Style Edit: How Chopard elevates high jewellery, from using ‘ethical’ gold to the celeb-approved Red Carpet collection, worn by Mariah Carey and Julia Roberts
- Chopard’s signature My Happy Hearts range started off as a playful doodle by co-president Caroline Scheufele when she got bored during a board meeting
- The Swiss maison’s dreamy Red Carpet collection comprises rare pieces worn by some of the most glittering stars in the world, from Julia Roberts to Mariah Carey
You may know Chopard as a purveyor of show-stopping stones and one-of-a-kind diamonds but the Swiss maison, founded in 1860, originated as a watchmaker and only started making jewellery in the 1980s.
It was then that a teenage Caroline Scheufele, today the artistic director and co-president of Chopard, began to get involved in the company that her parents Karl and Karin Scheufele had acquired in 1963, as she explains in an interview on a recent trip to Hong Kong.
One day she drew a little clown, which her father took to the workshop as a new design concept – and not only a surprise gift for the future designer and heir.
“Then I was wearing it, and as a family business we often had clients for lunch or dinner and they saw it,” she remembers. “Then one day I went to the workshop, which I used to love to visit after school, and saw these jewellery clowns and my dad said, ‘It’s a commercial piece, you will see’.”
Little did she know that what started as a teenager’s whim would turn into a huge part of the business, from high jewellery creations gracing the red carpet to accessible collections such as the My Happy Hearts range – another of her designs, which has gone on to become a Chopard signature.
Scheufele recalls how one day she was sitting in a “boring” board meeting and while doodling on a piece of paper, she came up with the idea for My Happy Hearts. “We made long chains with empty hearts and I thought of filling them with colours, so that’s how it happened,” she says. “When you launch a boutique line there are parameters like price limits, competition and something that has to appeal to the younger generation so it’s not just like working with rare and beautiful stones.”
While Scheufele is able to give free rein to her creativity when designing the stunning high jewellery creations that the brand showcases every year at the Cannes Film Festival and other events around the world, she also enjoys making items that have a wider audience and that ultimately drive the business.
The brand’s Red Carpet Collection, however, is what creates the dream. We’re talking about extremely rare pieces that will be worn by some of the most beautiful stars in the world – from Julia Roberts to Mariah Carey – and then acquired by in-the-know collectors drawn to them for their craftsmanship and creative spirit.