History of the Chopard Happy Diamonds collection

Wrist Watch

The iconic Happy Diamonds collection of the Swiss jewelery and watch house Chopard has been a success for 44 years. The idea of ​​movable gems between two sapphire watch glasses and jewelry is so original that even today the fans of the brand continue to choose these bold, playful and free-spirited creations.

For the first time in Chopard's history, Happy Diamonds were introduced in 1976. The idea of ​​freely moving stones was proposed by Chopard designer Ronald Kurowski. Traveling through the Black Forest, a mountainous forest in southwestern Germany, Kurowski came to a waterfall where drops of water sparkled and shimmered in the sun. This inspired the designer to create a watch set with loose brilliant-cut diamonds that could move freely between the dial, bezel and sapphire crystals.

Initially, Kurowski's design was not intended for a permanent collection. Chopard has created a single watch with moving diamonds for the annual Golden Rose of Baden-Baden jewelery competition in Germany.

Watch making

Kurowski encountered difficulties in making watches. Diamond on the Mohs scale has a maximum hardness of 10 points compared to other softer watch components: dial, bezel and sapphire crystal. Freely moving, diamonds could scratch the surrounding details. In addition, it was necessary to prevent the diamonds from turning upside down, as well as to hide the mechanism of the watch and leave room for diamonds between the dial and the crown.

The company had only three months to solve these problems. Kurowski's idea was implemented by eight Chopard designers and jewelers, which at that time was an incredibly large team for the industry.

As a result, the designers placed each diamond in an individually selected hand-crafted white gold capsule. The edges of the capsule protruded a few millimeters above the surface of the diamond, thus preventing the hard crystal from touching the sapphire crystal and leaving no scratches.

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After solving the problem of scratches, Chopard designers made changes to the shape of the capsule. The flat bottom of the originally created capsules was replaced with a beveled one, which rested on one point. After such changes, the diamonds took an unstable position and easily rotated at the slightest touch on the watch case. Floating diamonds were placed on a polished onyx. This final design was approved by the company as the embodiment of the true idea of ​​free-moving Kurowski diamonds.

Chopard patents free-floating gemstone design

In 1976, the movable diamond design was named the "Most Interesting Design of the Year" by the jury, and Chopard won a prize for a men's watch with dancing diamonds. In the same year, Chopard patented the design of free-moving gemstones.

The only watch with dancing diamonds presented by Chopard at Baselworld 1977 as a prize-winning watch

The only watch with dancing diamonds was presented by Chopard at Baselworld 1977 as a prize-winning watch. With the opening of the exhibition, the House received a large number of orders for nameless watches. Caroline Scheufele noted that diamonds are happy when they are free. From that moment on, Karl Scheufele called the watch Happy Diamonds.

Following the men's version of the Happy Diamonds watch, the Jewelry and Watch House released a women's model, which was sold in the first year of production in the amount of 10 pieces. Today, Happy Diamonds watches are women's watches; since the 1980s, the company has been manufacturing men's watches only by special order.

Karl Scheufele made a one-of-a-kind figurine based on a sketch by Caroline Scheufele

In 1985, for the company's 125th anniversary, Chopard introduced the Happy Diamonds line of jewelry. Caroline Scheufele created the first jewelry design at the age of 16, a sketch of a clown figurine with a transparent belly filled with diamonds and colored gemstones. Like the first Happy Diamonds watch, Karl Scheufele made a one-of-a-kind figurine. However, the company received many orders for this product. As a result, Happy Clown became the mascot of the House and led to the fact that today Chopard is an outstanding jeweler, one of the TOP 5 world famous jewelery brands.

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Today, jewelry makes up 50% of Chopard's total production.

Although Chopard's jewelery business has only been in operation for 35 years, compared to its 160-year-old watch business, today jewelery accounts for 50% of the company's total production. Chopard offers a wide range of Happy Diamonds jewelery with diamonds and colored gemstones. Jewelry from the Happy Diamonds collection is versatile and suits different personalities, styles and ages.