Karl-Friedrich Scheufele
Recently, Chopard inaugurated its state-of-the-art service center in Miami. We wrote about it here. During that event, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele shared his thoughts in an exclusive Q & A on the brand’s progress and on his favorite timepieces.
ATP: Who is the Chopard Customer?
“We have found that there are two types of customers. Those who simply love our watches and jewelry and those with a real thirst to learn more. AS we have been bringing more visitors to the Manufacture, we find there is so much interest when people really discover how a watch is made and recognize the work that goes into it. They really become passionate about timepieces.”
ATP: You have put a great deal of emphasis on Manufacture movements and men’s watches. What is your current watch profile?
“Today, 45 percent of our production is in mechanical watches vs. quartz watches and this should continue to go up as we continue with our strong R&D. The percentage of men’s to women’s watches has also shifted so that today about 40 to 45 percent of our timepieces are men’s watches.”
ATP: Are you perpetuating history?
“We are, without at doubt, perfecting the heritage and tradition of watchmaking – a tradition that is hundreds of years old, but we are looking to the future, and devising interesting solutions to enhance precision, etc. to show that mechanical watchmaking has an important place in the modern world. There is still ground to be covered and progress to be made.”
ATP: What is your opinion of today’s craze about smart watches?
“Electronics are here today and gone tomorrow, but not mechanical watches. Mechanical watches are items that truly stand the test of time. I think that smart watches may bring young people into the watch world – and maybe they bring a new awareness of watches to these young people so they discover that the alternative to the smart watch is the mechanical watches.”
