Chopard Happy Diamonds

For an aesthetic that is still fresh and beloved today, it is pretty hard to believe that Chopard’s Happy Diamonds collection has just turned 40 years old. Indeed a sight to behold, the maison’s concept of sparkling, free-moving diamonds exudes an inexplicable sense of joy that has continued to captivate and surprise throughout an impressive four decades.



This delightful quality belies the design’s sheer originality and unconventionality that remains unsurpassed until today. Copied or referenced umpteenth times, the Happy Diamonds concept has been written into Chopard’s historical legacy as one of its chief creative triumphs and an instrumental part of its wide-ranging design lexicon.

Born in 1976, the concept was the brainchild of Chopard’s in-house designer  Ronald Kurowski, who got the inspiration from watching how sunbeams danced across a waterfall during a walk in the Black Forest. Seeking to reproduce the magic of water droplets sparkling under the sunlight with rainbow colours, he dreamt up the concept of leaving diamonds free to float and whirl between two slices of sapphire crystals.



Each diamond was encased in a gold capsule with a bevelled base, allowing the stones to move in any direction, spinning and twirling as they go.

For those who associate Happy Diamonds with feminine creations, it must be astonishing for them to learn that the concept was originally meant for a men’s timepiece. When Chopard stalwart Karin Scheufele saw the first completed Happy Diamonds watch, she exclaimed, “These diamonds are happiest when they are free!” – and thus the collection was named.

Since winning the prestigious Golden Rose of Baden-Baden the same year Happy Diamonds made its debut, the concept has gone on to evolve into a complete watch and jewellery collection, largely thanks to the efforts of Karin Scheufele’s daughter Caroline Scheufele.



The current Chopard co-president and artistic director, Caroline Scheufele was just a teen when she set her eyes on the Happy Diamonds watch. “Being able to see the design and the inspiration come together to be produced into a timepiece was overwhelming and exciting, because the concept of having the diamonds dance between two sapphire crystals was new and refreshing,” she says.



The main person responsible for subsequent expressions of the original concept in jewellery and watch designs that became so warmly embraced worldwide, Scheufele created her first Happy Diamonds piece in the form of a clown with a tummy full of moving diamonds and colourful stones.

The success of this jewellery creation, initially produced as a one-off model for her own personal collection, led to the launch of the Happy Diamonds jewellery line in 1985, marking the beginning of jewellery-making at Chopard. The clown was followed by the elephant, the ladybird, the teddy bear, and of course, Scheufele’s much-cherished heart.

The later Happy Diamonds lines include Happy Sport, Happy Fish, Happy Spirit, Very Chopard, Happy 8, Happy Emotions, Happy Diamonds Good Luck Charms, and Happy Hearts.



This year, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the design, Chopard has launched an unprecedented innovation: a new prong setting for the free-roaming diamonds, which allows the stones to be larger than before, in a variety of sizes. They are featured in a romantic new jewellery collection, named Happy Dreams, that is reminiscent of fluffy clouds in the sky. The watchmaking department also presented a new ladies’ Happy Diamonds Icon watch that pays tribute to Chopard’s heritage by picking up the cushion shape of the very first model.

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