Interview: Brand Talk with Chopardand#039;s Caroline Scheufele

p/p pandnbsp;/p pThe universe of Chopard is more than just watches and jewellery. From leather goods to scarves, pens to eyewear, and now a hotelandmdash;this Swiss brand is keen to make its mark in the realm of luxury lifestyle. Its Artistic Director and Co-President, Caroline Scheufele talks about the evolving strategy, e-commerce, and of course, sustainability./p pandnbsp;/p pHer last visit to India was around eight years ago; much has changed since then, in India as well as at Chopard. "About two years ago, we took back our distribution here. So this is the first time I'm visiting our partners directly. This is important, as we are a family business and they need to put a face to the brand," shares Scheufele, while disclosing details of her packed schedule, which included talking to the media, meeting with high-profile clients in three cities, and a visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra./p pandnbsp;/p pThe 154-year-old business has created a brand that's well-known and beloved by Indians. "They love the Happy Sport! In the men's range, they appreciate the mechanical designs in the L.U.C collection. They also like the L'Heure du Diamant, which is the more classical design with a contemporary spin on it," she states./p pandnbsp;/p pstrongThe Odd One /strongbr /What makes Chopard an exception in the world of luxury is its independent identity. As one of the few remaining family- owned businesses, it focuses on organic growth driven by a constantly evolving strategy. Apart from its selection of watches and jewellery, the Swiss maison offers leather goods, clocks, silk accessories, eyewear, cufflinks, writing instruments and fragrances. And that's not all. Her brother and co-president, Karl- Friedrich Scheufele's passion for vintage cars led to the company's sponsorship of the Mille Miglia race and the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique. An oenophile, he's opened three specialist wine shops under the name Le Caveau de Bacchus, and together with his wife Christine, acquired a wine estate in 2012./p pandnbsp;/p pIn 2015, Chopard purchased the five-star Handocirc;tel de Vendandocirc;me in Paris. Although a significant move for the brand, Scheufele is quick to dismiss any rumours about the possibility of a chain of hotels, "We're going to keep the original name. Buying the hotel doesn't mean that we want to move into the hotel business. We bought the hotel because it was on sale and it houses our flagship boutique in Paris-the address is Place Vendandocirc;me No 1. So we really wanted to make sure that we continue to keep our location of the boutique (laughs)." So what's it like to run a five-star hotel? She admits, "It's a challenge; it's a different business."/p pandnbsp;/p pstrongChanging Scenarios /strong/p pCognisant of the dynamic markets, Chopard's assortment of designs reveals a more youthful facet. For instance, last year, Happy Hearts flaunted a whole new look by combining diamonds and hearts with turquoise, mother-of-pearl and onyx in expressions of sautoir necklaces, bracelets and earrings./p pandnbsp;/p pWas it a response to a changing consumer profile? "I don't think the consumer is changing, but there's definitely potential among younger customers. So we have to set the right price for them. After all, once they buy their first Chopard product, they'll probably pick up something more important later on." Without having to try too hard, Chopard's archives have a lot to offer the aspiring luxury clientele. The Happy Sport, for one, remains eternally chic with its iconic moving diamonds. "Happy Sport is for the young, but it is 22 years old. The watch-the design itself-is young and fresh, but the communication needs to match the philosophy of the watch too," feels Scheufele./p pandnbsp;/p pIn her opinion, luxury has become more democratic. "The days are over where one would wear their diamond ring with an evening gown only. I think one can easily wear diamond jewellery with jeans and a T-shirt. I think you can mix the shades of gold. One can mix costume jewellery with high jewellery pieces. There are no more stereotypes or rules one has to follow. There are no more boundaries," she elaborates./p pandnbsp;/p pThis holds just as true for retail; e-commerce presents itself as an exciting medium to reach out to a larger audience. Furthermore, without the restrictions of a physical retail store, the brand is able to offer a mix of designs; this strategy has reaped success in the US. "In the online space in the US, oddly enough, we sell more jewellery than watches. Of course, it's the well-known, core range-the Happy Diamonds pendants, little bracelets and earrings. Of course, there are the Happy Sport and the Mille Miglia, but volume-wise, it's more jewellery than watches," Scheufele states. The success in the US led them to expand in the UK in the spring of last year. She adds, "Now we are looking at China, because, there again, you have a similar structure as India. It's a very big country-large population, very dynamic, lot of traffic, and busy lifestyles. It's only a matter of time before we implement this here as well." Like all of its other initiatives, it's evident that Chopard will take its time to get it right the first time./p p style="text-align: center;"andnbsp;/p p style="text-align: center;"/p p style="text-align: center;"emHappy Sport 30mm Automatic/em/p pandnbsp;/p pstrongSustainable Future/strong/p pOver the years, Chopard has placed itself at the forefront of the ethical luxury movement. The Fairmined Initiative demonstrated that it's possible to combine eco- friendly and ethical practices with the exacting standards of luxury. She reveals, "As I've said before, luxury should be transparent." Presently, she's busy working on the Green Carpet Challenge-the introduction of Fairmined gold into different areas of Chopard, not only in high jewellery, but watches as well. She adds, "My brother's vision is to produce all the L.U.C watches in Fairmined gold; my vision is to use Fairmined gold to produce all our jewellery plus more!" Between the two, they've certainly set themselves a tall task!/p pandnbsp;/p pDespite their eagerness to adapt all their designs to Fairmined, she is well aware that this is a slow, ongoing process. "That's why we call it The Journey. We need to have access to more Fairmined gold; as we speak, there are two more mines that have been added-one in Colombia and another in Bolivia. So in 2016, we will have more gold; and obviously, we can make more products using Fairmined gold," she shares./p pandnbsp;/p pSince it was first introduced, the idea has caught on. "Our employees in production know how to handle it; it's no longer an unknown concept or idea. When I say andlsquo;handle it', in high jewellery it was really easy because everything is handmade; but in production, a lot of things are made in machines. So we have to separate this gold from conventional gold. So people have to be aware in order to stop the machine and clean it before they can use it for the andlsquo;green gold'," she explains./p pandnbsp;/p pThis is especially germane to Chopard since a number of projects are undertaken simultaneously. Under the impetus of the sibling duo, Chopard looks ready to grow even more. Of course, it will do so in an ethically mindful fashion./p pandnbsp;/p pstrongMore On andgt;andgt; a href="http://www.luxpresso.com/watches" target="_blank"Watches/a/strong/p

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