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Chopard Happy Sport 36mm Ladies Watch
Ref. 278559-3006
Sits in Chopard’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Chopard watches we list, which start at £4,740.
Price range £4,740 to £16,500 across 18 Chopard watches in stock.The Happy Sport was Caroline Scheufele's deliberate provocation when it launched in 1993: fine diamonds set free inside a steel sports watch, floating visibly above the dial rather than fixed in the metal around it. That concept has never really dated, because the tension it creates — between the formal and the casual, the fragile and the robust — is genuinely unusual rather than merely declared. Here, five diamonds drift across a guilloché-patterned blue dial ringed with Roman numerals, catching movement whenever the wrist does. The 36mm case sits at a size that reads as a considered dress watch without disappearing on a broader wrist, and the blue alligator strap pulls the whole thing into a coordinated register that stops just short of matching set. The diamond-pavé bezel is a significant addition to what is already a busy dial, and whether that richness reads as too much depends entirely on what surrounds it — against bare skin on a summer wrist it tends to work in a way it might not beneath a heavy jacket cuff.
- Reference
- 278559-3006
- Brand
- Chopard
- Collection
- Happy Sport
- Case size
- 36mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Blue
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- Sellita SW 300-1
- Functions
- Date
- Water resistance
- 30m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Blue
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Goldsmiths
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 42 hours
- Gem set
- Yes
Learn more about Chopard
Louis-Ulysse Chopard founded a workshop in Sonvilier in the Jura in 1860, building pocket watches that sold well in Eastern Europe and Russia. The family ran it for three generations before the line ran out of successors, and in 1963 the company was sold to Karl Scheufele III, a Pforzheim jeweller.
The Scheufele family still owns it, and their dual background explains the house's character: Chopard is unusual in being both a serious watchmaker and a serious jeweller, with in-house capability in gem-setting and gold-working alongside movement production.
The Happy Diamonds concept of 1976 — loose stones rotating freely between two sapphire crystals — became the commercial engine of the jewellery side and remains instantly identifiable.
On the watch side, the L.U.C collection launched in 1996 with the calibre 1.96, a micro-rotor automatic that announced Chopard as a genuine manufacture rather than a fashion house buying movements. L.U.C watches have since collected Geneva Seal and COSC certifications and produced tourbillons, perpetual calendars, and minute repeaters made in Fleurier.
Chopard has timed the Mille Miglia since 1988, giving it a motorsport line with real provenance, and in 2018 moved its entire gold supply to ethically certified sources — the first major house to do so across all production.
- 1860
- Louis-Ulysse Chopard founds the workshop in Sonvilier.
- 1963
- Karl Scheufele III acquires the company.
- 1976
- Happy Diamonds introduces free-moving stones.
- 1988
- Chopard begins timing the Mille Miglia.
- 1996
- The L.U.C 1.96 establishes in-house movement production.
Also in 7 collections
This watch appears in the Chopard Happy Sport range (8), Stainless Steel Watches (2,846), Watches Under 37mm (1,535), Women's Watches (1,520), Automatic Watches (1,403), Leather Strap Watches (928) and Blue Dial Watches (803).
Temporarily out of stock
Goldsmiths is not currently taking orders for this reference. Last listed as available on 13 September 2026. Stock is checked nightly and this page updates when it returns.
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- 36mm suits most wrists
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Chopard's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 30m means keeping it away from water
Chopard Happy Sport alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 278559-3006 | 49524D11A171-CK6A | 413802000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £18,600 | £16,200 | £18,437 |
| Case size | 36mm | 36mm | 38mm |
| Water resistance | 30m | 30m | 30m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Leather strap | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 42 hours | 46 hours | 52 hours |
| This watch |
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|
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
No. At 30m it will survive rain and handwashing, but not submersion of any kind.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedHow long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 42 hours fully wound — enough to survive a night off the wrist, but not a full weekend.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as women's, though at 36mm it sits in the range that suits anyone.
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