Lorena: Dancing-Diamond Choreographer - A Gift For Making Diamonds Whirl

The Artisan prepares the stage on which Happy Diamonds begin their endless dance. By protecting the diamonds between two sapphire crystals, Lorena, a dancing-diamond Choreographer since 2013, will enable the woman who wears this watch or jewellery creation to witness moments of grace during which time stands still.

They whirl, they waltz, they twirl, they appear to float as if weightless and almost make one forget the passing of time. There is nothing more mesmerising than the exquisite motion of the diamonds at the heart of Happy Diamonds watches and jewellery. Free to move at will, they seem to be vibrantly alive. They perform free variations and dance as if they will do so forever. Diamonds make light of all prevailing rules and norms, including the law of gravity. Protected between two sapphire crystals, they spin according to the movements of the woman who wears the creations of the Maison on her arm, in the hollow of her neck or adorning her ears. A graceful double ballet generated by the wearer’s movements with which the diamonds keep step – or decide to follow their own path.

Lorena choreographs diamonds, artfully staging them, delicately protecting them between the two sapphire crystals and providing them with a space in which to move freely and safely. Everything happens at her workbench. But above all, so that they can whirl freely on the watch face, the dancing diamonds are set in a domed cylinder culet. Invented by the Chopard workshops in the 1970s, this ingenious system allows the gems to improvise the most extravagant movements without scratching the glass.

Lorena first carefully cleans the sapphire crystal of the dial and then positions the dancing diamonds on it. After that, she closes the cavity with the second sapphire crystal, fits a seal that will be compressed by the crystal and serve to contain it, before manually driving it in using a bracket. Her skill consists of applying exactly the right amount of uniform pressure to the entire glass so as to ensure that the watch or jewellery is perfectly water-resistant. Her deft touch in achieving the perfect tolerances also guarantees that the diamonds enjoy exactly the right amount of space in which to move playfully but always parallel to the dial – meaning without being blocked between the two panes of clear sapphire, nor running the risk of flipping over and revealing their undersides.

The diamonds thus become the stars of the show. The dial is the space in which they express themselves. Their dance takes precedence over the onward march of time, much like a supremely free-spirited form of kinetic art in which beauty takes pride of place.