Happy Sport The First: The Rebirth Of The 1993 Icon

Luxferity, 15.06.2021

Created in 1993 in an innovative alliance between steel and diamonds, Happy Sport has survived almost three decades while preserving every ounce of its charm and modernity. Chopard now presents Happy Sport the First: two 1,993 and 788-piece limited-edition re-releases of the very first watch presented when the collection was launched. They pay faithful homage to this icon, thanks to its legendary diamonds and its "pebble-link" bracelet, while adding major innovations: a new case in Lucent Steel A223 redesigned in a 33 mm diameter inspired by the principles of the golden ratio, as well as the Manufacture Chopard 09.01-C movement with automatic winding.

The quest for the golden ratio

A sense of proportion is of paramount importance to Chopard. Designed to accompany women in all their day-to-day activities, the Happy Sport is a watch that must above all feel pleasant to wear. As Caroline Scheufele explained in 1993: "I wanted a watch that I could wear all day long: at the gym, in the office or for a dinner in town.” This constant quest for harmony has now been achieved by using the golden ratio which defined the proportions of the new models in the collection. Since antiquity, this mathematical balance has been found in science as well as in art and architecture, seeking to reproduce the harmony prevailing in Nature and its creations.

By using the golden ratio in direct relation to the diameter of the movement designed for Chopard ladies’ watch collections, the case of the Happy Sport has been redesigned in a 33 mm diameter that is particularly well suited to the female wrist. The result is perfect proportions, paired with a beautifully supple bracelet.

An amazingly contemporary vintage bracelet

Aesthetically, the new Happy Sport the First is in every way similar to the original model introduced in 1993. The round case is adorned with an understated silver-toned dial punctuated by Roman hour-markers in a shimmering shade of blue echoing the five cabochon-cut sapphires set on the lugs and crown of the watch.

However, the aesthetic appeal of this watch also lies in its bracelet with links composed of four rows of pebbles, entirely produced in Chopard's watchmaking workshops. Every bit as supple as a mesh design, it embraces and accentuates the slender curve of its wearer’s wrist, reinventing the notions of style, allure and elegance through a creation that is both sophisticated and sporty. Each pebble is meticulously polished before being assembled in a smooth sequence, making the Happy Sport the First a wonderfully pleasing object to wear, touch and admire.

Contemplating the dance of time

With its seven freedom-loving dancing diamonds set between the two sapphire crystals topping the dial, this vintage-look watch epitomises the noble legacy of casual chic style. Invented by Chopard in 1976, the dancing diamonds adorning the Happy Sport watch collection have revolutionised women's relationship with time: they no longer simply read the time, but instead contemplate the ever-changing choreography of the diamonds whirling around the watch. This is a technical feat that only a few choreography Artisans can achieve, ensuring that each diamond in its spinning- top capsule is arranged in such a way that its dance is never hindered.

Dancing diamonds whirl to the beat of the 1,993-piece Happy Sport the First limited edition – a quantity defined in tribute to the year the icon was created. A second variation produced in a run of 788 – a lucky number for Chopard's Co-President and Artistic Director, Caroline Scheufele – is also graced with a diamond-set bezel and a textured mother-of-pearl dial.

The reliability of an in-house movement with automatic winding

Happy Sport the First is living proof of the maturity of the Maison Chopard, whose vertically integrated approach enables the Happy Sport collection to be driven by a 148-part Chopard 09.01-C movement – with automatic winding and a 42-hour power reserve – that is entirely designed, developed and produced in-house. The 20.4 mm-diameter of this movement is unquestionably the measurement that has determined the proportions of the latest Happy Sport models.

An icon in the ethical era

Firmly committed to sustainable luxury, Chopard uses a particularly innovative steel for the case of these two new Happy Sport the First series. Lucent Steel A223 is a steel alloy that combines anti-allergenic virtues with the brightness and sturdiness of ordinary steel. It resulted from four years of research and development that now enable it to join the ranks of precious metals. Lucent Steel A223 is 70% made from recycled metals in a state-of-the-art workshop located in Austria, thereby limiting the carbon footprint relating to shipping materials to Chopard's Swiss workshops.

Happy Sport: a daring and free-spirited creation

Flashback to 1993, when Caroline Scheufele captured the spirit of the era by devising a sports watch based on the unprecedented mingling of steel and diamonds. Happy Sport was born of this bold vision. Since then, it has perpetually celebrated Joie de Vivre and a free-spirited approach daily reinvented by women to conquer the world in which they wish to live and become the woman they aspire to be. Thanks to dancing diamonds that are "happier when they are free" – as Caroline Scheufele’s mother exclaimed when she discovered the first prototype of this novel concept in 1976 – the Happy Sport watch stages a fascinating and perpetually creative show. One in which women play a starring role, since it is their own movements that breathe life into the dancing diamonds and this constantly recomposed scene. A powerful metaphor of the emancipatory momentum women experienced in the 20th century, the collection vividly reflects this vibrant life force and has lent itself ever since its debut to countless transformations.

Technical Details

Happy Sport the First: 1,993-piece limited edition in stainless steel

Case:

Lucent Steel A223
Total diameter: 33 mm
Thickness: 10.84 mm
Water resistance: 30 metres
Faceted crown in stainless steel set with a cabochon-cut sapphire: 5.00 mm
Bezel in stainless steel
Glare-proofed sapphire crystal
Screw-down exhibition back with Happy Sport logo and glare-proofed sapphire crystal pane

Movement:

Mechanical movement with automatic winding: Chopard 09.01-C
Number of components: 148
Total diameter: 20.40 mm
Thickness: 3.65 mm
Number of jewels: 27
Frequency: 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
Power reserve: 42 hours

Dial and hands:

Silver-toned dial
Blue transfers
Seven dancing diamonds
Blued Roman numerals and minutes track
Cone-shaped and blued hours and minutes hands
Blued central sweep-seconds hand

Functions:

Hours, minutes, seconds

Bracelet and buckle:

Stainless steel pebble-link bracelet
Stainless steel pin buckle

Ref. 278610-3001 – with polished bezel – 1,993-piece limited edition

Happy Sport the First: 788-piece limited edition in stainless steel with diamond-set bezel