Oh, You Make Me Happy
Film legend Julia Roberts lends her star power to Chopard’s Happy Sport campaign
Known for her radiant smile and big personality, Julia Roberts made headlines at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival red carpet entrance as she went up the steps barefoot wearing an off-the-shoulder black dress and a gorgeous Chopard Haute Joaillerie emerald and diamond necklace.
Chopard’s resident film enthusiast Caroline Scheufele decided that it has to be Roberts who should grace this year’s Happy Sport campaign, which is released in conjunction with the launch of new versions of this iconic watch. “It was her and no one else!” she insists. “Julia Roberts was the only person I felt could convey the spirit that I see in Happy Sport.”
A stunning creation by Scheufele who is the brand’s co-president and artistic director, the Happy Sport watch made its debut in 1993, the first watch to combine diamonds and steel—with dancing diamonds twirling their way across the dial, no less.
Among the new versions is Happy Sport The First, which pays homage to the original model with its pebble-link steel bracelet. However, it’s been redesigned in a new 33cm Lucent Steel A223 case using the golden ratio in direct relation to the diameter of the Chopard 09.01-C movement.
The collection has eight new references in a variety of models: four two-tone watches featuring a Lucent Steel A223 case and 18-carat rose gold, three made entirely in 18-carat rose gold, available on a leather strap or metal bracelet, and one in 18-carat white gold entirely set with diamonds.
Commenting on the timepiece and jewellery maker’s usage of 100 per cent ethically produced gold in its pieces, Roberts says, “I would say that the idea of responsible luxury is something that not enough brands pay attention to. The thing with a maison like Chopard is that it has really pioneered
the idea of having a conscience, leading the charge and setting an example for other brands to follow.”
Canadian film director Xavier Dolan was entrusted to provide artistic direction for this campaign. In the video, he had Roberts dancing to the upbeat music of Paloma Faith’s Upside Down, capturing the joie de vivre inherent in Happy Sport watches and personifying the ultimate free-spirited woman. He says, “We hit it off very quickly, we ‘clicked’ and made each other laugh. I think humour is a facilitator, socially speaking.”
Xavier Dolan dishes out on what does Julia Roberts represent for him: “Obviously, since Erin
Brockovich… I was probably nine or ten at the time. And I remember being very impressed by her freedom, her personality. Maybe— and I suppose it’s normal—up until that point, I’d only ever seen women on-screen used as accessories, or being objectified, less in control of their destinies. Then Erin Brockovich turns up somewhere, in a situation and makes her own destiny, changing that of others, too.
More Than Her Smile
And I think that really impressed me and has stayed with me ever since, so there’s no question that Julia represents, for me, that kind of modernity in a woman we think is really sensual and beautiful.
“Yes, she’s got a big smile, but what you remember is the woman accepting her Oscar who retorts to the host: ‘You’re out of time! Take a seat, I’ll be here for at least ten minutes!’ That’s the kind of thing that leaves a deep impression. In any case, that’s definitely what strikes me most about Julia: her humanity.”