South Africa won their first IRB London Sevens title beating the hosts and defending champions England 21-12 in the final but it was New Zealand who retained the World Series crown.
They clinched their sixth series title in six years with one round in Paris still to play by reaching the semi-finals after a narrow 21-12 victory against France in the quarter-finals.
After winning four of the previous five events, the points New Zealand gained were enough to ensure no team could catch them in the overall table.
But they could not celebrate in style with a victory in London as South Africa hit them with a first-half blitz in the semi-final.
The Springboks stormed into a 28-0 half-time lead before scoring a fifth converted try to lead 35-0 early in the second half.
Inspired by Joe Rokocoko, New Zealand came storming back to score 26 unanswered points but that was not enough to claim a place in the final.
England made it to the final with a comprehensive 33-7 defeat of Argentina who had shocked Fiji in the quarter-finals with a stunning 31-5 victory.
The hosts, who were champions in London in each of the last two seasons, opened the scoring through Richard Houghton but South Africa hit back immediately with the enigmatic Fabian Juries in sparkling form.
Coach Paul Treu paid tribute to his players in an interview with ITV Sport.
He said: "I can just take my hat off to the guys for such a good performance."
South Africa dominated with their first-half form in every game taking the wind out of their opponents' sails.
"That's what we did all tournament is clinch the game in the first half," added Treu.
Despite being pinned down in their own 22, South Africa showed true grit and determination to stand firm, even holding the ball up over their try-line three times.
Fiji recovered from their shock defeat to Argentina to win the Plate competition.
They defeated Scotland in the semifinal 21-10 to set up a final against Australia.
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