Mechanical watches for women: Chopard Happy Sport automatic watch review

Chopard's Happy Sport women's watch collection was launched in 1993. Along with Happy Diamonds, it is a major collection that elevated the brand to the position of a prestigious jeweler. The Happy Sport automatic model that I wore and reviewed this time was a watch optimized as a mechanical watch for women.

Chopard Happy Sport Watch Review

　Chopard has achieved success in the watch market with its luxury sports watch "Alpine Eagle" and the "LUC" collection, which uses in-house movements. However, it has also established itself as a jeweler, and it should not be forgotten that it offers a wide range of women's watches.

　Happy Sport, launched in 1993, is one of the flagship collections of this women's line. While retaining the moving diamonds characteristic of the hit Happy Diamonds, the watch adopted stainless steel for the case and bracelet. This was a groundbreaking attempt at the time, and Happy Sport gained popularity as a women's collection that combined the character of a jewelry watch with high practicality.

　Thirty years after its creation, Happy Sport is now available in a variety of materials, precious stones, and designs.

　This time, we will be reviewing a model from the Happy Sport line that is equipped with an automatic movement.

A moving diamond you can look at forever

　The greatest feature of the Happy Sport is the presence of the moving diamond, which rolls freely around the dial. The setting that holds the diamond is housed between two sapphire crystals, and this unique mechanism allows the setting to move without interfering with the dial. The sight of the diamond moving smoothly in response to the tilt of the wrist is fun and never boring to watch.

　The Happy Sport comes in a variety of shapes for the moving diamonds and the precious stones used, and this model features rubies that move around the dial in addition to diamonds. If the hands and precious stones overlap, it can be difficult to read the time, but the precious stones start moving just by tilting your wrist slightly, so it wasn't an inconvenience.

　Equipped with an automatic movement and two sapphire crystals for the moving diamonds on the dial, the case is 11.23mm thick. It is thicker than the Happy Diamonds, which has a more jewelry-like character, but it is by no means thick considering it is an automatic. The rounded case is also adorable, and when you see it peeking out from under your shirt cuff, you will once again feel the joy of owning it.

Equipped with automatic movement Cal. Chopard 09.01-C

　There aren't many watch brands that offer mechanical movements specifically for women. However, the automatic movement used in this model is the Cal. Chopard 09.01-C, which Chopard developed for the 30mm Happy Sport in 2018. This movement, which is now also used in the 33mm and 36mm Alpine Eagle models, is designed to be thin yet robust (the Alpine Eagle movement is COSC certified).

　An automatic movement is a mechanism in which a rotor (a rotating weight) moves with the movement of the wrist, and this rotor's movement is used to wind the mainspring. An automatic movement that winds with even a slight movement of the wrist is sometimes described as having "high winding efficiency," and in that respect, this watch wound well even when mainly used for desk work. Incidentally, I wore the watch for about 13 hours per day. When I measured its dynamic accuracy while wearing it, it was +2 seconds after 24 hours and +4 seconds after 48 hours, showing very little error.

　Many women's watches are elaborately designed, and I personally consider design as the first criterion for choosing one. However, this watch not only boasts an original and elegant design, but is also highly practical, making it a mechanical watch made for women. If you're looking for a watch you can wear every day, this is one to check out.

Lucent Steel™ and ethical 18K rose gold

　Finally, I would like to introduce the materials used in this work.

　This watch is made of a combination of stainless steel and 18K rose gold, but the manufacturer's specifications refer to the former as Lucent Steel™ and the latter as ethical rose gold.

　LucentSteel™ is Chopard's high-performance steel. It is 1.5 times more wear-resistant than the 316L stainless steel typically used in luxury watches, has excellent hardness, and retains a lustrous white finish. It's worth noting that Chopard uses approximately 80% recycled steel for this high-performance steel, with the goal of increasing this percentage to at least 90% by the end of 2025.

　It is also worth mentioning that the brand uses gold sourced from responsible sources. Chopard has been advocating its "Journey Towards Sustainable Luxury" since 2013. Its biggest milestone was to use fairly sourced gold for all of its watches and jewelry, which it achieved in July 2018.

　Sustainability has been gaining attention in recent years, and many are calling for companies to take responsibility for social sustainability. The watch industry is no exception, and the importance of conducting business in harmony with the global environment and people is increasing. In such times, watches from brands that take the lead in sustainable activities will likely become one of the major reasons for users to purchase them.