SIHH 2018 – Karl-Friedrich Scheufele of Ferdinand Berthoud, On The New Collection

It’s Day 2 of the SIHH, and we’ve already had a very busy morning. By now, you would have seen our video with Davide Cerrato, Manging Director of Montblanc Watches, talking us through the 2018 Montblanc collection. If you missed it, you can find it here. Now, we’re turning the spotlight on one of the smaller, but no less impressive, brands at SIHH; Ferdinand Berthoud. In this video, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele (co-CEO of Chopard) tells us a little about the history of the brand, how it came to be and what the focus of this year’s collection is. 

If you’re not familiar with the name already, Ferdinand Berthoud was an extremely talented Master Clockmaker in the mid-18^th century. More than that, however, he also had the strong desire to be a scientist and to convey his knowledge of watch and clock-making to a wider audience. In pursuit of this goal, he wrote several essays, treatises and books, whilst also continuing to create clocks and pocket watches, with a particular focus on Marine Chronometers. Such were his talents, that he was eventually commissioned as “Horloger Mécanicien du Roi et de la Marine” – Horologist-mechanic to the King and the Navy – and received a royal command for 20 marine chronometers for the French admiralty.

Although Mr. Berthoud passed away in 1807, his legacy was survived by his incredible marine chronometers. Mr. Scheufele, an avid collector of these chronometers, began to learn more about man behind their creation. Now, more than two centuries later, the Chopard Group has revived this great name and is creating a new legacy with a strong focus on chronometry. The latest novelty to debut at SIHH 2018 is the Chronometre Ferdinand Berthoud FB 1R.6-1, which will be covered in detail on MONOCHROME tomorrow. Make sure you check back then to learn all about it.