Chopard History

The History of Chopard

Index

The History of Chopard

By the middle of the 16th Century the watchmaking industry started developing in Switzerland when the Huguenots, French Protestants who were members of the Reformed Church, established in the region. Geneva and later the region of the Jura soon became the epicentric of the watchmaking industry .

During the windy months of winter in the region of the Swiss Jura, the country people dedicated their time to manufacture movements for Swiss presicion pocket watches. Peasents recieved orders from Geneva through the Comptoirs, selling organizations which provided the peasents with the components of watch mechanisms in order to have them assembled. In spring they collected the finished movements and started trading. Until 1830 only watches with key mechanisms were produced in the region. In 1860 Louis Ulysse Chopard founded his company in the small village of Sonvilier. There is no record of the first years production but we know that since then it has produced watches that meet the highest standards of quality and presicion. The first Chopard watch we know is a thick pocket watch with the signature Chopard e Sonviller.

In order to identify his production from the rest, L.U Chopard focused on quality and presicion and developed the finest watches in Sonvilier.
From the begining of the 20th century on, domestic traditional watchmakers started disapearing gradualy due to Industrial Revolution.
Chopard decided that there was still a clientele for his watches and left to Eastern Europe. He visited Hungary, Poland and Russia and his watches reached CZar Nicholas II's court.
In 1920 the company moved to Ginebra.
The period between the two World Wars was critic for many watchmakers and jewelers, but not for L. U. Chopard, his son and their watches.
Louis Ulysse Chopard's grandson, André-Paul Chopard, was the head of the firm until 1963 when he met Karl Scheufele III -member of a family with a great reputation in the jewelry business- and, finding himsef with no descendants, decided to leave the company in the young man's hands.

Chopard Models

LUC Karl Scheufele was convinced that the company had to produce its own movement as this meant to aquire the designation of a manufacture. Manufacturers are watchmakers who produce all the components of thier watches in-house 1860: In 1996 the firm created its first movement which was named LUC to honor Louis Ulysse Chopard. In 1997 the LUC 1860 was chosen as the Watch of the year. Tonneau The movement of this watch was a development of the 3.96 calibre The shape of the movement mateches the shape of the case. Sport In 1999 Chopard created the Sports 2000 This sporty wacth had leather or rubber strap and a 4.96 calibre. Pro One This model was launched in 2002 The Pro One is a diver's watch. While it remains classical in its case it presents technical develotments that alow the watch to be accurate eaven at great depths. Tourbillon With a LUC 1.02 calibre Chopard's first Tourbillin was launched in 2003. The creation of this movement implied many technical developments and a big step for the brand's place in the watchmaker industry. Regulateur In 2005 Chopard received, once again, the distinction of Watch of the year with the Regulateur, a high presicion watch with a Quattro 1.98 movement, launched in 2004. GMT The GMT is the first one within the LUC line to feature a second time zone. The power reserve on this watch is of 65 hours. Quattro These watches were introduced on the market in 2000 with a new calibre, the 1.98. They presented a 9 days power reserve feature � Twin � Specials	MODELS L.U.C. 1860 L.U.C. 1860 Gold L.U.C. 4 Tourbillon L.U.C. GMT L.U.C. Pro One L.U.C. Quattro L.U.C. Régulateur L.U.C. Special Fleurier L.U.C. Special Lunar One L.U.C. Special Twist L.U.C. Sport L.U.C. Tonneau L.U.C. Twin
MILLE MIGLIA Mille Miglia Classic This race, very well known all over the world, takes place in Italy. Participants ride their vintage cars through 1000 miles, from Brescia to Rome and back. Moved by thier pasion for cars, Karl Scheufele and his son Karl Friederich, decided to promote this legendary race in 1988. The Mille Miglia is one of Choprd's best selling collections. Mille Miglia Special Each year Chopard develops a new Mille Miglia model. Participant's pieces. These pieces have the word Participant engraved and are numbered 1-375 A second limited edition is produced each year. The quantity released in the second series corresponds to the year of production (i.e. year 2006 = 2006 watches released) Racing Colors Edition The watches in this collection were expressly designed as an homenage to automovile sports. They combine elegance and excelence and relate the world of watches with the world of automovil competition. During the 20's the Grand Prix was introduced. This race's rules provided a color to each country: red for Italy, dark green for England, blue for France, yellow for Belgium and white or gray for Germany. Jacky Icks Edition This model appeared as an addition to de Mille Milgia collection. The case is 40mm and the caseback is signed by Jacky Icks, the well known race car driver.	MODELS Mille Miglia Mille Miglia Classic Mille Miglia GMT Mille Miglia Gran Turismo Mille Miglia Jacky Ickx Mille Miglia Limited Editions Mille Miglia Quartz Mille Miglia Racing Colors
HAPPY SPORT The elegance provided by the floating diamonds in the dial and the sporty style of these watches has made this collection extremly successful. Customers can find round, square or oval Happy Sports.
HAPPY DIAMONDS The watches in this collection are exclusive, as well as the the work done to set each diamond in its own cup. This is why this collection has become a real asset for Chopard.
HAPPY SPIRIT The dial on these watches feature circles/herats inside bigger circles/hearts and a spinning diamond in the center. The movement is quartz and there's a big diversity of dial color and strap comination. This gives customers the posibility to fulfil their personal taste and requirements.
LES CLASSIQUES What moves Chopard is Passion and thier belif is that it is all about Luxury but not for a mass but for each individual customer.