We all know that Chopard’s journey in the world of jewelry and watchmaking is all about excellence and precision, but nothing beats witnessing, with our very own eyes, what the creation process of the house’s designs entails. Azyaamode had the opportunity to visit Chopard Manufacture at the home of very highly respected watch manufactures, Fleurier and here’s what we learnt.
The story began in 1993, when Chopard co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele was inspired by the idea of reviving the watchmaking heritage of the company’s founder, Louis-Ulysse Chopard. He thus created this place, which required many achievements – including the production of at least one in-house mechanical movement in order to earn the title of manufacture.
Turning this dream into a reality called for a visit to Fleurier, the historical home of watchmaking since the 18th century. Back then, the Val-de-Travers region was still affected by 1970’s “quartz watch crisis”, but Karl-Friedrich Scheufele was aware of its watchmaking competence and was determined to revive it in order to develop the first in-house movement, one that is exceptional enough to meet Chopard’s philosophy and the high demands of its international clientele.
With this in mind, the fruit of this quest came in the shape of a movement equipped with a self-winding micro-rotor that provided the possibility of admiring all its intricacies and the perfect finishes of its components, as well as an oscillating weight that made it possible to create an ultra-thin version of the mechanism.
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele explained: “Since the founding of Chopard Manufacture in 1996, our Haute Horlogerie L.U.C collection has set itself the objective of offering unique solutions, whether in terms of Research and development or design. The decision taken in 1993 to opt for a self-winding micro-rotor movement is entirely in line with this wish. The fact of coupling the oscillating weight with two stacked barrels represented a complex technical solution that also expresses our passion for horological complications.”
With 1996 witnessing the rise of this star – which was first called L.U.C 1.96 then renamed L.U.C 96.01 L – Chopard Manufacture was officially born in Fleurier. Despite the risks involved in a timepiece’s creative process, Chopard is still proving that not a minute of these 20 years was wasted and every moment was invested in the quest of perfection and excellence.
