Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807) was one of the most important French watchmakers of the 18th century: a Swiss-born horologist who relocated to Paris, became Master Watchmaker, was named Horologer-Mechanic by Royal Warrant to King Louis XV and the French Navy, and developed marine chronometers that competed with those of John Harrison in establishing accurate longitude measurement at sea. Berthoud's surviving chronometers and his published treatises on watchmaking remain reference works in the field; original Berthoud chronometers are held in the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and other major horological collections.
In 2015 the Berthoud name was revived as Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud by Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard, who had personally collected Berthoud chronometers and saw the opportunity to revive the brand as Chopard's haute-horlogerie statement programme. The first reference, the FB 1, launched at the same time: an octagonal-cased tourbillon with chain-fusee constant force mechanism inspired by Berthoud's 18th-century marine chronometers, produced in extremely small numbers and hand-finished at Chopard's Fleurier facility to Geneva Seal (Poinçon de Genève) standard.
Today Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud operates as a separate manufacture within the broader Scheufele family ownership, located in the Chopard Manufacture in Fleurier. The catalogue spans the FB 1 tourbillon, FB 1L (linear power-reserve indicator), FB 2RE (regulator dial), FB 3SPC (sapphire-cased technical reference), and various limited editions. Production volume is extremely small: 10-20 pieces per year across the entire collection. Retail starts around CHF 250,000 and reaches into the seven figures for the most complicated references. The brand is positioned firmly at the apex of modern independent haute horlogerie alongside makers like Akrivia, Voutilainen, and Laurent Ferrier.
