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Caroline Scheufele, born in Pforzheim,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, is a German business woman. She is the artistic director and co-president of
Chopard Le Petit-Fils de L.-U. Chopard & Cie S.A., commonly known as Chopard, is a Swiss manufacturer and retailer of luxury watches, jewellery and accessories. Founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier, Switzerland, Chopard has been owned by ...
, the Swiss-based luxury watches and jewellery manufacturer. She is the daughter of Karl and Karin Scheufele, German entrepreneurs who purchased the company in 1963. During the 1980s, Scheufele expanded the business into the jewelry sector. In 1998, Scheufele redesigned the Palme d’Or for the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, and made Chopard an official event partner. Under her direction, the brand became one of the first to grow the market in sustainable luxury goods and ethical gold.


Biography


Childhood

Caroline Scheufele was born in Pforzheim in
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. Her parents managed the
watchmaking A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their part ...
company Eszeha, based in Pforzheim. In 1963, her father Karl acquired the Geneva-based watch manufacturer Chopard, and over the following years, the family traveled back and forth between Germany and Switzerland. At the age of 12, Caroline moved to
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in order to study at Geneva’s International School along with her brother Karl-Friedrich. She decided to join the family business immediately after obtaining her diploma, while enrolled in classes in
Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
and Gemmology. She completed a year of further training at Eszeha, spending time in each of the company departments, including export, packaging, after-sales service, and others while continuing to work in the Design Department. Back in Geneva, she joined her brother’s office.


Launching of the jewelry side

In 1985, she designed an articulated clown made of floating diamonds. Her father put the piece into production. The clown was the first piece of jewelry made by Chopard and marked the company’s launch into this sector. From that time onward, the company developed the jewelry side of its business, later expanding into fine jewelry.


The Palme d'Or

In 1997, Chopard opened a boutique in
Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...
. Caroline Scheufele wanted to link the boutique’s opening to the festival. She headed to Paris to meet Pierre Viot, Director of the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
. The
Palme d’Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
used to consist of a gold plated palm leaf resting on a
Plexiglas Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...
pyramid. Its
design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
had remained unchanged for 50 years. Pierre Viot invited her to redesign the
award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...
piece and she agreed. Scheufele redesigned the Palme d’Or for the Cannes Film Festival and made Chopard the official event partner from 1998 onwards. Since that time, the award has been manufactured within the company’s workshops.


2001: Co-Presidency

In 2001, Caroline Scheufele and her brother Karl-Friedrich were named co-presidents of the company. Caroline is the
artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...
in charge of fine jewelry, design and artwork, as well as
perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent ...
and accessories. Her brother is in charge of watches, innovation and business strategy. They jointly manage marketing, publicity and communications. Scheufele is also in charge of international
retail Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers, dire ...
and travels the world to introduce the brand to other countries. She has established partnerships with charitable organizations such as
Elton John AIDS Foundation The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by rock musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care a ...
,
The Prince’s Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...
, the José Carreras Leukaemia Foundation, Petra Nemcova’s
All Hands And Hearts - Smart Response All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) is a U.S. 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The organization's current structure formed in late 2017, when two existing nonprofits, All Hands Volunteers and Happy Hearts Fund merged to become All Hands and Hearts. All ...
, Natalia Vodianova’s
Naked Heart Foundation The Naked Heart Foundation is a charity that provides children in Russia with families and safe and stimulating playspaces. It does this through creating safe and inspiring play facilities in impoverished areas, supporting foster families and fam ...
, Sheikha Moza bint Nasser’s Education Above All, and the WWF.


Ethical gold

Under the direction of Scheufele, Chopard has become one of the first brands to use raw materials that meet the highest possible social and environmental standards, and supports Fairmined certified responsible gold. In 2010, the brand joined the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), which sets out a code of good conduct and promotes responsible practices. In 2011, Scheufele met Livia Firth, wife of actor
Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...
, who is involved in
sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The ...
. As the founder of Green Carpet Challenge, Livia Firth encourages brands to invest in more ethical designs. Following their encounter, Scheufele created a collection made entirely from
ethical gold An artisanal miner or small-scale miner (ASM) is a subsistence miner who is not officially employed by a mining company, but works independently, mining minerals using their own resources, usually by hand. Small-scale mining includes enterprise ...
certified by Fairmined and
diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
s from certified members of the Responsible Jewellery Council. Fairmined gold is extracted from sustainable mines supported by the
Alliance for Responsible Mining An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. Since 2014, the
Palme d’Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
has been made in Fairmined certified ethical gold. Over time, Scheufele has forged partnerships and agreements with various players operating in the responsibly extracted ethical gold market and developed the production of sustainable jewelry and watches. As of 2018, all Chopard watches and jewelry are made in 100% ethical gold.


Record

In 2015, Caroline Scheufele acquired one of the world’s largest and purest raw
diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
s from a mine in
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...
on behalf of Chopard. She used this 342-carat diamond, known as the “Queen of Kalahari”, to create a high jewelry collection that was exhibited in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
in 2018 and baptized “The Garden of Kalahari”.


References


External links

*
Sustainability is the future of higt jewellery
by Alexandre Benoit for ''Cote Magazine'', 3 août 2017 ''photographer'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Scheufele, Caroline Living people 20th-century German businesswomen People from Gstaad Women business executives German jewellery designers German business executives Perfumers 21st-century German businesswomen Year of birth missing (living people)