Chopard marks 39 consecutive years as Official Timekeeper of the Mille Miglia and the 2026 edition, with two stunning new watch releases, reminds us why this is the greatest partnership in motorsport
There are races, and then there is the Mille Miglia. Enzo Ferrari once called it “the most beautiful race in the world” — and nearly a century on, nothing has emerged to challenge that verdict. Every year, more than 400 historic automobiles leave Brescia and chase a 1,000-mile loop through the heart of Italy, threading past UNESCO World Heritage sites, over legendary mountain passes, and through some of the most cinematic landscapes on earth. It is part sporting event, part moving museum, part love letter to the golden age of the automobile.
And for 39 consecutive years, Chopard has been there at the starting line.
A Partnership Built on Precision
The Mille Miglia was born in 1927 on a simple, unforgiving principle: accuracy. In its modern re-enactment, drivers must maintain precise average speeds across dozens of timed sections — making reliable chronometry not a luxury, but a necessity. It is a competition where a second is never just a second.
That philosophy finds its natural home at Chopard. Since 1988, the Swiss Maison has served as World Sponsor and Official Timekeeper of the rally, cementing one of the longest-standing partnerships between a watchmaker and a motorsport event in history. The relationship is not a branding exercise — it is a genuine convergence of values: precision, mechanical excellence, and an enduring reverence for craftsmanship.
Karl Friedrich Scheufele and the Gullwing
At the centre of this story is Chopard Co-President Karl Friedrich Scheufele — a devoted collector of classic automobiles who has competed in the Mille Miglia on almost every occasion since the partnership began. This year, he returns to the cockpit of the Scheufele family’s iconic Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, sharing the wheel with legendary racing driver and Chopard Ambassador Jacky Ickx. It is a pairing that captures everything the Mille Miglia represents: heritage, passion, and the quiet thrill of men who genuinely love what they do.
Two New Watches, One Legendary Race
To mark the 2026 edition, Chopard unveiled two exceptional new timepieces as engines roared to life on the starting ramp in Brescia.
The Mille Miglia GTS Power Control – 2026 Racing Edition arrives as a limited edition of just 250 pieces, distilling the energy and aesthetics of classic motorsport into a contemporary sports watch of rare distinction. Alongside it, the Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph Raticosa pays tribute to one of the rally’s most demanding mountain passes — a fitting name for a watch built around the precision that the Raticosa demands of every driver who climbs it.
Both pieces extend a collection that has, over nearly four decades, become the definitive watchmaking expression of automotive culture.
The Route: Italy at Its Most Spectacular
The 2026 Mille Miglia follows a figure-eight route inspired by the original races held between 1927 and 1938, taking competitors from Brescia through Padua, Montecatini Terme, Rome, and Rimini, before the gruelling climb over the Raticosa and Futa mountain passes on the return leg. The rally concludes on Saturday on Viale Venezia in Brescia — marking the end of the 44th re-enactment edition, and setting the stage for what promises to be an extraordinary centenary in 2027.
Five days. A thousand miles. Four hundred historic automobiles. And at the wrist of every driver who understands what timekeeping truly means — a Chopard.
Some partnerships are contractual. This one is eternal.