The House of Chaumet, founded in 1780, is a high end jeweler based in Paris. Their flagship store, at Place Vendome in Paris, greets visitors with a portrait of Napoleon's second wife, the Empress Marie Louise de Habsburg-Lorraine. In the painting, she is wearing jewels made for her by Chaumet founder Marie-Etienne Nitot.[1]
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History
Contemporary period : Bankruptcy, Investcorp, LVMH (1987-present day)
Managed by the Chaumet brothers Jacques and Pierre, Chaumet filed for bankruptcy in 1987 with an outstanding debt of 1,4 Billion Francs, approximately 200 Millions dollars at the time, representing 8 years of revenue. Most of the debts resulted from their speculation on the price of diamonds, after the sudden drop of market spot prices [2]. The two brothers are convicted of illegal banking activities, because they opened banking accounts for clients at their company, while promising high return on capital. One of their prominent clients was the French Justice minister at the time, Albin Chalandon. They were found guilty in French penal law of « bankruptcy, fraud, breach of trust and illegal exercise of banking activities », and were respectively condemned to five and four years of prison in a December 1991 verdict. Their sentenced was later commuted to six months in prison each, raising concerns in French newspapers about the impartiality of judges in an affair in which high-ranked politicians were involved [3].
After their fraudulous bankruptcy, Chaumet was bought in 1987 by Investcorp, Bahrein's sovereign fund. The company lost 10 Millions Francs in 1995-1997, but became profitable again in 1998, with a revenue of 280 millions de Francs, and was bought by LVMH in October 1999 [4]. After an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the American market in the end of the 1990s, the company opens stores in Asia to fuel growth.
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