Chopard Cannes Film Festival 15-Year Partnership

Kong's report celebrates Chopard's 15-year partnership with the Cannes Film Festival, detailing the brand's deep involvement in cinema and high jewelry. This article showcases Chopard's role in crafting the iconic Palme d'Or, adorning stars, and hosting prestigious events, underscoring its commitment to the arts.

In Love With Cinema

Chopard celebrated 15 years of love with the Cannes Film Festival

Since 1998, Chopard has been enjoying a true romance with the Cannes International Film Festival. To mark the 15^th anniversary of this partnership, the watchmaker-jeweller has organised several events during the festival fortnight including a photo exhibition of the most beautiful onscreen kisses and the presentation of its new Haute Joaillerie Red Carpet collection. Chopard has also awarded its yearly Chopard Trophy to young talents in the world of cinema and has as usual crafted the Festival’s supreme award, the legendary Palme d’Or.

It all began in 1997 when Pierre Viot, President of the Festival at the time, asked Caroline Scheufele, Co-President and Artistic Director of Chopard, to redesign the Palme d’Or. The following year in 1998, when the best film in the competition was announced, the audience discovered a Palme d’Or of unprecedented beauty featuring a stem ending in a heart shape, symbolising Chopard and its love of cinema.

The Geneva-based watchmaker-jeweller united with the Festival in this endeavour and have collaborated ever since. Annually making the Palme d’Or in its workshops, adorning stars for the famous “mounting the steps” ritual, rewarding up-and-coming actors, and organising some of the hottest-ticket evening events of the festival fortnight, Chopard has become an iconic figure in the major international rendezvous of cinema and glamour.

The Palme d’Or by Chopard

The Palme d’Or, the supreme prize annually awarded to the best feature film in competition during the Festival, has been fashioned, as indeed it is each year, in the Chopard workshops and presented to Abdellatif Kechiche for Blue is the Warmest Color during the closing ceremony last May 26^th 2013. Redesigned by Caroline Scheufele for the 51^st edition of the festival in 1998, this precious, delicately curved trophy that slowly unfurls its leaves is set on a rock crystal cushion. It is undoubtedly the most coveted “gem” of the Festival. The “Mini-Palmes”, created in 2000 and awarded each year since to the Best Actor and Actress, along with the Caméra d’Or and the Chopard Trophy, are also made by the artisans of the Geneva-based firm in its Haute Joaillerie workshops.

13^th Chopard Trophy in partnership with Variety magazine – May 16^th 2013

On May 16^th, British actor Colin Firth, the patron of this ceremony, has officially presented the 13^th Chopard Trophies to Blanca Suarez and Jeremy Irvine, two promising talents on the international filmmaking scene. Marion Cotillard, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Diane Kruger and Gael Garcia-Bernal are just some of the actors to have received this distinction at the start of their careers. This year’s laureates have been chosen, in partnership with Variety magazine, by a jury of film industry professionals composed of Steve Gaydos, Executive Editor of Variety, actress Olivia Munn, producer Harvey Weinstein, director Taylor Hackford, director and screenwriter John Wells, along with Caroline Scheufele. The prize-giving ceremony has been followed by a gala evening held in the Chopard Lounge in honour of the 2013 laureates, and featuring an exclusive performance by Solange Knowles.

In Love With Cinema , a photographic exhibition of the most beautiful onscreen kisses

The first kiss in the history of film-making in 1986, shared by Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind, or the steamy lip-locking of Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct, are just a few of the unforgettable moments of love on the silver screen that Chopard and Studiocanal have offered visitors a chance to relive with the photographic exhibition entitled In Love With Cinema. Exhibited in the Chopard Lounge on the top floor of the Martinez Hotel and at the Canal + Patio near the Palais des Festivals, these pictures of iconic couples in film-making history have been thus brought together and on show throughout the 66^th Cannes Film Festival.

2013 Red Carpet Collection

Chopard loves actresses. It was with them in mind that Caroline Scheufele created the first Haute Joaillerie Red Carpet collection in 2007. Ever since it has become a yearly tradition for Chopard to unveil the latest additions to this collection at the Cannes Film Festival. These one-of-a-kind models, crafted in the jeweller’s workshops, adorn stars each evening during the famous “mounting the steps” ritual. This year, in honour of the 66^th edition of the festival, the collection featured 66 original and exclusive creations. This year, notably inspired by the theme of love, Caroline Scheufele had created jewellery sets adorned with precious stones featuring shimmering colours, heart cuts and floral motifs.“ Diamonds are still the king of the red carpet”, she quite rightly pointed out, and this gemstone has as every year been given pride of place within the Red Carpet collection.

The Chopard Lounge at the Martinez Hotel

Majestically perched above La Croisette, the top floor of the Martinez Hotel was once again home to the Chopard Lounge during the Festival. Throughout the entire fortnight, this exclusive and elegant venue hosted a number of celebrities within an exceptional setting: a luminous suite leading out to a large terrace with a spectacular view over Cannes and the Palais des Festivals. This destination is strongly associated with the festival while also enabling visitors to escape for a while from the fast paced nature of the event. It offered a unique and luxurious atmosphere, as well as unexpected encounters and a chance to savour the true magic of the Festival.

Thanks to Chopard’s partners, from the morning onward, guests were able to enjoy a Nespresso coffee or a Nestlé Water drink, sip a cup of Boizel champagne looking out over the bay, or a Grey Goose cocktail before heading off to the legendary staircase. They will also at all times be able to indulge in a pampering session with a beauty treatment by L. Raphaël, a Lancaster product or a MAVALA manicure. On the HP screens installed in the lounge, visitors were also able to view highlights of the Chopard events taking place during the festival.

amfAR gala evening – May 23^rd 2013 - Eden Roc

Each year during the Festival, the world of cinema gets together for a benefit event on behalf of amfAR and its fight against AIDS. This event is one of the most sought-after soirées of the entire fortnight. Strongly committed to charitable endeavours, Chopard was proud to be once again supporting this cause this year as co-sponsor of the event.

Closing ceremony – May 26^th 2013 – Palais des Festivals

On that particular evening, as every year, the true star of the show was the Palme d’Or, crafted in the Chopard workshops. This precious trophy, presented this year to Abdellatif Kechiche for Blue is the Warmest Co was beyond doubt the Festival’s most keenly coveted “gem”.