Swiss high jewellery and watch manufacturer Chopard has a long history in the Middle East. It was one of the first international brands to open a store in the UAE, and that relationship has continued for decades.
Today, the brand, which was founded in 1860, and brought by the Scheufele family in 1963, is spearheaded by second-generation family members Caroline Scheufele and Karl Scheufele, who share the responsibilities of the company between them.
Caroline is also the brand’s Artistic Director, overseeing the creative processes at the brand and designing the company’s annual Red Carpet High Jewellery collection, which launches at the Cannes Film Festival each year.
This month, however, Caroline is focused firmly on the Middle East, as she arrives in Dubai for the relaunch of Chopard’s boutique in Dubai Mall. Alongside Friend of the Brand, Bella Hadid, the Co-President reopened the meticulously designed store. Ahead of the opening, we caught up with Caroline to discuss the brand’s relationship with the Middle East, as well as the latest collections and what’s to come for 2025.
What does this market mean to you and how do you connect with your customers here?
The UAE is one of our oldest and first Middle Eastern markets. We opened our very first boutique in the WAFI centre in Dubai many years ago. It was opened by my father. There is a lot of history between Chopard and Dubai. There has been much change, growth and friendship – it’s about more than business. We are very excited to reopen the Chopard store in Dubai Mall with a completely new look. The team has done an incredible job, and of course, we have an incredible friend of the brand here with us to open the store.
Tell us about the new store – what are some of the new elements and changes?
For some time now, instead of repeating the same elements in each store around the world, we have used the concept of being inspired by the city that the store is in. So even though the basis of each store is the same, when you go to Paris, you should feel that you are in Paris, and when you go to London, you should feel that you are in London, and now, when you come to Dubai, you can feel that you’re in Dubai. We have beautiful artwork by a local artist, and there are some elements – small details – that are inspired by the country. When people go shopping, it’s an experience, and they want to remember something about the shop they visit in a particular destination.
We are also making more and more limited edition pieces for particular cities or stores. It’s something we have done in Dubai for many years – a special coloured dial, pieces with Arabic writing, pieces that connect to the world of horse riding or are inspired by architecture – it was one of the first markets that we did this. It has been very successful, and it’s something we want to do more of.
Who is your customer in the UAE today?
Today in Dubai, our customer is the whole world! Especially when you go to Dubai Mall, and hear languages from Europe, America, Asia, and Russia – everything is melting together, and this was not the case some years ago. It’s completely multicultural and it’s fascinating. So our customers could be anyone from anywhere, and they could also be women of different age groups, especially with the launch of the Ice Cube collection, which is targeted at the younger generation. We have customers who are collecting watches, customers who are looking for unique pieces and then we have their daughters or their granddaughters who have got to know Chopard through their parents and are interested perhaps in the Happy Sport or Ice Cube collections – so it’s really multigenerational.
Tell us about the Ice Cube collection – why was it important for the brand to launch this and target the younger market?
Well, because they are the clients of tomorrow! It’s nice to see younger generations interested in our brand, and remember; the younger generation is very influential on their parents.
The Ice Cube collection has actually been at Chopard since the 1990s. It started with a high-end jewellery watch – The Cube – many years ago. It was completely set with baguette diamonds. Then, we made different iterations of this watch, and we started creating jewellery pieces to complement the watches. It’s a collection that has always been there, but if you look at it, you feel like it has just been invented today, and it has this incredibly modern appeal. That’s a sign for me that a collection is a success – you can reinvent it at any time, and it still feels new and contemporary. What is new with Ice Cube, however, is the stacking and the way it is worn today.
Tell us about the 2024 High Jewellery collection, which launched earlier this year.
We launch the Red Carpet collection in Cannes each year at the Cannes Film Festival. Every year, there is a theme and some years, it can be mind-boggling to come up with ideas, but this year, actually for me, it was easy. I went back to my childhood and how people want to dream and feel cocooned – especially with so much turmoil in the world – and we arrived at the theme of fairytales. I thought about stories that my mum used to read before bedtime, and this was the inspiration. It was a fantastic theme. It was very straightforward, and next year’s theme is also very straightforward but I can’t tell you about that yet!
What else is coming up this year and into 2025 that you can tell us about?
We are almost at the end of a very busy 2024. We have the Red Sea Film Festival coming up, which is an incredibly fast-growing event that I must say is very well organised. So, I think I’ll be back in the Middle East one more time this year. We are working on new boutiques and renovating old boutiques, which is an ongoing process. We just launched a beautiful new watch in Mexico – it’s very cool – a one-off minute repeated based on skulls. We will have a big exhibition over the new year in St. Barths. All of our markets are very busy!
We know that brand ambassadors are very important to Chopard – how do you select them, and how do you think they help support what the brand is doing?
I would actually call them Friends of the Brand because we often get approached by them, meaning they follow the brand, and they like what we are doing and would probably wear our products, even if they weren’t officially working for us. I think this is really important because it has to be a good match. You have to wear something that goes with your personality and that you like. I don’t want any of our ambassadors just to be a pretty face – they have to have a character and personality, beauty inside, not only outside.
And you have Bella Hadid here with you in Dubai for the store opening – why do you feel she is a good fit for the brand?
Bella has been a face of the brand for a few years now, and she really loves Chopard. She is a perfect fit for the Ice Cube collection.
And then, of course, we have beautiful Julia Roberts. When we were launching the Happy campaign it was all about a smile. Many beautiful actresses were suggested to front this campaign, and I said, ‘the most beautiful smile is missing: Julia Roberts’. The team told me: ‘No, she doesn’t do anything like this,’ but we had a relationship with her because she liked the brand and she loved the initiatives we have around sustainability and ethical gold, so we talked to her, and it worked!
And now we are working with someone else who I can’t say yet, but it’s someone who contacted us first, and that I would say is a result of us being at the Cannes Film Festival for 27 years. We are there for young talents when nobody knows who they are, and we get older together!
We know sustainability is very important to the brand – what can you tell us about the latest developments around that?
It’s an ongoing journey. We have perfected our ethical gold, but the journey does not end there. Two years ago, we launched our ethical Lucent Steel. It is, in fact, a more beautiful steel because it’s much harder and manufactured differently.
Our diamond sourcing process is more or less under control, but with coloured gemstones, there is still a lot to be done. Every year, we focus on a different stone – we have done opals, emeralds, rubies – but there is still a lot to do, and it takes time – countries are involved, governments are involved, so we have to take it step by step.
What’s the biggest challenge you face today?
To come up with new ideas that have not been done before. And using new materials. We were the first company to set diamonds into titanium in our high jewellery, which was a completely new process, and we are trying to stay on top of that creativity. Even as we grow, we must maintain the quality and keep our values and family spirit.
Controlling distribution is also a challenge. There are so many new challenges that need to be controlled with the internet and social media, and it’s still an unknown area in many ways.
How do you balance staying true to the brand’s heritage with being modern and creating for the younger generations?
It’s a very thin line to walk on. Thankfully, I have still not run out of ideas! Actually, I always have too many, which is a good problem. I think one thing that sets us apart from others is that we produce everything in-house. If you visit our manufacturer, you will see everything from watchmaking to stone-cutting, to high jewellery making, and gold making, all under one roof – it’s very special, and if you visit, you will see how proud people are to work with us. Many of our artisans trained with us, and they are still with us after 20 or 30 years.
Is there anything you would still like to do?
Well, I’m doing it with our fashion collection. It’s a completely different animal, and I have stepped out of my comfort zone, which is challenging. It’s fun, but it’s another world for me – it’s working, though, and it’s also a first. I approach it with the same ethics as making high jewellery or watches to make sure it’s sustainable.
What would be your message to readers to know about Chopard in 2025?
We always surprise!
