For those who have been “undeniably charmed” by Chopard’s Happy Sport and recently launched Alpine Eagle because these may well be “babe magnets”, be warned that these timepieces may cause your legs to go “soft like a salted cabbage”, to borrow a line from the highly popular K-drama Crash Landing on You. While Chopard’s sporty Mille Miglia played a cameo appearance, both the Happy Sport worn by lead actress Son Ye-jin who plays Yoon Se Ri and the Alpine Eagle that found its way (back) to protagonist Captain Ri Jeong Hyeok played by Hyun Bin, received more airtime with the latter wristwatch playing a key role in the drama’s intriguing plot.
Son Ye-jin featuring the ‘Happy Sport’ in stainless steel and diamond in drama “Crash Landing On You”
In Crash Landing on You, the stainless steel Chopard Happy Sport featured was the model launched in 2018 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Happy Sport collection (1993 to 2018). This Happy Sport has five free moving diamonds on the dial side of around 0.15 carats. Chopard’s Happy Sport is an extension of the Happy Diamonds watch concept that first came to fruition in 1976 thanks to Karin Scheufele. Her concept allowed diamonds to be animated by free movement rather than be a static setting on the dial, case or bracelet. “Diamonds are happier when they are free,” she noted.
Chopard Happy Sport in stainless steel, featuring five free moving diamonds.
In 1993, her daughter Caroline Scheufele, current Co-President and Artistic Director of Chopard introduced the Happy Sport female line of sports timepieces that is an evolution and a revolution of the Happy Diamonds by combining diamonds with steel watches. In other words, watches with diamonds were no longer reserved for formal wear; the Happy Sport changed that thinking as a sports watch with diamonds that is well-suited for less formal occasions and paired with sporty or casual clothes.
Hyun Bin featuring the ‘Alpine Eagle’ watch in Lucent Steel A223 and stainless steel in Korean drama “Crash Landing on You”
The sporty men’s watch seen on Captain Ri is the Alpine Eagle. The Alpine Eagle is so-named because its rock-like textured dial is inspired by the iris of the eagle while its feathers provided design ideas for the hands. The “cold glinting” steel used for the watch symbolises the glaciers found in the alpine eagle’s environment. The Chopard Alpine Eagle is a perfect fit for Hyun Bin’s character role as Captain Ri. Both the military captain and watch look tough and cool on the outside and bearing soul within.
Chopard Alpine Eagle in Lucent Steel A223 and stainless steel with a rock-like textured grey dial.
The Alpine Eagle is a robust sports watch with a case made of Lucent A223 steel. The properties of Lucent A223 steel are comparable to surgical steel making it “highly dermo-compatible” and the 223 Vickers strength of the alloy makes it 50% more resistant to abrasions than conventional steel. Now, is the Chopard Alpine Eagle a copy of another watch? Yes, it is. The Alpine Eagle is a notable copy of the Chopard St Moritz wristwatch that was introduced in 1980. The gentleman behind its creation was none other than Karl-Friedrich Scheufele. Almost forty years later, history has repeated itself because his son, Karl-Fritz Scheufele, became the driving force behind the Chopard Alpine Eagle where key design elements were been drawn from the original St Moritz.
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