Cover Julia Roberts is the new face of Chopard's Happy Sport Watch. (Photographer: Shayne Laverdière; Art direction: Xavier Dolan; Stylist: Elizabeth Stewart)

The new Chopard Happy Sport the First feels fresh and down-to-earth, with a hint of low-key, vintage glamour—not unlike Julia Roberts, herself

Julia Roberts is the new face of Chopard, starting with the brand’s latest Happy Sport campaign, which marks the release of a limited-edition Happy Sport watch called Happy Sport the First that pays tribute to the original from 1993. The belle of the box office, Roberts’ standout performances in ’90s blockbuster films Pretty Woman (1990), Flatliners (1990) and Sleeping With the Enemy (1991) quickly made her the most popular actress in America.

This isn’t the first time Roberts has been photographed wearing Chopard. In 2016, at that year’s Cannes Film Festival, the actor famously wore an off-the-shoulder black dress with a high jewellery diamond-set necklace from the jeweller’s Red Carpet collection. It was mounted with a whopping 52.76-carat emerald.

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Above Photographer: Shayne Laverdière; Art direction: Xavier Dolan; Stylist: Elizabeth Stewart
Tatler Asia
Above Photographer: Shayne Laverdière; Art direction: Xavier Dolan; Stylist: Elizabeth Stewart

“Julia Roberts was the only person I felt could convey the spirit that I see in Happy Sport,” says Caroline Scheufele, artistic director and co-president of Chopard. Scheufele was the first person to introduce the Happy Sport almost 30 years ago and, by doing so, opened up the watch market to women everywhere.

For the Happy Sport collection, loose diamonds are sandwiched between two slices of sapphire crystal, which allows the stones to move freely across the dial. “I am honoured to be collaborating with Chopard on the Happy Sport watch, one of the most iconic and desirable models in the industry,” says Roberts.

Scheufele is known for her passion for cinema. Chopard redesigned and reproduced the trophy for the Palme d'Or, the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, in 1998. The jeweller has hosted the event's most exclusive parties ever since. It, therefore, makes sense that Roberts has been picked to front this campaign and that it's been directed by Xavier Dolan, who won the Cannes Jury Prize for his hit film Mommy (2014).

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