Philippe Charriol dies in a car accident on the Formula 1 track at Le Castellet ♦ ︎
A famous name disappears in the world of jewelry: Philippe Charriol, founder of the Swiss luxury brand Charriol. The cause of death is not a disease, unless you consider a passion for racing to be a disease. Charriol, in fact, died in an accident driving his racing car on the Paul Ricard circuit of Le Castellet, home to the Formula 1 French Grand Prix. Charriol was born in 1942 and founded his Maison in 1983, as a multi-product brand for Swiss watches, jewelery, accessories, perfumes, and even wines. In a short time he built a small empire of luxury.
The idea of founding a brand of jewelry for the entrepreneur came after having worked for 15 years for Cartier, as general manager and president of the brand for the Asian market.
After leaving Cartier, it took seven years to open the first Charriol boutique in Hong Kong in 1990. But then the business took off and the brand opened offices in cities like Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Doha and Riyadh, followed by Geneva, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Mumbai, Las Vegas. Charriol was also a forerunner of online sales: it was the first Swiss watch and jewelery brand to highlight its e-commerce platform in 2008. But alongside the passion for jewelry, the entrepreneur continued to cultivate that for race cars, almost at a professional level. He will be buried in Marseille.
The work in Charriol continues with his sons Coralie (creative director), Alexandre (visual director) and Laetitia, and his wife Marie-Olga Charriol (director of public relations).
