Chopard is a Swiss company that designs and manufactures jewelry, watches and fashion accessories. The company was founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard when he opened his first store in St. Imier in Switzerland, where he sold clocks and pocket watches. Today, the company has developed into one of the world’s leading watch manufacturers with over 5% market share worldwide.
This blog post will discuss the history of Chopard as well as their range of luxury timepieces for men and women!
Chopard’s Story: In 1874, Paul-Louis Brandt joined Ulysse Chopard’s company – then called ‘Société L.-U. Chopard et Cie “, which would start selling the watches under the name” Chopard “- a combination of their names. The company continued to grow, and in 1877 Louis-Ulysse Chopard decided to transfer his business to Paul-Louis Brandt, who in the same year became his son-in-law. Under Brandt’s leadership, the company established offices in London, San Francisco and New York (when it was still New Amsterdam). It wasn’t until 1955, when Charles Boillard joined the family business as CEO, that it became one of Switzerland’s leading manufacturers after purchasing watchmaking equipment from companies such as Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet.
In 1977, they opened a jewelry boutique in New York City. In the same year, Chopard was authorized to open a branch in Geneva to be called “Maison de la Boîte”. This boutique is still located on the Place du Rhone today and has become one of the most exclusive watch boutiques in the world with only around 20 customers a day!
In 1984 they opened their first hotel (Hotel Principe di Savoia) on Via Gesù in Milan. The following year, they entered another market by opening a chain of luxury restaurants called “Brasserie Des Alps”. All three of these ventures were overseen by Charles-Henri Boillard, who took over as CEO after his father’s death in 1979. During this time, Chopard also became the main sponsor of the Mille Miglia, which made him even more popular!
Chopard continued to grow and took over several companies: Gübelin (1976), JeanRichard (1987) and finally Lecoultre in 1993. Charles-Henri Boillard is credited with increasing Chopard’s market share from 0.38% when he became CEO to almost 15% in 1995 – largely due to an acquisition strategy. In 1997, he opened his first boutique in Paris on rue Saint Honoré – just seven years after opening his first store there! Today they have boutiques all over the world including New York, Dubai, Singapore, Seoul etc …
The biggest competition of the Chopard brands are Rolex, Cartier and Bulgari.
Chopard watches come in a wide range of styles, including both diamond-studded designs for women and more classic watches for men. The standard collection includes automatic movements or quartz movements with sapphire crystals and stainless steel (for ladies) or titanium (for men) cases. Many models also have diamonds on the dials! However, it is not only these luxurious materials that give them an advantage over competitors such as Tag Heuer – who produce many similar timepieces at significantly lower prices; Chopard has several patents when it comes to watch manufacturing technology. For example, one of the patents relates to a “transparent” dial that allows you to see all the mechanisms inside. It is this attention to detail and uniqueness that makes Chopard watches a status symbol!
Chopard’s offer also includes jewelry – necklaces, earrings, rings, etc. The most popular designs are those made in pink or white gold – because they match any outfit!
The future of Chopard looks bright. Recently, they have expanded their activities to new markets and every year they release new collections that stay up-to-date with the latest fashion trends!