Planning a trip to the mountains is not just about being warm and sporty, it is also about looking stylish while you are there. So, to bring you some winter chic from the Matterhorn, we decided to take this beautiful Chopard Happy Sport out into the snowy wilderness. Sunny Zermatt couldn’t have been a better place to bring out all the fire and ice of the Happy Sport’s signature floating diamonds that looked perfectly at home in the snow.
The Happy Sport was first unveiled in 1993 with its diamonds set into gold cups that could float freely between two sapphire crystals. The idea was to allow them to play with the light as they spun across the face of the watch. It was designed by Caroline Scheufele who was quoted at the time saying, “I wanted a watch that I could wear all day long – at the gym, in the office, or for a dinner in town”. This ingenious invention actually dates back to 1976 when Chopard experimented with it in men’s watches, however, it wasn’t until the release of the concept in jewellery that it really took off.
What is interesting about the Happy Sport design is that over the last 30 years, its popularity has never waned. Even the most well-known horological icons have seen ebbs and flows in their desirability, but not the Happy Sport, it just keeps on sparkling, season after season, year after year, and decade after decade. This is largely thanks to its unique design but also the numerous variations that have kept it fresh, such as the Happy Fish and the Happy Sun, Moon and Stars, for example, with their diamond-set clown fish and gem-set stars, all spinning happily around the dial.
More recently, the collection has captured even more attention thanks to its famous muse, the American actress Julia Roberts, who became the face of the brand in 2021. With her infectious laugh and mega-watt smile, she was the perfect person to represent this “happy” collection that fully lives up to its name.
For our Zermatt adventure, we were delighted to take this Happy Sport model along for the ride. Its 30 mm stainless steel case and three spinning diamonds (approx. 0.08 carats) adorn an elegant light blue dial with a sunburst satin-brushed motif and a mix of Roman numerals and indexes. The timepiece is powered by a quartz movement that indicates the hours, minutes, and the date, which is situated in an aperture between four and five o’clock. For those who find 30 mm slightly on the small size, there is also a 36 mm version with five spinning diamonds. And if you are more of an “automatic” kind of watch lover, definitely check out the Happy Snowflake, which takes the icy theme one step further with a unique silver-toned faceted dial, floating diamonds, and a floating snowflake.
