Speaking thoughtfully with measured answers, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele gives the impression of a man who doesn’t like to be rushed into making decisions, and is one who prefers to err on the side of safety when it comes to his investments. It appears that only one of the two applies, as the 63-year-old fields questions on how he started and grew the Chopard Manufacture, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
Back in 1993, when Scheufele first gave the idea of starting a manufacturing facility to produce the company’s own watch movements, it was akin to starting a modern art gallery in a town full of antiquated museums. Building a watch manufacture took decades – centuries, for the most
