1, Place Vendôme : The Scheufele Family Jewel

The 1, Place Vendôme hotel is a particularly special place that achieves sublimity without ever being over the top. Dreamt up as a family home by the Scheufele family, a dynasty of watchmakers and jewelers who have been glorifying Chopard for half a century, its launch took place with the utmost discretion, as if the refinement revealed on every floor spoke for itself. Behind the blue carriage gate and wrought iron grille marked with Chopard’s C, five rooms and ten suites unfold in a historically-listed architectural ensemble that combines two buildings and has already been home to the boutique on the ground floor for twenty years. Four years of renovations were necessary to transform the place into a showcase, under the direction of decorator Pierre-Yves Rochon, who led a ballet of craftsmen, designers, artists, and sculptors, blending history with the present. Thus, upon entering, alongside a majestic 18th-century stone fireplace, one finds a Murano glass pearl necklace by Jean-Michel Othoniel. The establishment is punctuated by lounges and living spaces, a cozy library, a winter garden whose mosaic wall decor recalls Chopard’s Animal World collection, a host table with a wine cellar in the basement, and even a Chinese-inspired cigar lounge hidden behind a trompe- l’œil door, with hand-made wallpaper by De Gournay that opens onto a dream of the Orient… It all manifests a luxury of hand-sewn and chiseled details like the finest pieces of jewelry.