« Coco avant Chanel », the new Chanel watch collection pays tribute to the soul of the designer.

Industry : Watches

Location : France

Related to : Watch collection pays tribute to the soul of the designer

Reviewer : Tiphaine Foissac – Parsons School of Design

Company : Chanel

Website : Chanel.fr

At the end of January 2017, the “Haute Couture” Week was held in Paris. Chanel launched its new jewellery collection called “Coco Avant Chanel”. This name echoes the biographical film written and directed by Anne Fontaine in 2009.

The Chanel House excels in the art of story telling. This time, the story takes us back to 1913.

“At the time of the pre-war era, Coco Chanel had a strong liking for lace and the simplicity of ribbons, which became a signature of her couture and jewellery collections.

In addition the history of the House, Chanel’s jewelry watches are truly artisanal prowess. This new collection of fine jewelry includes eleven sets accompanied by three watches. Each evokes the freshness of its youth, with asymmetrical shapes and the use of colored stones limited to morganite, pearls, spinels, moonstones and sapphires Padparadscha posed on a bed of white diamonds.

The “Gabrielle” is a secret watch featuring a stylized lace pattern, drawn with camellias, one of Gabrielle’s fetish flowers symbolizing her youthful love with Boy Capel. This watch is made of 18 carat white gold set with 3 round diamonds, in total it’s 0.77 carat and 629 brilliant cut diamonds for a total weight of 13.95 carats.

“Jeanne” is the second watch in the collection. It bears the name Jeanne in honor of Jeanne Dirys, theater actress and silent film star, often wearing a Chanel hat. The “Jeanne” watch in 18k white gold is adorned with two marquise-cut diamonds, weighing a total of 0.84 carat, two pearl-cut diamonds (0.46 carats) and 500 brilliant-cut diamonds (10.53 Carats).

Finally, the last watch entitled “Emilienne” was created in honour of Emilienne Alençon, a famous courtesan of the 1890s. Emilienne also wore some of the first creations of Chanel hats. The “Emilienne” watch in 18 carat white gold is set with a 0.70 carat pearl cut diamond, a .50 carat marquetry diamond, 11 round diamonds. In total, it’s 3.80 carats, eight Fancy diamonds (2.95 carats), 76 round diamonds (0.18 carat) and 215 brilliant cut diamond.