Following a successful initial collaboration in 2021, Swiss luxury Maison Chopard has once again tapped Bamford Watch Department to deliver a very exclusive, unexpectedly tough limited edition take on their underrated Mille Miglia GTS Power Control watch.
George Bamford, the founder of Bamford Watch Department, is a bit of a madman. You kind of have to be if you’re in the luxury watch customisation business: you need to have the creativity, vision and balls to look at a design crafted by some of the finest artisans in the world and say “no, I think we can do this a bit better”.
But it’s that crazy, creative, entrepreneurial spirit that’s made Bamford Watch Department the phenomenon that it is – and their latest watch, their second official collaboration with Chopard, is emblematic of Bamford’s boundary-pushing creativity.
It’s called the Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Bamford Edition ‘Desert Racer’ (ref. 168566-3019), and it’s not the sort of thing we’re used to seeing from Chopard, which is known for its refined, stately character. They don’t really make tool watches, for example – so the Desert Racer is a pleasantly disruptive outlier.
Crafted from bead-blasted titanium – a sporty, light and robust material – it features a utilitarian yet eye-catching grey and bright orange colour scheme, with a military-style applied model designation at 6 o’clock; a motorsports-inspired power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock; a cross-hatched, orange-tipped seconds hand and oversized numerals at 12 and 6 o’clock.
That motorsports vibe is enhanced by the texture of the Desert Racer’s grey dial, which resembles tarmac, as well as the woven-effect strap it comes mounted on, which reminds one of a seatbelt or racing harness.
Flip it over, and its in-house, COSC-certified calibre 01.08-C movement is on display through a dark-tinted crystal caseback, with yet another ring of orange and exposed caseback screws further emphasising its modern, purposeful aesthetic. A 60-hour power reserve and 100m of water resistance add to its practicality.
The Desert Racer has also been properly road-tested – by George Bamford himself, actually. The watch recently accompanied Bamford in the desert of northern Mexico, on the occasion of the last edition of the National Off Road Racing Association, in which he participated aboard a Meyers Manx buggy. Because of course he did.
“I was so pleased to say that I tried and tested it in the desert, on a desert race and the watch is built to survive on great expeditions and adventures… I loved working on the Mille Miglia watch and when we were coming to create this one, I really wanted to have an alternative to the original Mille Miglia and that’s why we felt the Desert Racer would be the off-road cousin of the Mille Miglia.”
George Bamford
A limited and numbered 50-piece edition, you can find out more about the Chopard Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Bamford Edition ‘Desert Racer’ at Chopard’s online boutique here.