Few motorsport challenges command the respect of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Staged in the mountains of Colorado since 1916, the race asks each driver to face the mountain alone in a single timed run across almost 20 kilometres of road and 156 corners. The course climbs to a summit of 4,302 metres, where the air thins and the margin for error all but disappears. After his record-breaking achievement in 2018, this is the climb Romain Dumas conquered once more in 2026, with a Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chrono on his wrist.
His winning time of 8 minutes and 18.202 seconds was the quickest of the event, securing both the outright victory and Dumas’ sixth triumph on the mountain. Remarkably, he achieved it at the wheel of Ford’s all-electric Super Mustang Mach-E, a sign that the summit now belongs entirely to electric power.
Impressive as the run was, it is his 2018 ascent that remains the stuff of legend. That year Dumas became the first driver in history to break the eight-minute barrier here, with a time of 7 minutes and 57.148 seconds that still stands as the outright record. Six victories and the fastest time ever recorded place him in a category of one on this mountain.
Throughout the climb, the watch accompanying him was no incidental detail. The Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chrono, worn on a black rubber strap, speaks to a partnership between the Maison and a driver whose pursuit of precision mirrors its own. To appreciate why the two belong together, it helps to look at Chopard’s long relationship with the racing world.
Chopard’s presence at a race like this is no marketing whim. The Maison has served as official timekeeper of the Mille Miglia, the celebrated Italian race for classic cars, every year since 1988. That devotion is deeply personal. Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele is a dedicated collector and racer of vintage automobiles, and much of Chopard’s sporting watchmaking has grown from his passion. A hill climb, after all, is a contest against time itself, the very thing a watchmaker exists to master. Supporting a driver of Dumas’s calibre is a natural extension of that shared language.
The Alpine Eagle XL Chrono in 5 points
For all its racing purpose, the watch is an accomplished piece in its own right. Here is what defines it.
- A modern revival of a 1980 original: The Alpine Eagle arrived in 2019, reviving the St. Moritz that Karl-Friedrich Scheufele designed in 1980, the first steel sports watch Chopard ever made.
- A case in Lucent Steel A223: This proprietary alloy is approximately 50% harder than standard steel and produces an exceptionally bright polish, making it both resilient and refined for any kind of activities.
- A dial inspired by an eagle’s eye: Its sunburst texture echoes the iris of an eagle, the motif behind the collection’s name, offered here in Aletsch Blue or black.
- A capable 44 mm chronograph: The case carries two chronograph counters and a small seconds display. A date window and a tachymeter complete a dial framed by eight signature bezel screws.
- An in-house flyback movement. The COSC-certified Calibre 03.05-C is an automatic flyback chronograph built around a column wheel. Protected by four patents, it offers roughly 60 hours of power reserve.
As Pikes Peak increasingly belongs to electric machines, and the fastest cars fall silent, there is something quietly fitting about the mechanical chronograph on the winner’s wrist. The Chopard Alpine Eagle XL Chrono is a reminder that true precision, patiently engineered, never goes out of style.
