Chopard remains forerunners in industry
Swiss-based luxury watch and jewellery manufacturer, Chopard is a successful family owned business with Caroline Scheufele as the Artistic Director and Co-President. In charge of the High Jewellery division, she is responsible for the design and creation of jewels and ladies’ watches as well as for fragrances and accessories
Born in 1961, Caroline had a deep rooted passion for jewels and began her career straight after graduating with a diploma. In 1985, she oversaw the creation of the Happy Diamonds jewellery collection that is still a momentous success.
Day and Night Magazine caught up with her at Baselworld 2015, where she shared her insights of the history of the brand as well as what we can expect from it this year. Settling into the plush lounge in the Baselworld booth, Caroline greeted us with a warm smile to match the stunning warm-hued array of accessories wrapped around her delicate wrists and neck.
Can you tell us a little bit about the boutique in Kuwait, which is also Chopard’s largest store?
When the building of the shopping mall was complete, our agents approached us and suggested we consider opening a boutique in that particular location. The store is large but we have proportioned it very well with separate dedicated areas for private viewings and areas for various products that we sell, such as the men’s collection, bridal and accessories. Our boutique in Geneva and Paris are almost as large, as they feature two storeys instead of just one floor, the height of the store adds a spacious touch that not only makes the space seem larger but allows the brand to perfect the layout of the products, making browsing a much more pleasant experience, where moving from one counter to the next becomes a natural walk.
The Happy Diamonds collection was first launched in 1985, which is still in demand in boutiques today. How did you come up with such a successful concept?
When the Happy Diamonds concept emerged, I was still in school. At that time in 1976, one of our window decorators who used to love hiking in natural environments, went for a stroll in The Black Forest, in Switzerland, where he saw a waterfall that shimmered with the heat of the sun. The drops that splashed away from the waterfall reminded him of how magnificent a diamond can be; free floating and shimmering. The idea then struck him to incorporate free floating diamonds into timepieces and as he was participating in a design contest at that time, which he won – we had to create a watch with his inspiration behind it; and we selected to create a men’s watch.
Can we expect any new additions to The Red Carpet Collection, this year?
With the Red Carpet, we never use one piece more than once at a given time, because we don’t want to dress two celebrities in the same piece. Currently we have around 68 official pieces and over 500 other pieces that are worn as part of this collection at the Cannes Film Festival. For this year’s new pieces, I can’t say much except that they are stunning, we have used bright, bold colours and are focusing on long necklaces that are all currently being worked on at our workshop, as straight after Baselworld, is the Cannes festival and we need to be prepared for that.
We have all heard of The Red Carpet – but what exactly is the inspiration behind The Green Carpet collection?
The inspiration behind this collection comes straight from basic human rights. Each piece produced for the Green Carpet comes from fairmined conditions – which means we use fairmind gold, that has been harvested by workers who are provided for in terms of safety and health aspects. We started supporting these workers around two years ago, so it’s a relatively new concept for us which has resulted in a small capsule collection. The reason why our collection is small is because we only have access to around 80 kilos of gold per year, which is not a large quantity. This year we are increasing the size of the collection as our quota for fairmined gold has increased, so we are able to access more of the precious material, for example, my brother, Karl added a second watch to our collection, which is limited to 250 pieces, whereas the first fairmined gold watch was limited to just 25 pieces. Hopefully in the future two more mines get certified and we can harvest more fairmined gold from there; one mine is in Columbia whilst the other is located in Bolivia.
What was the reason behind Chopard wanting to use fairmined gold?
The reason is that nobody really cares where their products are coming from as long as it is priced reasonably. But at Chopard, our items are completely luxurious and our clients want to know where the materials for their investments have come from. At Chopard we are passionate about the environment and basic human rights – and as somebody had to start with this sensitive concept, why not it be us? We strive to set a positive example and hope conditions for all workers improve, so if we start the trend, hopefully others will follow and the conditions of our planet will be a better one as more and more companies use fairmined gold. In the future, we hope to replace all our 250 tonnes of regular gold per year, with just fairmined gold – so we still have a long way to go, but that would be one of our goals.
What was the inspiration behind the new Imperiale Collection?
The Imperiale Collection features both jewellery and watches. If you look closely on the mother-of-pearl dial of the watch, you will see a little lotus leaf. This leaf is also the seam of the jewellery line, where it forms the grill that sits over a gorgeous amethyst. So in both the product lines of this collection, we have instilled the lotus leaf motif which is found in Italian Imperiale palaces, signalling prestige, royalty and ultimate refined luxury. As we wanted to incorporate royal luxury into the collection, we settled on choosing that particular motif as well as the royal colour of purple, combining these two aspects, we were successful in our goals for this remarkable collection.
What is your favourite piece in the Imperiale collection?
My favourite piece in the Imperiale Collection has got to be the Rainbow Imperiale, with the coloured bezel full of baguette-cut sapphires. It looks stunning on the wrist and is wearable with funky coloured clothing, or with plain clothing that will turn the focus on the sparkling accessory, highlighting its presence. The dial is made from mother-of-pearl and is housed in an 18K white gold case.
What was the feedback like for The Hedgehog watch from the Animal Collection?
The feedback on the unique piece was phenomenal. There was a lot of enthusiasm and interest in it, and it sold very quickly. The Hedgehog was a work in progress for two long years as we had to find the right stones, and the right movement to incorporate into the hidden case.The end result was completely breath-taking, as the diamond encrusted dial was hidden under Moonstone spikes of various lengths and only when the snout of the animal is pushed, the Moonstone back would rise to reveal a silver hued baby hedgehog clutching the dial. We decided to complete the watch with a blue satin strap that added a touch of softness to the prickly exterior of the animal, the contrast worked and we were very happy with the finished piece.
What would you say is Chopard’s strength over its competitors?
We have many strengths over other brands in the same industry. First of all, our products are like no other. We ensure only the best quality diamonds, materials and precious gems are incorporated into our jewellery, watches and other accessories. This guarantees the value of the item and ensures customers know what they are purchasing. Secondly, Chopard as a whole is very proud of its two strong product pillars; watches and jewellery, and my brother, Karl has done very well with the different collections such as Mille Miglia. Under his guidance, the collections are growing and we are achieving high levels of innovation and creativity that is paramount to Chopard. Another strength we possess is that we have a long term partnership with the Cannes Film Festival, which is one of the most anticipated and well-known events of the year, thus our brand name appears frequently at such prestigious events. But the icing on the cake of what makes us different from other brands, is that we use fairmined gold – in the future the quantity of gold will increase, but at least we are the frontrunners of leading a campaign to use this precious material.
Can you comment on your best seller at the Doha Jewellery and Watch Exhibition? How well did Chopard do in terms of sales?
Our bestsellers belonged to the L’Heure Du Diamant collection, which features striking watches encrusted with diamonds, with the matching jewellery. There was a lot of interest in these pieces and we did remarkably well in Doha, at the exhibition. Another piece I want to highlight is the timepieces made especially for Mr Ali at Al Fardan that were crafted from pearls, this was a challenging task in which we succeeded in as each silky pearl had to be hand-picked to make sure we used the correct size, needless to say each timepiece is a unique piece that is unparalleled to any other.
Which watch would you encourage young women from the Middle East to invest in?
There are many pieces which I would recommend, but if it had to be one piece then I would choose the Happy Sport. The watch is very versatile, it can be worn for swimming or other sport activities and thanks to the free floating diamonds, which are the DNA of Chopard, this particular timepiece that can be worn every day, either in a casual environment or in an evening setting with a much formal environment. The best thing about this wrist-wear is that it can be personalised, the moving diamonds against the dial can be replaced with numbers, initials, symbols or any shape the wearer desires, making this watch a unique one of a kind piece that is suitable for every occasion.
I heard you lost a £1 million emerald ring in Hong Kong. Is this true? Can you tell us what happened and whether you replaced it?
Well that was a long time ago, but what happened was truly incredible as the person who took it must have been very bold. We were at a Chopard party, in a hotel in Hong Kong – which is usually a very safe place – but on this occasion I was in the public bathrooms when I took my ring off to wash my hands. Usually I don’t take rings off, but this time, I did and I placed it near the sink. By the time I rinsed my hands, the ring had gone! Thankfully I was insured, but it is still something I will never forget.
Where would you like to see Chopard in 5 years’ time?
Exactly where it is now – at the top! I am very proud of our success and hope to maintain this family run enterprise for many more years to come.
