Suiza · Fundación 1860
Chopard
Chopard has made the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or trophy since 1998.
Texto editorial en inglés.
Geneva watch and jewellery house founded in 1860 in Sonvilier and owned by the Scheufele family since 1963. Known for Happy Diamonds and Happy Sport, the L.U.C line of in-house calibres made in Fleurier, and the Alpine Eagle. Steel watches start around EUR 5,000; L.U.C gold pieces cost EUR 20,000 and more.
Historia
Louis-Ulysse Chopard founded his workshop in Sonvilier, in the Bernese Jura, in 1860, making precision pocket watches and chronometers; his initials later named the brand's L.U.C line. The company's clients came to include the Swiss railways. After his death in 1915 his son Paul-Louis ran the business and in 1921 moved it to La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1937, with about 150 employees, it relocated to Geneva, and the founder's grandson Paul-André took charge in 1943.
With no children willing to continue, Paul-André Chopard sold the firm in 1963 to Karl Scheufele III, whose family had run a jewellery-watch business in Pforzheim, Germany, since 1904 and who wanted a Swiss movement maker. Production moved to Meyrin, near Geneva, in 1974. In 1976 Chopard introduced Happy Diamonds, with loose diamonds moving freely between two sapphire crystals. Karl-Friedrich Scheufele designed the steel St. Moritz sports watch in 1980 and started the Mille Miglia partnership in 1988.
Caroline Scheufele's Happy Sport of 1993 put floating diamonds into a steel sports watch. In 1996 Karl-Friedrich Scheufele founded Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier to make movements in-house, beginning with the L.U.C 1.96; until then Chopard had used movements assembled from supplied parts. The L.U.C Quattro of 2000 used four barrels for nine days of power reserve. Since 1998 Chopard has been an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival and makes its Palme d'Or.
The L.U.C Full Strike minute repeater of 2016, made in ethical gold, won the Aiguille d'Or at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. Chopard began its 'Journey to Sustainable Luxury' in 2013 and from 2018 used 100 percent ethical gold for its watches and jewellery. The Alpine Eagle of 2019 reworked the St. Moritz with an integrated bracelet, and from 2023 the brand's steel watches switched to Lucent Steel, made with at least 80 percent recycled metal.
Fundadores
- Louis-Ulysse Chopard
- Founder · 1836–1915
- Watchmaker from Sonvilier in the Bernese Jura who founded the company in 1860 to make precision pocket watches and chronometers. His initials name the L.U.C collection.
- Karl Scheufele III
- Owner from 1963
- Goldsmith and watchmaker from a Pforzheim jewellery-watch family who bought Chopard in 1963. His children Caroline and Karl-Friedrich went on to lead the company.
Hitos
1860
Founded in Sonvilier
Louis-Ulysse Chopard opens a workshop for precision pocket watches and chronometers.
1937
Move to Geneva
The company, by then about 150 employees, relocates from La Chaux-de-Fonds to Geneva.
1963
Scheufele family acquires Chopard
Karl Scheufele III of Pforzheim buys the company from Paul-André Chopard.
1976
Happy Diamonds
Loose diamonds move freely between two sapphire crystals over the dial.
1988
Mille Miglia partnership
Chopard begins its partnership with the Italian road race and launches a collection named after it.
1993
Happy Sport
Caroline Scheufele combines floating diamonds with a steel sports watch.
1996
Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele sets up in-house movement production; the first calibre is the L.U.C 1.96.
1998
Cannes Film Festival partner
Chopard becomes official partner and takes on the making of the Palme d'Or.
2018
100 percent ethical gold
Chopard commits to ethical gold for all its watch and jewellery production.
2019
Alpine Eagle
A steel sports watch with integrated bracelet reworks the 1980 St. Moritz.
Tres cosas que saben los coleccionistas
Nine days on four barrels
The L.U.C Quattro of 2000 used four mainspring barrels to reach nine days of power reserve, presented by Chopard as a world first.
A quartz auction record
Chopard's auction record belongs to a quartz Happy Diamond watch set with pink and blue marquise diamonds of about 2.62 and 1.48 carats, sold by Christie's in Geneva in 2015 for CHF 1.685 million.
A 1912 patent from Pforzheim
Karl Scheufele I patented a clip in 1912 that let a pocket watch be worn on the wrist or as a necklace. The family sold its jewellery watches under the name Eszeha.
Modelos emblemáticos
- Happy Diamonds1976
Loose diamonds move between two sapphire crystals over the dial.
- Mille Miglia1988
Motorsport-themed chronographs tied to the Italian road race Chopard has partnered since 1988.
- Happy Sport1993
Caroline Scheufele's steel sports watch with floating diamonds.
- L.U.C Quattro2000
Manual-winding movement with four barrels and nine days of power reserve, made in Fleurier.
- Alpine Eagle2019
Integrated-bracelet sports watch based on the 1980 St. Moritz, made in Lucent Steel.
Preguntas
- Who owns Chopard?
- The Scheufele family, which bought the company from Paul-André Chopard in 1963. Chopard is independent of the large luxury groups.
- Does Chopard make its own movements?
- For its top lines, yes. Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier, founded in 1996, develops and makes the L.U.C calibres. Some other collections use movements from outside suppliers.
- How do you pronounce Chopard?
- sho-PAR. The name is French and the final d is silent.
- What is a Chopard Happy Diamonds watch?
- A Chopard design from 1976 in which loose diamonds move freely between two sapphire crystals over the dial. The idea was carried into the steel Happy Sport in 1993.