Chopard

History

Early history

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. 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.

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.

Recent developments

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.

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.

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.

In 2014, Chopard recorded sales of CHF800m (US$915m) and had roughly 2,000 employees worldwide, of whom 900 were working in Switzerland.

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

In December 2018, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released a report assigning environmental ratings to 15 major watch manufacturers and jewelers in Switzerland. 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. 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.

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.

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.

Auction record

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 ([Swiss franc

Sponsorship

Chopard is a corporate partner of:

• The Mille Miglia car rally since 1988.
• The Cannes Film Festival since 1998, sponsoring the Trophée Chopard prize and making the Palme d’Or trophy.
• The Historic Grand Prix of Monaco as official timekeeper since 2002.

References

References

1. "Corporate Information". Chopard.com.
2. "Chopard - Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie".
3. "Chopard's History {{!}} Chopard Official Website".
4. Elizabeth Doerr. (11 December 2013). "Chopard Resuscitates Historical Watchmaker To Create Ferdinand Berthoud Brand". Forbes.
5. "History (Chopard) -Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie".
6. (30 April 2010). "Brand History: Chopard". Luxos.
7. Nicholas Foulkes. (6 June 2014). "Profile: Caroline and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Chopard co-presidents". The Financial Times.
8. Eric J. Lyman. (July–December 2014). "Interview with Karl Friedrich Scheufele". EY Exceptional.
9. "History of Chopard". Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.
10. Chevalier, Michel. (2012). "Luxury Brand Management". John Wiley & Sons.
11. (28 September 2020). "Ice Cube Capsule by Marion Cotillard".
12. "Environmental rating and industry report 2018".
13. "Swiss luxury watches fail to meet environmental standards".
14. Alex Doak. (6 June 2014). "Ethical gold: Chopard wants to start a 'Fairmined' revolution". The Financial Times.
15. "Chopard's Journey to sustainable luxury moves to Cannes". Laurie Kahle.
16. Schumacker, Annie. (30 September 2020). "Marion Cotillard and Chopard Unveil a New Capsule Jewelry Collection".
17. "Ten years on, an enormous leap for the mechanical watch – FHH Journal".
18. Doerr, Elizabeth. "The Richest People In Switzerland 2016 Include Prominent Watchmakers".
19. "Watch brands".
20. "A UNIQUE DIAMOND AND COLOURED DIAMOND 'HAPPY DIAMOND' WRISTWATCH, BY CHOPARD".
21. (19 May 2014). "Chopard and the 2014 Mille Miglia". Forbes.
22. "Photos from Monte Carlo". Forbes.