Chopard is celebrating its 25-year partnership with the Cannes Film Festival. Image credit: Chopard
Swiss jeweler Chopard is spotlighting its glamorous reputation by looking back on its relationship with the Cannes Film Festival, which has spanned more than two decades.
In a new vignette entitled “Chopard Legacy,” the jeweler itself gets cinematic, using beloved film techniques and footage from festivals past to illustrate its relationship with the historic event. A guide to the partnership, the vignette invites consumers into the collections inspired by the beloved festival, as well as the event's inner workings.
“The vignette shows consumers the inspiration for the designer and the connection the house has to the Cannes Film Festival and cinema in general,” said Donnie Pacheco, founder of Donnie P. Consulting, Seattle.
“It also evokes and mentions the same emotions that cinema provides viewers and draws a direct connection to the brand and the world of celebrity without directly mentioning names.”
Chopard, Cannes, cinema
The vignette, which opens much like a movie trailer, establishes an immediate cinematic feel.
While walking consumers through the 25-year partnership between Chopard and Cannes, the short film illustrates the two entities’ shared appreciation for elegance and glamour.
The house is celebrating a 25-year partnership with the Cannes Film Festival
“Chopard Legacy” runs nearly five minutes and is a deep dive into the roots of the partnership, beginning with Caroline Scheufele, president of the Swiss jeweler, connecting with the festival in the 1990s. An omniscient narrator describes the meeting as “the start of a beautiful love story.”
As footage and images of Ms. Scheufele sketching permeate, the narrator explains that she was tasked with redesigning the Palme d’Or trophy, an award that honors the best movie screened at the gathering.
The Palme d’Or trophy, an award that honors the best movie screened at Cannes. Image credit: Chopard
Redesigned in 1998, images of the trophy being presented to talented recipients over the years then come on screen. Made from ethical Fairmined-certified gold, the award is made up of rock crystals with a golden palm branch.
“She turned the festival’s emblem into a spectacular jewel,” the female narrator says.
Footage of actors receiving the Trophée Chopard, which celebrates up-and-coming talent in the film industry, also appears.
The progressions of the partnership continue unfolding on screen, explaining Ms. Scheufele’s continued inspiration from both films and the talented actors screened at the festival.
Several actresses on the festivals’ red carpets over the years are shown, including American actress and Chopard ambassador Julia Roberts.
For the festival’s 60th anniversary, Ms. Scheufele developed 60 pieces named after the iconic red carpet. The colored jewels of the Red Carpet Collection pop against the otherwise black-and-white footage.
With each year that passes, Ms. Scheufele adds a new piece to the collection.
In a testament to how both Chopard and Cannes have evolved, the president of the brand also developed the Green Carpet collection, a symbol of the jeweler’s sustainable strides.
In the past, the jeweler has used the festival as a platform to show off its latest designs and sustainable mining initiatives (see story).
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The Red Carpet Collection
In closing, the vignette walks viewers through Chopard’s presence and guidance during festival events, including the concluding party the jeweler hosts.
The short film is the ultimate celebration of the 25-year partnership, which continues to develop, serving as a symbol of a shared love for cinema and all of the glamour inherent, with Chopard jewels at the helm.
A luxurious event
Luxury and glamour can always be expected at the Cannes Film Festival.
Set in the iconic French Riviera, the festival lends itself well to the luxury sector by welcoming movie stars and a lineup of event sponsors. After the 2020 festival was canceled due to COVID-19 and the 2021 event also was impacted by pandemic restrictions, excitement was paramount as luxury brands including Kering, BMW, and Telmont look make the 75th edition especially memorable (see story).
“Chopard Legacy” offers an intimately unique view into the festival, that is somehow both inviting and aspirational.
“This vignette reflects the Chopard ethos in that it brings emotion and glamour together,” Mr. Pacheco said. “The emotions evoked at the beginning are powerful and what a consumer would think when they hear Chopard.
“The end of the vignette also talks about the event the house holds, which again ties the brand to glamour, celebrity and events.”