What's George Bamford been up to?
Perhaps tinkering away on another Snoopy-themed number, as you might expect from the master of the fun-times, character-dialled, limited-edition watch?
Or a follow-up to his Popeye-themed Franck Muller collab, complete with its own ‘spinach’ tin packaging and a strong-to-the-finish £21,500 price tag?
Not this time, my friends.
This week Bamford has taken the – heh heh – road less-travelled and teamed up with Chopard, the fancy Swiss watchmaker who once counted Tsar Nicholas II of Russia as an ambassador and is most famous for its Mille Miglia watch, a chronograph honouring the 1,000-mile classic car rally from Brescia to Rome (and back again) it has sponsored since the 1980s.
Bamford has put his head together with Chopard boss Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and Bamfodised the Mille Milglia into a bead-blasted titanium version, limited and numbered to 50 editions.
The watch follows an initial collab from 2021 – a grey and ‘flame’ orange DLC number. This one goes by the grander title of the Mille Miglia GTS Power Control Bamford Edition ‘Desert Racer’ and comes with a frosted black dial, outsize orange ‘12’ and ‘6' numbers, a 60-hour power reserve indicator that looks like a car fuel gauge and plenty of dusty, road rat desert vibes that feel as though Bamford actually tested this watch by driving it across the National Off-Road Racing Association's 1,000-mile Mexican vintage rally race in, say, a Meyers Manx buggy.
Which, as it happens, he did.
“What an amazing experience doing the NORRA 1000 with Meyers Manx for the launch of the ‘Desert Racer’,” Bamford says. “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.”
So if anyone asks, that’s what George Bamford has been up to.
(Rest assured, more fun-times, character-dialled watches are on the horizon, too.)
The 'Desert Racer' measures 43mm in diameter and comes chronometer-certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC). It costs £9,380.
