one hundred and fifty years is
not a short time. Well, it’s a
mere blip for planet Earth,
but for us humans it’s really
a long duration. For a Manufacture
completing a century and a half is no
mean achievement. An event worth celebrating
in an industry that has a plethora
of luxury brands vying for attention.
Celebrations have already begun for
Chopard, one of Switzerland’s largest
independent watchmaker and makers of
luxury jewellery. The brand, founded in
1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard, is revving
up for a 2010 marked by festivities and
new collections, including new timepieces
and one-of-a-kind high jewellry pieces.
Chopard kicked the celebrations off
during BaselWorld, where the brand hosted a fete featuring performances by
Spanish tenor Jose Carreras and flamenco
dancer Sara Baras. During the event,
models sauntered through the Musical
Theatre Basel, bedecked in creations from Chopard's special 150th anniversary
collection, the haute joaillerie ‘Animal World Collection’. The collection features a total |
of 150 unique animal-themed
pieces, with each design drawing on
Chopard's experience, mixing tradition
and advanced techniques. Thus, we have a
veritable coterie of species, from cats and
giraffes to parrots and bees, rendered as
jewelled bracelets, necklaces, brooches,
earrings and rings.
To go along with the jewellery collection,
the brand has created a complementary
watch collection comprising 15
timepieces featuring original designs
imbued with fanciful creatures, including
monkeys, polar bears and penguins.
Those aren't the only new anniversary
timepieces. Chopard is also introducing
four new calibres. The move is a notable
one, Chopard said, given that the simultaneous presentation of four new
in-house made mechanical movements is
an extremely rare occurrence in the
field of fine watchmaking.
The 150 years of Chopard’s history
to date have been punctuated by many
decisive moments. 1937 was one of these pivotal years, since that was when the |
founder’s grandson Paul-André
Chopard chose to leave the Jura region
where Louis-Ulysse Chopard set up his
first workshop, in order to establish
the brand in Geneva. It was in the latter
canton that Chopard subsequently
built its current success. In tribute to this
landmark event in its history, the
Manufacture presents the L.U.C. 1937
model, with its pure, understated lines,
embodying a significant facet of the company’s watchmaking history.
The 42 mm-diameter steel case of the
L.U.C. 1937 model features an innovative
profile with a screw-lock crown off-set
at 4 o’clock, ensuring optimal comfort
on the wrist and guaranteeing water
resistance to 100 metres. It is adorned
with a vertical satin-brushed finish on the
sides, along with polished lugs and a
sapphire crystal case-back. The slate grey
dial is distinguished by a sunburst satinbrushed
motif centred around the
Chopard logo at 12 o’clock, and by
applied Roman numerals. Protected by a |
