The Chopard Happy Diamonds was created in 1976 by the brand’s designer Ronald Kurowski. The original was a cushion-shaped men’s watch in white gold with a black onyx dial. Its defining feature was 30 diamonds moving freely between two layers of sapphire crystal. Each stone was encapsulated in a small gold sheath with a curved, bevelled base, so it could glide across the dial without damaging the components. Power came from the small ETA 2442 automatic movement, measuring 13.7mm. The watch matters because it turned diamonds from a fixed decoration into a moving, playful part of the dial, an idea that became a signature of the house.

Kurowski is said to have been inspired by sunlight dancing on the spray of a waterfall in the Black Forest. The watch was first conceived as a one-off and entered in the Golden Rose of Baden-Baden jewellery competition, which it won. The name is attributed to Karin Scheufele, wife of Karl Scheufele III, who remarked that “diamonds are happier when they are free”. Shown at the 1977 Basel Trade Fair, the watch drew more orders than Chopard was prepared for, and both it and a smaller ladies’ version became commercial successes. The Happy Diamonds name later grew into a wider line of women’s jewellery and watches.

The Happy Diamonds is regarded as one of Chopard‘s great icons, and publications such as Monochrome treat it as the brand’s 1976 icon. Although the name is now mostly associated with women’s jewellery and watches, it began as a men’s watch. For its 50th anniversary, Chopard released the Happy Diamonds Heritage, reference 202299-0001, a 34 x 34mm cushion case in 18k yellow gold with an onyx dial, 21 floating diamonds and the manual-winding calibre 10.01-C, priced at EUR 46,000. The original 1976 model is no longer produced, but the Happy Diamonds collection remains in production.