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Chopard - Wikipedia
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Chopard

Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A.,[1] commonly known as Chopard (French pronunciation: [ʃɔpaʁ]), is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories.[2][3] Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned by the Scheufele family of Germany since 1963.[2][4][5]

Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard
& Cie S.A.
Chopard
Company typePrivate (société anonyme)
IndustryWatchmaking, luxury goods
Founded1860; 164 years ago (1860)
FounderLouis-Ulysse Chopard
Headquarters
Geneva
,
Switzerland
Key people
Co-Presidents:
Caroline Scheufele
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele
ProductsWatches, jewellery
Production output
75,000 watches (2016)
75,000 jewelleries (2016)
RevenueMore than CHF 500 million (2016)
OwnerScheufele family
Websitechopard.com

Chopard is best known for making high-quality Swiss watches and jewellery, and its clients have included Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.[5][6] The company is headquartered in Geneva and has a site in Fleurier, Canton of Neuchâtel, that manufactures watch movements.[7]

History

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Early history

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The company founder, Louis-Ulysse Chopard, was a Swiss watchmaker who grew up in Sonvilier, a town in Swiss Jura. In 1860, he established his L.U.C. manufacturing company in Sonvilier, having observed that it was more profitable to market a finished watch than to just make the mechanical movement.

After Louis-Ulysse's death in 1915, the company was taken over by his son Paul-Louis and grandson Paul-André.[5] The company specialised in making pocket watches and ladies’ wristwatches. In 1921, Paul-Louis moved the company operations to a larger town, Chaux-de-Fonds, in the Canton of Neuchâtel. In 1937, at that time a company of 150 employees, the company relocated to Geneva. This enabled the movements made by the company to be certified with the Geneva Seal, a mark applied only to watch movements made in the Canton of Geneva.[7] Paul-André took over the company in 1943.[8]

In 1963, having no children wishing to continue in the business, Paul-André Chopard sold it to Karl Scheufele III, a German goldsmith and watchmaker from Pforzheim, who was seeking a watch movement manufacturer exclusively for his own business.[8][9]

Recent developments

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Store on Madison Avenue in New York City

In 1974, the Chopard factory moved from the center of Geneva to Meyrin-Geneva and in 1976 the company started making watches that contained its signature free-floating diamond behind sapphire glass. In the 1980s, the company expanded into making sports watches for men and diamond jewellery for women.[9]

In 1996, the company established its own complete watch movement manufacturing facility in Fleurier, in the Swiss Canton of Neuchâtel. Prior to that time, all Chopard's movements had been assembled from third-party components. The movements made in Fleurier were intended for the high-end watches in the Chopard range.[7]

In 2010, the company celebrated its 150th anniversary, by which time the company's estimated sales were €550 million in total (of which €250 million were from watches) with about 100 stores around the world.[10]

In 2014, Chopard recorded sales of CHF800m (US$915m) and had roughly 2,000 employees worldwide, of whom 900 were working in Switzerland.[7][8] The European Patent Office lists more than 20 references to Chopard since 2002.[11]

In 2015, French actress Marion Cotillard designed a bracelet for Chopard's Green Carpet Collection made of ethical Fairmined-certified gold.[12]

In December 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released a report assigning environmental ratings to 15 major watch manufacturers and jewelers in Switzerland.[13][14] Chopard was given a below-average environmental rating as "Lower Midfield", suggesting that the manufacturer has only taken a few actions addressing the impact of its manufacturing activities on the environment and climate change.[13] Since 2013, Chopard has been promoting its products as using ethical and sustainable gold; implementing this practice with the company's full product line remains a long-term objective.[15][16]

In 2020, Cotillard designed her own sustainable jewelry collection for Chopard entitled "Ice Cube Capsule". She designed seven items curated from Fairmined-certified ethical gold and diamonds.[17]

The company produces around 75,000 timepieces and 75,000 jewelleries each year, and is an active member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.[18][19][20]

Auction record

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Main article: List of most expensive watches sold at auction

A Chopard "Happy Diamond" wristwatch was sold in auction by Christie's for around US$1.67 million (CHF 1,685,000) in Geneva on November 10, 2015.[21] The watch has quartz movement and carries a pink marquise-cut diamond, weighing approximately 2.62 carats, and a blue marquise-cut diamond, weighing approximately 1.48 carat.[21]

Sponsorship

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Chopard Mille Miglia watch, 2018

Chopard is a corporate partner of:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Chopard – corporate information
  2. ^ a b "Chopard - Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie". www.hautehorlogerie.org. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  3. ^ "Chopard's History | Chopard Official Website". www.chopard.com. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  4. ^ Elizabeth Doerr (11 December 2013). "Chopard Resuscitates Historical Watchmaker To Create Ferdinand Berthoud Brand". Forbes. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "History (Chopard) -Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie". www.hautehorlogerie.org. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
  6. ^ "Brand History: Chopard". Luxos. 30 April 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e Nicholas Foulkes (6 June 2014). "Profile: Caroline and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Chopard co-presidents". The Financial Times. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Eric J. Lyman (July–December 2014). "Interview with Karl Friedrich Scheufele" (PDF). EY Exceptional. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  9. ^ a b c "History of Chopard". Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  10. ^ Chevalier, Michel (2012). Luxury Brand Management. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-17176-9.
  11. ^ "Search result list for Chopard". European Patent Office. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Ice Cube Capsule by Marion Cotillard". Chopard.com. 28 September 2020. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Environmental rating and industry report 2018" (PDF). World Wide Fund for Nature. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
  14. ^ swissinfo.ch, S. W. I.; Corporation, a branch of the Swiss Broadcasting. "Swiss luxury watches fail to meet environmental standards". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
  15. ^ Alex Doak (6 June 2014). "Ethical gold: Chopard wants to start a 'Fairmined' revolution". The Financial Times. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Chopard's Journey to sustainable luxury moves to Cannes". Laurie Kahle. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  17. ^ Schumacker, Annie (30 September 2020). "Marion Cotillard and Chopard Unveil a New Capsule Jewelry Collection". Vogue. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Ten years on, an enormous leap for the mechanical watch – FHH Journal". journal.hautehorlogerie.org. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  19. ^ Doerr, Elizabeth. "The Richest People In Switzerland 2016 Include Prominent Watchmakers". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  20. ^ "Watch brands". Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  21. ^ a b "A UNIQUE DIAMOND AND COLOURED DIAMOND 'HAPPY DIAMOND' WRISTWATCH, BY CHOPARD". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  22. ^ "Chopard and the 2014 Mille Miglia". Forbes. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  23. ^ A Orlova, Tamara (30 May 2017). "Chopard Loves Cannes. A Unique Diamond-Set Palme D'Or to Celebrate The 70th Anniversary of The Film Festival". Ikon London Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  24. ^ "Photos from Monte Carlo". Forbes. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
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