Chopard Debuts Its Fifth Avenue Flagship
It wasn’t an easy decision or process relocating the Chopard flagship from Madison Avenue to Fifth Avenue.
“I said today to Jean-Baptiste, I will have trouble walking past our corner on Madison Avenue because it was a beautiful journey on Madison,” said Caroline Scheufele, artistic director and copresident of Chopard, referring to Jean-Baptiste Maillard, chief executive officer of Chopard USA. “I love Madison Avenue, but it seems that tourists, they go to Fifth Avenue and that’s it. There are completely different people walking on Fifth Avenue than we had on Madison. Here we get all this mix, and it’s no accident that we just launched a new line My Happy Hearts, for the very young clients. It’s super cool and affordable. On Madison maybe we had more regular clients, but I am sure they will come to Fifth.”
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There is also the advantage of being in proximity to other prominent Fifth Avenue jewelers notably Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany & Co. and Cartier. “Tomorrow I am going to stroll around a bit, but I think I will take a handkerchief,” Scheufele said half-jokingly, in case she passes the former Madison site. To her, relocating a flagship is like leaving one home for a new one.
Chopard’s former New York flagship, for 15 years on the corner of Madison and 63rd Street, closed last August. The new flagship is at 730 Fifth Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets, in the historic Crown Building and site of the new Aman Hotel. The two-level flagship had a soft opening in early September and will be officially celebrated in December. There’s 1,279 square feet on the main floor and 1,143 square feet on a lower level, where the most expensive statement pieces and men’s high watches are presented.
Aside from the high jewelry and watches, most striking is what’s suspended from the ceiling — 400 custom-made Murano white and gold leaves.
“We wanted something very light. If you put two big chandeliers in here it would have looked very stuffy. We had to bring something very different, like a yin and a yang. First we tried all white and it didn’t look precious enough and then we tried all gold and that was too much. So then we said let’s go half and half, half gold and half white.”
Also impressive are the rich mahogany and brass vitrines, Italian marble floors, and the soaring 16.4-foot high ceiling.
The amethyst tables are another unique touch “to blend in with everything that is very statuary,” Scheufele said. “I put them in every boutique now. If somebody comes in with bad energy, the amethyst absorbs it. It’s a very good stone but did you know you have to clean them once a month with salt? I’m supposed to know everything about gemstones. Some things I am still learning.”
Upon entering the store, there’s the Happy Hearts and Happy Icons diamond collections and the latest collection, My Happy Hearts, a younger, more affordable line, followed by timepieces and other jewelry. Downstairs, there’s an area featuring the L.U.C, Alpine Eagle, and Mille Miglia watch collections, and a private room for high jewelry with pieces from the Red Carpet Collection.
The 162-year-old Swiss luxury jeweler and watchmaker operates 167 stores worldwide, 85 of which are company owned. “We have a new vision to adapt the stores to the place,” Scheufele said. “Here you feel a little bit of New York,” owing to its “modernized” Art Deco look, its height and prime location in the Crown Building.
The flagship was supposed to open months ago but there were construction and shipping delays. “We had a COVID-19 problem in the middle but it’s also somehow very bad or strange to say, thanks to COVID-19 in a way we got the store. Things were shifting. Honestly, there were a lot of things on the table being discussed. It was a big step to move from Madison, which was a very special store, big, with a lot of windows. But being on Fifth in a very historical building we really wanted to pay homage to where we are now and bring something very modern, very fluid, very fresh. So when you walk in, it’s feel-good vibes.”
Though pleased with the outcome, Scheufele said, “I think New York is one of the hardest places to construct something.”
Asked if it was a very expensive project, she replied, “It was not a small number but not crazy crazy.”
Having an in-house design team, including her brother and copresident Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, means Chopard doesn’t have to spend big outsourcing. “We save a couple of zeros in the process.”
In addition, “We try to construct and produce as much as possible with sustainable, ethically sourced and recycled materials. It’s a journey we started a couple of years ago with the production of high jewelry and complicated watchmaking, and whatever else we do we try to leave as small a footprint as possible, and that you can only do if you control everything yourself.
“I am always respectful to the gemstones that I have the pleasure to work with because it comes from earth. It’s not something we created at all. We just make them more beautiful if possible but it’s really something from the planet. Not man-made. No. No. No. That is totally not interesting. Sustainability-wise, you know how much energy they use to make a man-made diamond, a huge amount of energy. It’s not sustainable. We are a family-owned company so we look at things from a different perspective, our employees belong to the family, they are not numbers. if you visit the ateliers, you can feel it.”
