For many years, Chopard, the jeweller of choice for the stars of the red carpet, has been passionately involved in the world of cinema. As well as participating in major international events such as the Cannes Film Festival, where it is an official partner and for which it created the Palme d’Or, the Swiss jeweller also unearths young talent through the Chopard Trophy. Chopard will shirk no challenge to feed its love of cinema. No surprise, then, that the company has fulfilled the mission it received from the team of the film Diana, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, with talent and passion: to select pieces from its collections that the Princess might have chosen to wear.
Happy Diamonds Icons © Chopard
Although Chopard has already been involved in numerous feature films, such as Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Shekhar Kapur), Nine (Rob Marshall) and Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen), the stakes here were particularly high, because not only did the jeweller have to provide a realistic insight into Diana’s extraordinary jewellery collection, but also to remind the world of her legendary elegance with discretion, charm and a modern touch. Caroline Scheufele, Chopard’s Co-President and Artistic Director, reveals that she worked closely with Julian Day, the film’s Costume Designer and that he had very specific requests. ”When I received the offer to work on the film Diana I was thrilled because, to me, she was a person blessed with extraordinary charisma and great elegance, both in her personality and her style. After having worked on the film Nine in 2009, this new partnership was exciting, even more so because Naomi Watts is a fantastic actress.”
In the final version, a selection of Chopard watches, jewellery and bags appear on screen, including several watches and items of jewellery from the Happy Diamonds collections, but also High Jewellery creations that demonstrate Chopard’s extensive expertise in this field. The Swiss company has managed to put together an extremely coherent collection that matches the status and personality of the Princess of Wales perfectly. Julian Day says: “From the first reading of the Diana script, I realised that I was going to need magnificent jewellery. When the opportunity arose to work with Chopard, I knew that this was going to be possible. Their help has been invaluable.”