{{Short description|Swiss watchmaker and entrepreneur}} {{Infobox person | name = Louis-Ulysse Chopard | birth_name = | birth_date = 4 May 1836 | birth_place = | death_date = {{d-da|30 January 1915|4 May 1836}} | death_place = | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Entrepreneur<br>[[watchmaker]] | known_for = Founder of [[Chopard]] | spouse = | children = 2 | mother = Henriette | father = Félicien Chopard }}
'''Louis-Ulysse Chopard''' (4 May 1836 – 30 January 1915) was a Swiss [[watchmaker]] and entrepreneur who was the founder of the luxury manufacturing and retail corporation [[Chopard]].
==Biography== Louis-Ulysse Chopard was the second son of Félicien Chopard and his wife Henriette, who had four children. Félicien was an experienced framer and a man of tradition who encouraged his sons to learn the watchmaking trade.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/supplement/story/20120903-swiss-jeweller-watchmaker-chopard-switzerland-watch-timepieces-759521-2012-08-22| title=Discover the Origins of Chopard| newspaper=India Today| access-date=8 June 2014| first=Varoon| last=Anand| date=3 September 2012}}</ref>
As a young man, Louis-Ulysse Chopard quickly grasped the fact that it was the comptoirs or watch dealerships that earned the greatest profit from the work of the framers.<ref>{{cite journal| url=http://www.luxos.com/magazine/brand-history-chopard-andquot-a-passion-for-excellence| journal=Luxos Magazine| title=Brand History - Chopard| accessdate=8 June 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110132522/http://www.luxos.com/magazine/brand-history-chopard-andquot-a-passion-for-excellence| archive-date=10 November 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref> Each spring, the agents picked up the [[Movement (clockwork)|movements]], fitted the dials and hands, cased up the finished movements and they marketed the finished watches. It was therefore better to work independently and Louis-Ulysse wanted his brand. He created his L.U.C manufacturing company in [[Sonvilier]], [[Switzerland]] at the age of 24, in 1860.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.interwatches.com/chopard-history| publisher=Interwatches| title=History of Chopard| accessdate=8 June 2014}}</ref>
No watches were mass-produced but his clever blend of artistry and functionality soon won over a large number of customers. Having grasped that foreign markets represented the future of his timepieces, he set off to canvass customers in [[Eastern Europe]], [[Russia]] and [[Scandinavia]]. In 1912, he visited [[Poland]], [[Hungary]] and the [[Netherlands]] with his finest creations.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.chopard.com/en/chopard/atraditionofexcellence.aspx| title=Chopard - A Tradition of Excellence| publisher=Chopard| accessdate=8 June 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124160607/http://www.chopard.com/en/chopard/atraditionofexcellence.aspx| archive-date=24 January 2013| url-status=dead}}</ref> Chopard [[Chronometer watch|chronometers]] and watches marked the passing of time at the court of [[Nicholas II of Russia]]. Louis-Ulysse Chopard had won himself an international clientele.
In 1859 and 1870 he had two children, Paul-Louis and Ida Hélène.
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopard, Louis-Ulysse}} [[Category:1836 births]] [[Category:1915 deaths]] [[Category:Swiss watchmakers (people)]] [[Category:19th-century Swiss businesspeople]] [[Category:Place of birth missing]] [[Category:20th-century Swiss businesspeople]]