Chopard is a Swiss watchmaker and jewellery maker
founded in 1860 in Sonvilier by Louis-Ulysse Chopard,
originally known for making ladies' watches and pocket
watches. In 1963, Chopard was sold to Karl Scheufele,
a watchmaker from Pforzheim, Germany. The Scheufele
family have owned the company up to the present day.
The company is headquartered in Geneva and has a site
in Fleurier, Canton of Neuchâtel that manufactures watch
movements.
The company founder, Louis-Ulysse Chopard, was a Swiss
watchmaker who grew up in Sonvilier, a town near Bern. In
1860, he established his L.U.C manufacturing company in
Sonvilier, having observed that it was more profitable to
market the finished watch than to just make the mechanical
movement.
After Louis-Ulysse's death in 1915, the company was taken
over by his son Paul-Louis and grandson Paul-André. The
company specialised in making pocket watches and ladies’
wristwatches. In 1921, Paul-Louis moved the company
operations to a larger town, Chaux-de-Fonds, in the Canton
of Neuchâtel. In 1937, at that time a company of 150
employees, the company relocated to Geneva. This enabled
the movements made by the company to be certified with
the Geneva Seal, a mark applied only to watch movements
made in the Canton of Geneva. Paul-André took over the
company in 1943.
In 1963, having no children who wished to continue in the
business, Paul-André Chopard sold it to Karl Scheufele III, a
German goldsmith and watchmaker from Pforzheim, who was
seeking a watch movement manufacturer exclusively for his
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