An in-house movement for Chopard’s Happy Sport

Long before Pharrell Williams got “Happy”, designer Ronald Kurowski had an inspired idea that would become Happy Diamonds: precious stones set in a gold bezel and free to wander between two sapphire crystals. Revealed to the world in 1976, Happy Diamonds set women’s hearts alight and has been a part of Chopard ever since.

Originally intended for a rectangular watch with a distinctly masculine allure, the Happy Diamonds concept swiftly spread to Chopard’s women’s and jewellery collections. Almost two decades went by and the free-floating diamonds were as successful as ever when Chopard’s artistic director Caroline Scheufele thought up a new interpretation that would lead to even greater things. Eager to pick up the thread of Happy Diamonds’ horological beginnings, in 1993 she imagined a sport watch that was an unconventional, some would say eyebrow-raising, association of steel and diamonds. The Happy Sport was born. In the brand’s own words, “true to the spirit of Happy Diamonds, these gems dancing freely between two sapphire crystals soon became a symbol of Chopard and feminine watchmaking.” There have been multiple interpretations of the floating diamonds theme since the original design, including the Happy Sport Oval, Happy Fish, Happy Ocean, Happy Snowflakes and even a Happy Sport Tourbillon Jewellery whose 42mm case contains the L.U.C. 02.16-L calibre and was a contender for the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2014.

A strong proposition

Chopard continues to add to the collection each year, bringing the total number of variations since the original launch to several hundred. The Happy Sport remains Chopard’s absolute best-seller, with gold taking the honours ahead of steel, so when an anniversary puts this icon even more squarely in the spotlight, so much the better. For its 20th birthday in 2013, Chopard presented a new version of the Happy Sport with a redesigned case and a mechanical movement – the Sellita SW300 then the SW400 – at a time when women were starting to show greater interest in watches powered by traditional calibres. Two years later, in keeping with the then trend for smaller diameters, the Happy Sport slimmed down from 36mm to 30mm, still with a mechanical movement.

Naturally, the Happy Sport’s 25th anniversary this year is an opportunity for Chopard to up its game with a fresh interpretation, this time powered by a movement that has been entirely developed and produced in-house. Fleurier Ebauches, Chopard’s second manufacturing arm specialising in large-volume production, was known to have been working on a ladies’ calibre measuring 20mm across and 3.65mm high that would replace the ETA 2000 used thus far. This 09-01-C automatic movement debuts inside the 30mm Happy Sport Manufacture. It’s a strong proposition, described by Chopard as “feminine and technical, playful and radical, precious and modern”. The new design features delicate pastel shades with a textured mother-of-pearl dial, and is proposed as four versions: blue dial with a gem-set steel case, pink dial with a steel and pink gold case, white dial with a pink gold case, and white dial with a gem-set pink gold case. Happy Birthday, Happy Sport!