, it marks yet another achievement by introducing the lightest watch ever presented in the collection. The 41-millimetre case, crown and bezel of this Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF model – issued in a 250-piece limited edition – are crafted in ceramicised titanium, teamed with a special-shaped rubber strap. Even its high-frequency, chronometer-certified Chopard 01.14-C movement, is lighter than its predecessor, thanks to a mainplate and bridges also made of ceramicised titanium. This cutting-edge technology is complemented by a perfectly mastered aesthetic: the ceramicised titanium features a sporty bead-blasted finish, while the Pitch Black titanium dial plays on contrasts with subtle orange accents. In fact, the Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF is all about precision, style and sportiness.

The challenge of lightness

The weight of an eagle feather? No, rather that of the latest Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF model, in which ‘SL’ stands for Super Light. This is undeniably the lightest watch ever to grace Chopard’s Alpine Eagle collection: an innovation which has been skilfully combined with a quest for cutting-edge materials to shape not only the watch’s exterior elements, but also certain movement components.

No potential weight savings have been left to chance. To begin with, the 41 mm-diameter, 9.75 mm-thick case has been made from ceramicised grade 5 titanium, as have the bezel with its eight indexed screws, the crown engraved with a compass rose and the bracelet clasp. Alongside its modest weight, the use of ceramicised titanium reflects Chopard workshops’ avant-garde spirit. This ultra-resistant metal is obtained by a process of oxidising titanium using electro-plasma technology: a treatment granting it a hardness of 1000 Vickers as well as shock and scratch resistance comparable to that of ceramic. Developed for use in aerospace and automobile construction, it also features an anthracite grey colour that does not fade over time – a welcome feature in a watch designed for the most extreme conditions.

The Alpine Eagle Cadence 8HF series also appears for the first time in a version with a rubber strap – an option previously confined to the XL Chrono model. This contributes to its eminently sporty character and is above all another means of cutting its weight. Finally, the dial, traditionally stamped with a motif inspired by the eagle's iris, is made on a titanium base. In addition to all these efforts to make the watch lighter, the movement has also undergone several changes.

The rare performance of a high-frequency movement

High frequency improves chronometry, a theme particularly dear to Chopard’s Co-President, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. While shocks are part of the life of a watch, they nonetheless disturb the oscillations of the balance. Due to a statistical effect however, the faster the balance beats, the less effect each impact has on the average rate. This high frequency is also high speed, thus implying rapid recovery of the isochronous rate.

In 2012, Chopard was a pioneer in marketing an entire series of watches with a chronometer-certified high frequency movement. Thanks to the status of Chopard Manufacture as a veritable watchmaking laboratory, the L.U.C collection was enhanced with the L.U.C 01.06-L calibre equipping an experimental series of 100 L.U.C 8HF timepieces in titanium, a model that has become a genuine collector's item. Since then, the calibre – whose complex construction only allows for limited series – has been produced as a second exclusive edition with the L.U.C 8HF Power Control black ceramic and titanium Diamond-Like-Carbon (DLC) timepiece powered by the L.U.C 01.09-L movement, before being used in a Superfast Power Control Porsche 919 HF watch edition equipped with the 01.11-M movement.

After disseminating its precision in the L.U.C Haute Horlogerie collections and the sporty Superfast lines, Chopard's high-frequency movement evolved into two exclusive versions within the Alpine Eagle collection in 2021 and 2023.

More technical and more complex to produce than a movement with a conventional escapement, Chopard Calibre 01.41C equips this new Alpine Eagle 41 SL Cadence 8HF model. Consistent with the watch exterior, its mainplate and bridges are also made from ceramicised titanium and feature the same blackened finish. Like its predecessors, the exceptional precision of this movement is chronometer-certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute.

The feat and the material

Chopard also uses the properties of monocrystalline silicon to make the most of this 8 Hertz frequency. This light and self-lubricating material is used for the pallet-lever, the escape-wheel and the impulse-pin: in other words, all the components that are subject to high friction, which is thus reduced to a minimum.

The lightness of silicon, its tribological properties and the freedom offered by its manufacturing technology have enabled Chopard to develop an escapement dedicated to high frequencies without resulting in increased energy consumption.

Chopard Calibre 01.14-C has a 60-hour power reserve, a remarkable degree of autonomy generally incompatible with high frequencies. The development endeavours undertaken in the Manufacture’s watchmaking workshops, several patents and the technologies employed have made it possible to reconcile apparently contractionary objectives: chronometry, autonomy and reliability. Now interpreted in the inimitable casual chic Alpine Eagle style, this high-frequency watch enters a select circle of exceptional chronometers.

Pure design

This model retains the Alpine Eagle signature codes, while taking its aesthetic slightly further thanks to a subtle anthracite monochrome and special finishes. The case band and bezel are bead-blasted, as are the case chamfers and the eight screws. This sandblasted appearance extends into the texture of the rubber strap adding suppleness and comfort, available in a black version as well as two other options: one in orange rubber and the other in black calfskin with orange stitching.

The stamped dial features a motif evoking the eagle's iris, a direct tribute to the piercing vision of the majestic birds of prey that inspired the collection. Its Pitch Black colour takes its cue from the intense darkness of mountain nights when wild nature reclaims its rights. Against the deep darkness of this backdrop, both the orange seconds hand – with its eagle-feather-shaped counterweight – as well as the matching minutes track endow the entire dial with an elegant, eminently legible contrast and an even sportier look. The lower section of the dial features the dynamic arrow-shaped logo in orange that is the unique signature of Chopard high-frequency watches.

The Alpine Eagle collection: rebirth of an icon

Forty-five years ago, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele convinced his father Karl to produce a steel sports watch designed meet the sophisticated, action-oriented needs of the St. Moritz lifestyle. The eponymous collection was born in 1980. History repeated itself in a singular way when Karl’s grandson Karl-Fritz became fascinated by a St. Moritz watch found on his father’s desk and persuaded him to revive this icon of the time. This modern reinterpretation thus stems from three generations of family collaboration. The Alpine Eagle collection embodies Chopard's values of technical ingenuity, artisanal excellence and family spirit.