Chopard

Louis-Ulysse Chopard, a hereditary watchmaker, opened the first Chopard watch making workshop in 1860 (at the age of 24) in a small town of Sonvilier located in the Swiss Jura. Relying on his family tradition and his own innovative ideas, the company soon acquired an excellent reputation for its precise watches. The Chopard watches were so precise, that they became one of the main suppliers to Chemins de Fer Helvetiques, the Swiss railway, known for their punctuality. By the 1960s, Paul-Andre Chopard, the last watchmaker of the Chopard name, faced a dilemma – none of his sons wanted to continue in the family business. At the same time, Karl Scheufele, the third in line of a dynasty of German goldsmiths and watchmakers, was looking for a business to buy.

In 1963 Chopard sold the family firm to Scheufele, who set about modernising the business. Paul Andre kept his position in the company and continued to make hand-fashioned chronometers until his death in 1968. Today, the watch making company is still a family affair, with Karl Scheufele and his wife, Karin, at the helm and their two children, Karl-Friedrich and Caroline, as vice-presidents. Caroline is responsible for the design and creation of the company’s ‘Haute Joaillerie’ jewellery range and its lines of perfume and accessories, Karl-Friedrich, runs the men’s watch division as well as the technological and business side of the firm.

The jewellery is created at a factory in Pforzheim in Germany and the watches are made at a modern plant in Meyrin, a five-minute drive from Geneva airport. In 1996, Chopard returned to its roots by setting up a new plant for the manufacture of a new automatic movement in Fleurier, not far from where Louis-Ulysse Chopard founded the original firm.

Chopard has collaborated with celebrities including pop star Elton John and opera singer Jose Carreras on the design of watches – some of which cost over £2 million. The Prince of Wales chose one of her designs for a watch which is sold exclusively to support his charity foundation.

Chopard

Chopard perfume