In 1976, Maison Chopard introduced a new way to wear diamonds. Instead of securing each stone in a fixed setting, the Maison placed the diamonds beneath a clear sapphire crystal, where they could slide and spin freely as the wearer moved. That playful movement became Happy Diamonds.
Fifty years later, Chopard revisits the collection in New York with a new campaign starring Bella Hadid and Liu Wen, an anniversary celebration at Casa Cipriani, and a Fifth Avenue exhibition tracing the evolution of its floating diamonds through archive pieces, watches, jewelry, and new creations.
The Black Forest Spark Behind Happy Diamonds
The story begins with Chopard designer Ronald Kurowski and a waterfall in Germany’s Black Forest. Watching sunlight flicker through the spray, he began thinking about how a diamond could capture the same restless play of light. Back at Chopard, that observation became a watch unlike the tightly composed diamond designs around it.
Kurowski placed the diamonds in individual gold capsules between transparent sapphire crystals, leaving enough space for them to glide around the dial as the wrist moved. Against black onyx, every stone traced its own path, gathering at one edge before scattering again with the next gesture. The design earned Chopard the Golden Rose of Baden-Baden in 1976 and gave the Maison a visual signature it could carry far beyond a single watch. Soon, those moving diamonds travelled into jewelry. Pendants, rings, earrings, and bracelets gave the stones new shapes to explore, while the movement remained instantly recognizable.
Caroline Scheufele Brings Steel to the Story
By 1993, Caroline Scheufele was ready to push the idea somewhere less formal. She paired diamonds with stainless steel and created Happy Sport, a watch designed to move easily between everyday dressing and evening jewelry. Seven mobile diamonds travelled across the original dial, framed by sapphire cabochons and a supple steel bracelet.
That combination changed the mood completely. Steel brought a cleaner, sportier edge, while the loose diamonds kept the watch unmistakably Chopard. Scheufele designed Happy Sport around the way women were already dressing, mixing precious jewelry with jeans, tailoring, and evening pieces rather than saving diamonds for formal occasions.
For 2026, Happy Sport The First returns to those original proportions in 26 mm and 35 mm versions crafted in Lucent Steel, ethical yellow gold, or a mix of both. Depending on the model, five or seven diamonds move across the dial, bringing the 1993 design back with the same lightness that made it distinctive.
Bella Hadid and Liu Wen Bring Happy Diamonds to New York
The Happy Diamonds anniversary was celebrated at Casa Cipriani in New York with Bella Hadid and Liu Wen, the faces of Chopard’s new Happy Diamonds campaign. Photographer Greg Williams, filmmaker Manu Cossu, and movement director Stephen Galloway crafted the campaign through fluid choreography, allowing the jewelry to respond naturally to every gesture. Hadid paired a Happy Diamonds pendant and Happy Sport watch with Chopard high jewelry, while Liu Wen wore a one-of-a-kind white-gold necklace carrying nearly 80 carats of diamonds. Guests also discovered a Haute Joaillerie Happy Sport in ethical rose gold, set with 9.8 carats of Ashoka-cut diamonds.
Chopard Exhibits the Happy Diamonds Archive in New York
Chopard continues the anniversary with a public exhibition at its Fifth Avenue boutique in New York, presenting five decades of Happy Diamonds through historic jewelry, watches, original sketches, and archival documents. On view September 18 to 20, the exhibition places pieces dating back to the 1970s beside Happy Sport The First, new rectangular pendants, and the Maison’s latest anniversary creations.
Move through the archive and the evolution becomes easy to trace. Cases change shape, metals shift, and proportions follow the decade, while the floating diamonds remain the defining signature. The exhibition brings those changes together in one place, showing how Chopard has reworked the same idea across watches and jewelry without losing the movement that made Happy Diamonds distinctive in 1976.
