Sonvilier · founded 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard
Estate Chopard
Chopard was founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in Sonvilier in the Swiss Jura and has been owned by the Scheufele family since 1963. Its best known jewelry idea is Happy Diamonds, introduced in 1976, in which loose diamonds move freely between two sapphire crystals. Pieces carry a signature, a reference and a serial number.
The house
The house began as a watchmaker and the watchmaking discipline still shows in how its jewelry is engineered and finished.
After the Scheufele family acquired the company in 1963 it built a jewelry business alongside the watches, and Happy Diamonds in 1976 gave it a design that is instantly recognizable and technically distinctive.
Chopard is a modern house, so its pieces are estate or pre-owned rather than vintage or antique.
How to recognize the work
- Free moving diamonds between crystals, running smoothly with no clouding of the glass
- Swiss finishing standards on cases, clasps and hinges
- Reference and serial numbers that agree with each other
- Jewelry engineered like a watch component rather than assembled loosely
What the marks mean
- A signature reading Chopard
- A reference number and a separate serial number on most pieces
- A metal standard such as 750 for 18K gold
- Swiss control marks on some cases
Buy carefully
Happy Diamonds pieces are widely copied and the crystals scratch or cloud with wear. We check that the diamonds move freely, that the crystals are sound and that the reference and serial numbers agree.
Common questions
What are Happy Diamonds?
Diamonds that are not set into the metal but float between two sapphire crystals so they move as the wearer moves. The idea dates to 1976 and remains the house's signature.
Is Chopard vintage?
The company is old but the pieces on the market are almost all modern, so we list them as estate or pre-owned unless the individual piece is genuinely of vintage age.
Are you an authorized dealer?
No. We are an independent estate jeweler and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the house. We buy signed pieces from European estates, examine and photograph the signature, numbers and metal marks, and describe exactly what we can and cannot establish.
Shop the pieces
Signed Chopard in stock
Estate pieces signed Chopard, photographed mark and all. Each one is a single example.
Nothing matching this is available right now. Every piece is a single example and sells once, so this changes weekly. Browse everything in stock or ask our buyers to look for it.