Chopard

Chopard was founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, in the Swiss Jura, as a maker of pocket watches and chronometers. In 1963 Paul-André Chopard, with no children wishing to continue the business, sold the firm to Karl Scheufele III, a goldsmith and watchmaker from Pforzheim, and it has remained in Scheufele hands since. The Happy Diamonds concept of 1976, with loose diamonds moving freely between two sapphire crystals, became a signature of the house in both watches and jewellery, and the Mille Miglia chronographs have accompanied the Italian classic-car rally since 1988.

In 1996 Chopard opened its own movement manufacture in Fleurier, producing the L.U.C calibres, several of which carry the Geneva Seal and chronometer certification. The Alpine Eagle, an integrated-bracelet steel sports watch introduced in 2019 and derived from the St. Moritz of 1980, is the most recent addition to the core range. The company is led by co-presidents Caroline and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.