Making It Haute

More than 20 years ago, Chopard's co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele dreamt of building a lasting horological legacy for his company. The rewards have been far greater than he could have imagined.

- Alvin Wong

KARL-FRIEDRICH SCHEUFELE OUGHT to be raring to see what 2023 brings. In Singapore late last year for a whirlwind week of meetings that culminated in a gala dinner, the genial 64-year-old co-president of Chopard exuded quiet contentment, buoyed possibly by jubilant news from his company's watchmaking divisions.

The weekend earlier in Geneva, he had attended the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (the Academy Awards equivalent of watch shows) and walked away with the Mechanical Exception prize for the FB 2RSM.2-1 by Ferdinand Berthoud, a brand he relaunched in 2016. It was the fourth Ferdinand Berthoud watch to win at the annual awards show. Days later at a luncheon in Singapore, he introduced Chopard LUC's trio of highly exclusive and technically sophisticated chiming watches, the most complex horological undertaking by the company yet. What made Scheufele even more proud, was that a full set comprising all three models had just been sold to a collector.

"Well, every peak hides another," he replied. with characteristic understatement when quizzed if the rash of good news felt like a new milestone. "It is about discovering new heights each time."

Since taking over as Chopard's co-president in 2001 with his sister, Caroline, Scheufele was determined to build a future where the brand's fine watches occupied a position as eminent as its famed jewellery creations. Decades later, he has achieved that and more.