Description
Chopard has timed its latest Mille Miglia release to the start line of the 44th edition of the historic Italian road race (9–13 June 2026). Announced on 4 June, the Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Grigio-Blu is a 250-piece racing edition of the collection's more contemporary, in-house-powered arm — a stainless-steel sports watch that wears its motorsport DNA openly, from the asphalt-grained dial to the dashboard-style power-reserve display.
This is the watchmaking extension of co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele's lifelong passion for the Brescia-to-Rome race, a partnership Chopard has held as official sponsor and timekeeper since 1988. At EUR 7,940 the Grigio-Blu sits in Chopard's accessible-manufacture lane: a COSC-certified, in-house automatic with a genuinely useful complication, aimed at the enthusiast who wants substance under the racing livery rather than a quartz-driven souvenir.
Design
The 43 mm case is made from Chopard's proprietary Lucent Steel, an alloy produced with roughly 80% recycled content that is hypoallergenic and hard enough to rival surgical steel, finished here with alternating brushed and polished surfaces. The fixed bezel carries a black aluminium insert graduated with a 60-minute / 60-second scale — matte rather than glossy ceramic, for a more vintage feel — and the 7 mm screw-down crown, flanked by guards, is engraved with a steering wheel.
The defining feature is the dial: a bold blue-grey "Grigio-Blu" surface with a pronounced grained texture meant to evoke asphalt. Applied metallic hour markers and oversized Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 o'clock are filled with black Super-LumiNova, matching the broad faceted hands. A black flange with grey markers frames the dial, while red accents — the central seconds tip, the "E" empty zone of the power-reserve gauge between 8 and 10 o'clock, and the red "1000 Miglia" arrow pointing to the date at 3 o'clock — supply the colour. That arrow is a replica of the vintage Brescia–Rome course road sign. An eight-screw sapphire caseback reveals the movement.
Specifications
- Reference: 168566-3022
- Case diameter: 43 mm
- Case thickness: 11.43 mm
- Case material: Lucent Steel (~80% recycled), brushed and polished
- Bezel: fixed, black aluminium insert graduated 60-minute / 60-second
- Crown: 7 mm screw-down, engraved with a steering wheel, with crown guards
- Crystal: glareproofed sapphire
- Caseback: exhibition sapphire, secured by 8 screws
- Water resistance: 100 m
- Dial: grained blue-grey ("Grigio-Blu"); applied metallic Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 plus indices, black Super-LumiNova; faceted hands with SLN; red-tipped central seconds; black flange with grey markers; power-reserve gauge between 8 and 10 with red "E"; red "1000 Miglia" arrow; date at 3
- Movement: Chopard calibre 01.08-C, in-house automatic
- Functions: hours, minutes, hacking seconds, date, power-reserve indicator
- Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Winding: automatic
- Power reserve: 60 hours
- Chronometry: COSC chronometer-certified
- Components / jewels: 251 components, 40 jewels
- Strap: black technical textile with tyre-tread motif on the rubber lining; Lucent Steel folding clasp
- Limited edition: 250 numbered pieces; available exclusively in Italy and at Chopard boutiques
- Price: EUR 7,940
- Announced: 4 June 2026 (ahead of the 44th Mille Miglia, 9–13 June 2026)
What's Exciting
Racing-livery limited editions are easy to dismiss as colour swaps, but the Grigio-Blu earns its keep on the movement. The calibre 01.08-C is an in-house, COSC-grade automatic, and pairing chronometer certification with a genuinely practical power-reserve complication and an eight-screw display back — all for under EUR 8,000 — is exactly the kind of value-for-money manufacture proposition that rewards a closer look. The fuel-gauge power reserve and the literal "1000 Miglia" course-sign arrow are unapologetic motorsport cues, and the asphalt-grained blue-grey dial is the most convincing execution of the theme the GTS line has produced in several seasons.
It is not a world-first or an anniversary piece, and the GTS Power Control architecture is well established — but as an accessible, in-house chronometer with a real event behind it and a strictly capped run of 250, it is the cleanest mainstream release of an otherwise quiet early-June window.
History
Chopard launched the Mille Miglia collection in 1988, the year it became the official sponsor and timekeeper of the modern revival of the legendary Italian endurance race — a relationship born of Karl-Friedrich Scheufele's personal enthusiasm for classic motoring and one of the longest continuous brand–event partnerships in watchmaking. The line has since become Chopard's principal motorsport vehicle, spanning vintage-styled chronographs and the sportier, contemporary GTS family.
The GTS (Gran Turismo Sport) line was introduced in 2015 as the collection's more modern, in-house-powered arm, with the Power Control variant distinguished by its dashboard-inspired power-reserve display. The Grigio-Blu continues a tradition of racing colourways — following editions such as the Azzurro, the shot-blasted-titanium Grigio Speciale, and the Bamford "Desert Racer" — this time keyed to the 44th edition of the Mille Miglia.
