Chopard

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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,
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

Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A.,[1] commonly known as Chopard, 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]

Chopard is best known for making high-quality

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

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.

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

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