Chopard
Luxury between Haute Joaillerie and Haute Horlogerie
A momentous liaison between Switzerland and the Black Forest
In the nineteenth century the Swiss Jura mountains were fertile ground for talented and ambitious master watchmakers. The mountain farmers, who lived frugally, earned a meagre additional income during the overlong winter by making watch components by hand, though never complete movements. Each family devoted itself to different watch parts, which were bought up by watch manufacturers, mostly in Geneva, and assembled into complete movements. Louis-Ulysse Chopard, too, founded a watchmaking workshop and adorned its façade with his initials L.U.C, visible from afar, which to this day remain the hallmark of authenticity of Chopard movements. It was clear to the self-assured young man that he had no wish to remain a mere assistant. His own movements, precision pocket watches and chronometers were his passion. Early on he had their rate accuracy tested at the Neuchâtel Observatory. As the business grew, Chopard extended its market into tsarist Russia and further eastern European countries, until the Russian October Revolution and the global economic crisis of 1929 brought Chopard's bold ascent to a halt. Yet the company kept itself valiantly alive while other watch brands slipped into (temporary) oblivion. After 1943 Chopard-Grandfils opened up a new market in Scandinavia, before a gradual decline reduced the business to just 10 employees by 1960. As life and fate would have it, exactly the right negotiating partners met at exactly the right moment. The long-established watchmaking company Scheufele, a producer of fine gold watches from Pforzheim on the northern edge of the Black Forest, a town no less steeped in watchmaking tradition, encountered the ailing Swiss company in the course of its appetite for expansion. Great-grandfather Scheufele had already used movements from quality Swiss firms such as Blancpain, Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre in his watches – the ground was prepared. Trust and mutual liking grew, and in 1963 an agreement was reached.
Chopard – movements with soul and refinement
Karl Scheufele III took on no easy task. All the more reason to appreciate the exemplary development the company has undergone to this day. As brand awareness awakened in that era, so too did Chopard's ambitious desire to produce its own movements. Movements fit for admission to Haute Horlogerie and capable of meeting the extremely demanding approval criteria of the Geneva Seal. Doubted within the industry, the ambitious undertaking nonetheless succeeded. In 1996, with the founding of its own production site in Fleurier, a new era began for Chopard as a watch manufacture. Every step – from design to production – is carried out in-house with great mastery, excellent handwork and delicate attention to detail. In doing so, the young manufacture secured the support of the brilliant watchmaking artist Michel Parmigiani, who cultivates a special relationship with watches: “A watch is like a living being with an inner world”. Chopard collections unite sporting qualities with exquisite elegance. Their technical perfection, impeccable performance and durability make them eligible for the COSC chronometer certificate and the FQF quality seal. The timeless Classic collection could not appear more understated in look and style were it not dominated by expressive dials. The Classic Racing line, with its three series Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, Superfast and Mille Miglia, evokes the hot breath of motor racing with a wealth of complications. In the number and quality of its additional functions it is surpassed only by the L.U.C collection – a homage to the company founder. The chronology of Chopard movements reads like a eulogy to the still young manufacture and reveals ground-breaking qualities: in 1997 the L.U.C 1860 caused astonishment as the first watch to feature the Chopard calibre L.U.C 1.96. In 2000 came the L.U.C Quattro with the calibre L.U.C 1.98 and an astonishing power reserve of 9 days. A year later the calibre L.U.C 3.97 Tonneau appeared, with automatic movement and eccentric micro-rotor. 2006 the L.U.C Chrono, and in 2007 Chopard finally presented the L.U.C 10 CF, a first automatic chronograph movement yielding three patents, as well as the L.U.C 63.01 L and others.
At Chopard, watches and eyes alike sparkle
Chopard maintains its sense of style in its own performance as well, and especially there: in 2010, precisely in time for the company's 150th anniversary, the 100th boutique opened in the finest location on New York's Madison Avenue, with a sales floor of almost 300 square metres. In the company's own watch museum, the L.U.CEUM in Fleurier, fascinating exhibits from the watchmaking art of every significant European era and region bear witness to the Chopard self-confidence that has remained unbroken since Louis-Ulysse set out. Under the spell of Chopard luxury watches it should not be forgotten that the company also excels as a maker of exquisite jewellery and leads the field in precious perfumes as well. In Chopard jewellery, largely made by hand, refined elegance merges with technical finesse. Gold, diamonds and noble stones grace more than just the Ladies Collection. Every jewellery collection betrays a refined artistic sensibility and the irrepressible, eternally youthful delight in adorning oneself with the noblest of raw materials. As Co-President of Chopard, Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele is responsible for the success of the jewellery department. It all began with a simple pendant. Then the Happy Diamonds series, with its lavish use of rose gold, fine stones and diamonds, whetted the appetite for more. Ladylike, striking and capricious women who enjoy drawing admiring glances wear Chopard jewellery with the same self-assurance as the iconic Chopard watch Imperiale Tourbillon in 18-carat rose gold with amethysts, diamonds and a leather strap in a daring purple. Made precisely for those “exquisite moments of electrifying happiness”, as one of the company's mottos has it.
Classic cars, engines and a passion for the luxury watch
As a partner to glamorous film events, Chopard has long distinguished itself as one of the principal sponsors of the Cannes Film Festival. The partnership with the Mille Miglia classic car race was the occasion for developing a chronograph for stylish women who burn not only for extraordinary jewellery but for horsepower as well. The tyre tread pattern of the rubber strap, the feminine mother-of-pearl dial with azure-blue silvered hands and the optionally diamond-set bezel should not disguise the fact that within the masculine-looking, 44 mm steel case of the Mille Miglia beats a heart of steel-hard engineering, an automatic movement running at 28,800 vibrations per hour. In 2015 Chopard dedicated a special collection to a milestone of motor racing, the historic Grand Prix of Monaco. A treasure ardently loved by collectors, and not by them alone.
Further Chopard model lines:
Happy Hearts Chopard, Happy Sport, Men, Automatic, Quartz, Hand-wound, Alpine Eagle Large, Alpine Eagle Small, Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph, Mille Miglia GTS Automatic
