CHARRIOL WATCHES
Charriol is an independent luxury watch and jewelry brand that combines Swiss precision with French flair to produce timepieces in its signature, patented steel cable. The iconic and proprietary style was developed in 1983 by enterprising founder Philippe Charriol, whose expansive vision continues today under the leadership of his daughter Coralie.
Forty years after its founding, each piece is handcrafted in the heart of Switzerland’s watchmaking region. With over 100 boutiques and 1500 established points of sale around the world, Charriol offers a rarity in the luxury watch market – a female-run heritage brand that offers artisanal craftsmanship and engineering expertise on an ambitious global scale.
CHARRIOL was established in 1983 by French entrepreneur Philippe Charriol and remains an independent family business. Until his demise in February 2019, the company had been led by Philippe Charriol, together with family members – wife Marie-Olga Charriol in Public Relations, daughter Coralie Charriol-Paul as Creative Director and son Alexandre Charriol as Visual Director.
CHARRIOL’s signature motifs include the CELTIC® Collection and iconic, patented gold and steel cable designs that offer a modern tribute to the artistry of the Celts, an ancient European civilization. CHARRIOL jewelry is crafted in Switzerland and Germany; timepieces are handmade in Switzerland.
Charriol international headquarters are based in Geneva, Switzerland, with a Hong-Kong distribution subsidiary for mainland China.
In 1983, Philippe Charriol left his position as executive director of a prestigious watch and jewellery company to find his own company. Rather than aiming small and striving to make a name for himself on Paris’ Place Vendôme, Philippe preferred to conquer a whole continent: Asia. This bold execution idea was based on a deep knowledge of the region, coupled with vision and foresight of this market’s potential. Geneva was chosen for Production, home to the historic cradle of watchmaking and synonymous with the most prestigious watch brands.
Early success achieved in Japan and in South-East Asia enabled Philippe to later establish a significant presence in the American and Middle Eastern markets before taking his brand to the rest of the world.
In the 90’s, 10 years after starting his company, he added a new challenge by entering the world of motorsports, another passion close to Philippe’s heart. He participated in several international events where he drove his Lamborghini Diablo and Corvette Z06 on the European circuits. Philippe took part in the Andros Trophy (French national ice-racing) for 12 years, in the F.I.A. GT Championship and in the Championnat de France Grand Tourisme, and was named French Champion in the GT3 category in 1992.
In 2011, Philippe let create a unique car for GT & Endurance racing: the CHARRIOL SF10 designed by French designer Yacouba to compete around the European endurance circuits. This passion for speed has informed CHARRIOL’s sponsorship of numerous motorsports events, and provided design inspiration for several remarkable CHARRIOL watches.
A thirst for knowledge, culture and history gave rise to the unique cable twist motif inspired by ancient Celtic art and which is now synonymous with CHARRIOL style. Finest examples of these are seen in the CELTIC® and ST-TROPEZ™ pieces.
A love of discovery and entrepreneurship were the inspiration behind CHARRIOL’s bold adventurer timepieces such as COLVMBUS™, ACTOR™ and KUCHA™. Sport and passion have driven the Maison’s continual development into chronometers and sponsorship, resulting in timepieces such as the Chrono SuperSports™ and Gran Celtica™ Chrono.
On 27th February 2019, Philippe Charriol died in a racing accident on the Circuit Paul Ricard race track in le Castellet, France.
In 2019 and after two decades as Creative Director, Coralie Charriol-Paul stepped into the role of CEO of Charriol.
The brand’s flagship watch collections are CELTIC®, FOREVER™, NAVIGATOR and ST TROPEZ®. CHARRIOL Watches retail price range is $1,000 to $30,000.
Charriol New Watch Models
