Watch connoisseurs have long appreciated Chopard’s high-quality movements. Now the company is also proficient in the serial production of its own calibres.

Your stand at Baselworld presented a wonderful exhibition on tourbillons and the expertise of the Chopard Manufacture. What have you achieved since its founding 23 years ago? 

Karl-Friedrich Scheufele: We are perceived differently nowadays, being acknowledged as a genuine manufacture brand. And we have strongly developed our technical expertise and capacities as well. Achieving manufacture status opened up entirely new possibilities for us. The initial decision was primarily motivated by our passion for watchmaking. But when 
I look 25 years back, I can see that it was also the only correct path to take from a rational point of view in order to create the necessary 
independence so crucially important for us as a family business.

Ten years ago you also founded Fleurier Ebauches. What was your motivation?

This decision was motivated by our desire to master not only the artisanal and manufacture aspects but also an industrialised and more efficient production for certain calibres. It was a very big step that we almost under­estimated. If you had asked me that question a few years ago, I would have said I was happy that our manufacture could build a tourbillon. But today I can tell you that it is an even greater achievement for us to also be able to manufacture a beautiful high quality, robust automatic movement in larger quantities.

What was the biggest challenge?

We had to invest in an entirely new production facility because we needed different technologies and different machines. The physical separation into two different buildings was a good decision because the processes are very different at Chopard Manufacture.