With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, this makes the perfect gift for any woman. You can spend hours, weeks or months searching for the perfect gift for your lady. When it comes down to it, most women adore luxurious watches. Now you don’t have to waste any precious time with the Happy Hearts time piece.

Chopard Special Edition Happy Hearts Valentine's Day 2012 Watch

The Happy Hearts time piece is a remodeled romantic version of famous Happy Sport watch. The watch has a polished round stainless steel case measuring in at 36 millimeters in diameter, the perfect size for any woman. Chopard has only manufactured 500 pieces of the Happy Hearts watch so it’s quite rare and unique to own. The watch is very thin and light and contains precise quartz movement. This gorgeous time piece contains sword shaped silver minute and hour hands as well as a skinny silver second hand which all point to tick mark hour indicators with ovals at each hour. Between the hour four and the hour five the watch contains a small date window, a great feature of this time piece. The mother of pearl dial is absolutely breath taking with its three tiny heart shaped stones and adds to the Valentine’s Day appeal. Two of the stones are pink sapphires, the other is a diamond. The upper part of the dial displays the brand’s iconic logo. The beautiful case also has a stainless steel fixed bezel as well as a stainless steel screw down crown, ensuring its owner that water will never make its way inside the watch. The crown is also decorated with a pink sapphire cabochon, making it a lovely feature for any lady.

An awesome feature of this watch is that it is water resistant in up to 30 meters or 100 feet of water, ideal for a day of water sports or that big summer cruise. To add to the delicate elegance of this time piece, the case is attached to a purple silk satin strap that is extremely flexible and designed for comfort.

If you are genuinely interested in purchasing this time piece, it is best to do so through an authorized Chopard dealer. Counterfeit designer watches can be found all over the internet so it’s best to be safe rather than sorry and to make sure you get your money’s worth!

The Cannes Film Festival red carpet

Since its conception, Chopard has expressed its artisanship in ways other than their premiere fashion design. For the last 15 years, the brand has proven their aesthetic prowess in a way that is rather atypical of companies of its caliber, and that is by partnering with the Cannes Film Festival. The Swiss luxury watch and jewelry manufacturer began its alliance with the festival in 1997, and will be marking its twelfth year as a partner this May.

For those who are not familiar with the festival, a brief history:

Officially titled Le Festival International du Film de Cannes, the Cannes International Film Festival, as one might guess, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France. The event is notable on account of its previews of upcoming films from around the world, introducing new works for the year in genres such as drama, comedy, and documentary. It is one of the most valued and elite festivals in the world, attracting invitation-only audiences of film makers, critics, and stars.

Each year, an elite member of this film community is chosen to be “president” of the festival. Last May, the chosen President of the Jury was Robert De Nero, the famed American actor/director/producer. Announced recently on Jan. 20, 2012, this year’s President of the Jury will be Nanni Moretti, Italian director and actor, who will be presiding over the 65^th Cannes Festival.

Albeit  unusual, the Chopard alliance with the Cannes Film Festival is not inappropriate. The fusion occurred upon the meeting of Pierre Viot, president of the festival, Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele, and Co-President of Chopard. Viot requested Gruosi-Scheufele and her craftsmen redesign the Golden Palm Award, the highest prize awarded at the festival presented to the director of the best feature film. The Chopard-designed Golden Palm, or Palme d’Or, was unveiled in May of 1998. Subsequently, in 2001 Chopard introduced a new award to the festival, a self-titled trophy for creativity. Each year, the Chopard trophy is awarded to two actors, one man and one woman, for being Male and Female Revelation of the Year.

The Chopard-designed Palm d'Or

Not surprisingly, the partnership also opens up opportunities for Chopard to dress red carpet walkers in its signature pieces. In fact, the company even developed a Red Carpet Collection in 2007 for the 60^thanniversary opening ceremony. Inspired by the stars themselves, the appropriately numbered 60 new jewelry pieces were introduced, 10 of which created with the purpose of being paired with 10 Valentino gowns also made specially for the occasion.

The upcoming Cannes Film Festival will be held from May 16 to 27, 2012.  Film and fashion fans alike should be on the lookout for some impressive art, both on the screens and on the wrists of audience members.

A world first: the Chopard L.U.C. Triple Certification Watch

Written by: Vanessa Formato

Chopard has achieved a feat that was previously unimaginable in the watchmaking world with its L.U.C Triple Certification Tourbillon Watch. As the timepiece’s name suggests, this watch has received three prestigious certificates from the most well-respected watch authorities, making this watch perhaps the most well-crafted and reliable one in history.

The three certifications that this Chopard watch received are the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, abbreviated as COSC) certificate,  the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark and the Fleurier Quality Foundation label. Each certificate assessed different aspects of the watch’s technical quality.

The COSC certification judges whether watches can be considered chronometers, and the COSC is the only organization that may bestow that title. The testing involves 15 days of tests where the watch is monitored in varying conditions, like different positions and temperatures, to see if it maintains accuracy.

To receive the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark– also known as the Geneva Seal– watches must meet a variety of technical requirements over 12 criteria ranging from craftsmanship to movement construction to the integrity of the materials.

The Fleurier Quality Foundation label can only be achieved by subjecting watches to a rigorous series of tests that, above all else, determine the timepiece’s long-term durability. The tests last for 21 days and are meant to simulate six months of everyday wear. The watch is subjected to different levels of humidity and wrist movement simulations. It must also prove that it can endure a certain amount of impact. This certification is very difficult to obtain.

While Chopard’s watches have received these certifications individually in the past, it is the first time that any of their watches have received all three simultaneously. This is an accomplishment that watchmakers of a similar caliber are yet to achieve. No other watch created by another other brand has received all three certifications.

The  L.U.C Triple Certification Tourbillon is not purely a functional piece. Chopard has successfully married form and function with this particular watch, featuring 18-carat rose gold, bold Roman numerals and an alligator leather band.

Only 100 of this record-breaking watch will be produced and the price is yet to be announced. For the supreme quality that buyers will receive, it is safe to say that this it will be worth the investment, a piece that will be passed down for generations.

What happens when the most beloved rodent off all time joins forces with a high-end jewelry and watchmaker-gemological and horological magic! The beloved Mickey Mouse has teamed up with swanky watch and accessory company Chopard for a collection of pieces sure to delight kids of all ages.

Chopard was founded in 1860 by Louis-Ulysse Chopard.  Chopard is a unique company in a few ways; they have a distinct classification of being regarded as a manufacturer, which requires that they make many of their watches and movements internally rather than using parts made from other manufacturers. Chopard is also one of only four brands in the Fleurier Quality Foundation which is known for endorsing only the crème de la crème in luxury watches. This distinguished certification ensures that all Chopard watches are of only the finest artistry and craftsmanship which they have become celebrated for.

Chopard is well known in high-end circles for designing beautiful, opulent pieces of jewelry, watches, and accessories are commonly worn on red carpets and adorned by socialites who are predominantly female. Chopard also appeals to male celebrities such as film director Spike Lee and television personality Simon Cowell who wear Chopard sports watches.

Assortment of Chopard watches on display

Chopard’s collaboration with Mickey Mouse is not their first celebrity partnership. The celebrated Sir Elton John and Chopard Co-President Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele met and forged a friendship which began with their dedication to AIDS causes. Together they eventually created a collection of watches designed by John with a portion of proceeds benefitting the Elton John AIDS Foundation. What began as a fundraising idea between friends quickly became one of Chopard’s bestselling pieces in their range of watches.

With one successful celebrity alliance under their belt, Chopard did not hesitate to forge a creative partnership with their latest business partner, the legendary Mickey Mouse. In their latest celebrity collaboration, aptly named the Happy Mickey collection, Chopard designed a variety of fun and imaginative jewelry and watches.

Chopard's Happy Mickey watches are fun and fashionable

The collection features watches made in gem-set steel with the lovable mouse pictured in black and white along with moving diamonds which Chopard calls fashionable and playful luxury. All watches feature the sliding gemstones in red, yellow and black which represent the colors of Mickey Mouse and come in white or mother-of-pearl dials. Watch straps are kept simple and understated in black or white to not take away from the moving dazzling diamonds and gemstone pieces.

Chopard has certainly revealed their fun and imaginative side with the Happy Mickey collection. It captures the playful and colorful side of the movie star mouse and paired it with Chopard’s signature elegant jewels and design.

Offered in a limited edition of 500 pieces, this new Racing Chronograph is hot to trot.

The watch measures almost 48 mm wide by 15mm and comes with a thick 18k rose gold case. The case is actually very detailed although you can’t tell that well in the picture; look at the sides and rear of the watch and you’ll get an idea of this detailing. This time around, the bezel has screws in it and the rubber coated crown has a gold three spoke racing steering wheel placed on the side of it. “The sides of the case are all nicely milled and cut with an interesting horizontal striping, and the large screw columns intentionally protrude a bit giving it a very technical feel.” The crown guard and rubberized integrated chronograph pushers are nicely done in a unique style. The dial features large, gold hands that contrast well against the dial, which offers a vertical pattering, something new to the collection. The three overlapping chronograph subdials are subdued, but legible.

This new Racing Chronograph wouldn’t be a classic Chopard race-inspired watch if it were not for the Dunlop tire tread rubber strap, which when contrasted against the rose gold tones, makes for a cool, modern look. The watch is water resistant to 100 meters and the price is about $24,000.