Chopard: The 40th Anniversary of Happy Diamonds

Every jewellery house regularly releases more and more new collections, but only a few of them become revolutionary or iconic. A striking example of an exceptional jewellery concept is the Happy Diamonds collection by Chopard, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The unique idea has transformed over the course of a long period of time, creating, in the process, a genuine legend.

The idea for Happy Diamonds was taken by the Chopard designer, Ronald Kurowski, from a forest waterfall in the Black Forest in 1976. He had been fascinated and enchanted by the collision of water and sunlight on its surface. Thousands of drops of water reflected the light of day and sparkled with all the colours of the rainbow.   Translating the poetry of nature into the language of jewellery, he came up with a watch for men, Happy Diamonds de Chopard, in a black and white colour scheme. Stones in a bezel setting freely shifted between two layers of sapphire glass without interfering with the hands.

“This diamonds are happier when they are free” – exclaimed Caroline Sheufele, when she first set eyes upon the completed Happy Diamonds watch. She was not the only one to be won over by the created effect. The success of the design idea was confirmed by the prestigious Golden Rose of Baden-Baden award in 1976. The direct and vivid sparkle of the gemstones causes widespread delight, as if awakening a childish mischief in every person. Resisting the urge to twirl the item in your hands was simply impossible! What is more, the sapphire glass creates the illusion that the diamonds are in full contact with your skin.

This soon led to the diamonds spilling over from the art of watchmaking to that of jewellery making. Caroline Scheufele, harbouring a passion for the circus, gave free reign to her imagination and created a figure of a clown upon which danced and played diamonds and vibrant stones in all their hues.  The success of this piece of jewellery, initially released as a one off model for Caroline’s own personal collection, led to the launch of the Happy Diamonds by Chopard jewellery line in 1985. The clown was followed by an elephant, a ladybird, a mouse and of course the beloved heart.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary in 2016 Chopard has debuted a new jewellery collection under the name Happy Dreams. This time the precious stones are not affixed in a bezel setting but in a prong setting. They are larger than before and come in various sizes in such a way as to elegantly accentuate their whirling dance and spirit of abundance. There is also a new watch – a women’s version of the very first black and white men’s watch with a dial that is reminiscent of a “cushion cut” diamond. The Happy Diamonds concept has revealed a new side to diamonds: severe and cold stones have danced a joyful, brave and eternal dance that embodies the spirit of Chopard.