Caroline Scheufele’s Chopard Unites Big Hearts With Happy Hearts

Chopard and Caroline Scheufele have, for decades, positioned themselves as a luxury brand with a heart, focusing on providing beautiful and opulent jewellery items that give back to the environment, and the communities from which the elements are sourced.

It is no coincidence, then, that one of the brand’s most iconic and famous lines is the Happy Hearts Collection, a selection of watches and jewellery designed for the woman with a Big Heart. Combining indulgence with altruism, the market for Happy Hearts is consumers who want to give back to the world that they are a part of, using a brand with generous values similar to their own.

Caroline Scheufele has made the Big Heart Cjhopard’s emblem, a repeated motif throughout their many collections, in particular the Happy Hearts line.

Artistic Director and Co-President of Chopard, Caroline Scheufele says: “If I were to associate Chopard with a motif, it would be a Big Heart because there is a family behind it”.

Since the Scheufele family took over the Maison, they have worked tirelessly to keep their output within the family. Each member of the Scheufele clan takes on their own area of the business, and they ensure that every employee feels a part of the big picture and is touched by the heart that the business engenders.

Happy Hearts For Happiness
Caroline Scheufele believes that the Happy Hearts Collection is the embodiment of happiness, blending together the Heart emblem designed by Caroline herself, with the fast-moving, sparkling Happy Diamonds that have become the signature of the company.

Caroline Scheufele was only a teen when she first saw the Happy Diamonds watch. “Being able to see the design and the inspiration come together to be produced into a timepiece was overwhelming and exciting, because the concept of having the diamonds dance between two sapphire crystals was new and refreshing,” she says.

Happy Diamonds was invented in 1976, after a Chopard designer, inspired by a waterfall, took it upon himself to create a never-before-attempted piece of jewellery in which several beautifully cut diamonds were able to move freely around a watch face, held in place by two pieces of clear sapphire crystal. The idea was an instant success, and Happy Diamonds have found their way into watches, earrings, necklaces and bracelets over the decades.

The Happy Hearts Collection is designed to mark moments of happiness in families and couples, providing a visible emblem of happiness that can be passed down through generations.

Happy Hearts And Charity
Not only is the Happy Hearts design perfect for symbolising happiness and love within a family, but it has also been used as a symbol of the charitable work done by Chopard.

The Maison has partnered with the Naked Heart Foundation in the past, an international children’s charity founded in 2004 by supermodel and philanthropist Natalia Vodianova. The Foundation was set up in order to build modern play parks in urban areas of Russia, and has since built 195 accessible play parks all over the world. In collaboration with the Naked Heart Foundation, Chopard crafted a number of special-edition bangles, adorned with pink mother-of-pearl hearts. The proceeds from this were used to help fund the initiative.

Chopard also partnered with the Happy Hearts Fund, set up by supermodel and philanthropist Petra Nemcova in 2005 to help children affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Over time the Happy Hearts Fund built 72 schools and benefitted more than 44,000 children.

For this charity, Chopard created a special edition 18-carat rose gold bracelet, featuring a stunning mobile pink sapphire. The proceeds from the bracelet were used in part to fund construction, and Petra Nemcova said of the collaboration: “We are so happy to partner with Caroline and Chopard as it will allow us to rebuild more schools for children whose lives have been forever altered by natural disasters to ensure that generations are not lost because of the lack of educational opportunities.”

Big Hearts Love Sustainable Luxury
Chopard is well-known in the luxury industry now as a pioneer of the sustainable luxury movement. In 2013, the Maison unveiled The Journey To Sustainable Luxury, through which they have worked tirelessly to ensure that their sourcing and production processes are ethical and sustainable. Caroline Scheufele spoke with The Eye Of Jewellery about the origins of the Journey in 2018, saying: “I met Livia Firth in LA when her husband got an Oscar for the King’s Speech. He was wearing a beautiful L.U.C timepiece.”

“Over coffee she was very excited to tell me about her involvement in Eco-Age – a company very active in sustainable fashion. In the same conversation, she asked me “Caroline, where does your gold come from?” I supposed UBS or Credit Suisse but I actually have no clue. And before I finished my answer I sort of knew where she was going to take me. “I am also working in other industries such as gold mining certifications.”

“She asked me if I was interested and I immediately said yes. At this moment I even felt bad that I did not think about it before.”

The Happy Hearts Collection
The Happy Hearts Collection is a broad and constantly evolving line that Caroline Scheufele reinvents and adds to constantly. However, there are a few staples that are forever iconic, and take well to reinvention, that consumers can’t get enough of.

Bangles
Simple yet bold, the Happy Hearts bangles are a slender oval of 100% Fairmined precious metal, with a coloured heart at one end, and a clear heart containing a free-moving diamond at the other. The coloured hearts are filled with all sorts of stones, from onyx to mother-of-pearl, turquoise to green agate.

Happy Hearts Wings
Formed of three hearts arranged together in the shape of a butterfly, the Happy Hearts Wings Collection is a triumph of elegance and light, as the free-moving diamonds within the hearts play perfectly with the light as the wearer moves.

Happy Hearts Ear Jackets
Beautifully bold styles mix with simple studs in the Happy Hearts earrings collection. Hearts are filled with a variety of precious and semi-precious stones, whilst dancing diamonds offer a bit of glamour to even the simplest styles.

Happy Hearts Watch
The combination of diamonds and steel offers a tough, casual take on high-end elegance with the Happy Hearts Watch. Combining quartz, stainless steel and stabilised red stone, the watch is delicate but bold, featuring dancing diamonds alongside a cheeky red heart also moving freely across the dial.