Introducing the Chopard Happy Sport The Hour Glass 40th Anniversary Special Edition

The Hour Glass’ 40th anniversary watch announcements continue today courtesy of Geneva based jeweler and watchmaker, Chopard. Taking quick stock of the watches that have already been rolled out to mark the anniversary, we now have a platinum Royal Oak Selfwinding Chronograph, the De Bethune DB28 Steel Wheels Blue and the URWERK UR-105 The Hour Glass.

Contributing to the lineup now, Chopard has created one for the fairer gender: a special rendition of their well-known Happy Sport timepiece. Introduced first in 1993, the Happy Sport is a creation that captures the imagination with miniature gems that seem to toss about precariously over the watch dial. Of course, the reason why these gems don’t ever actually fall onto the hour and minute hands and hinder the progression of time is because the trick is that Chopard sandwiches these between two clear sapphire discs. One of the discs then forms the top crystal of the watch and the other sits between the watch hands and the gems.

The special Happy Sport created for The Hour Glass’ 40th anniversary holds an ecstatic 18K rose gold sun, a diamond-set 18K rose gold moon and, lastly, three diamond-set 18K rose gold stars. Setting the backdrop for all the drama that the occurs within the sapphire sandwich is a mother-of-pearl dial with a subtle guilloche pattern on its center.

Ultimately the paradox that the Happy Sport presents is that you have a collection of opulent objects within the dial of the watch, which is all held together in a case made of one of the most pragmatic materials known to mankind: stainless steel. And the special edition created for The Hour Glass is no different in this regard, coming in a 36mm stainless steel case.

The timepiece is powered by a simple automatic mechanical movement, which accounts for the hours, minutes, running seconds and date, and 42-hour power reserve.