Barely four decades have passed since CHANEL embarked on a watchmaking voyage in 1987. Within this relatively short period, the maison has achieved what others spend generations pursuing. In an industry where credibility and reputation are built over generations, CHANEL’s Watchmaking Creation Studio is fairly young, to say the least. This youthfulness was leveraged to the maison’s advantage as it navigates its watchmaking endeavours with creative freedom rather than competing on tradition.
As the division grew over the decades, it carved itself a unique identity: one that refuses to be confined by convention. The maison’s trajectory moved in tandem with its ambitions as strategic acquisitions and partnerships over the years cemented CHANEL’s status as a tour de force to be reckoned with. CHANEL’s creations today occupy that sweet spot where technical mastery, artistic expression and storytelling converge. That philosophy reaches its theatrical crescendo in The Chessboard, among other novelties unveiled in CHANEL’s Coco Game capsule collection.
In the game of chess, the Queen is the board’s most powerful piece. She dictates tempo, influences strategy, and, more often than not, determines the outcome even before the final move is made. By drawing parallels, the Queen is the most fitting role for Gabrielle Chanel. In 1910, Mademoiselle Chanel rewrote the rules of fashion when she founded the house of CHANEL. After more than a century, the matriarch takes the spotlight as the protagonist of CHANEL’s Haute Horlogerie pièce de résistance, the Chessboard.
Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of the CHANEL Watchmaking Creation Studio, transformed one of the world’s most intellectual games into an introspection of creativity and craftsmanship. In a universe spread over an obsidian base lined with 516 brilliant-cut natural diamonds, 64 squares and 32 chess pieces, the duality between black and white expresses Mademoiselle Chanel’s philosophies of couture and fashion elegance through restraint and clarity over excess. While the philosophy runs through CHANEL’s haute couture, joaillerie and horlogerie, its purest expression is distilled into The Chessboard, where every move of each black-and-white piece unfolds across the monochromatic board.
Across the 32 individually sculpted chess pieces, tributes and connections to CHANEL’s universe are apparent. The Vendôme Column, the lion, the mannequin bust, and many other symbols are synonymous with the maison’s rich history. However, the theatrics are only as convincing as the details that bring them to life. Each chess piece is executed with astonishing fidelity as the contours and facets are precisely cut.
Gabrielle Chanel’s iconic silhouette, canotier hat, tweed suit with contrasting trims, pearl earrings and two-tone slingback shoes are expertly fashioned from 18k white gold. The white piece is set with 993 brilliant-cut diamonds, while the black piece is coated black and set with 358 brilliant-cut diamonds. Beneath their pedestal bases is where time sits; each Queen can be worn as a necklace with a chain set with 269 brilliant-cut natural diamonds and hand-assembled onyx tubes. The other 15 black pieces are sculpted from high-resistance ceramic before being accented with white gold and diamonds. Juxtaposed against them are white-gold counterparts set with diamonds and accented with black ceramic trim. Gabrielle Chanel’s star sign, Leo, takes its place as the King and is guarded by the Couture Bust Bishops, Vendôme Column Rooks, Equestrian knights and pawns.
Much like every creation from the maison, The Chessboard is intentional, unexpected and entirely shaped in the spirit of Gabrielle Chanel. It is a demonstration of technical mastery at the highest level and unbridled creativity at its freest.
Synthetic sapphire has long been regarded as the gold standard in watchmaking. While its applications are mainly confined to watch crystals, its exceptional clarity is a trove waiting to be manipulated to one’s desire. The material’s prestige is undermined by its notoriety in machining, and given it ranks second only to diamond on the Mohs hardness scale, specialised diamond-tipped machines are required to cut, shape and polish sapphire. Instead of shunning these constraints, a handful of watch manufactures have embraced the challenge of engineering full sapphire creations as a showcase of technical pedigree in contemporary watchmaking.
This year, CHANEL Watchmaking Creation Studio unveiled the J12 X-Ray Coco Game, which fully embraces the crystalline nature of sapphire. The majority of the watch case and bracelet links down to the movement’s bridges are fashioned from sapphire to create a monolith of haute horlogerie. With the chiaroscuro technique in mind, baguette-cut diamond setting and blackened gold borders enhance the three-dimensional volume and dramatic depth of the watch, as lightness and darkness create a strong contrast. CHANEL’s dedicated movement for the J12 X-Ray, the Manufacture Calibre 3.1, takes skeletonisation to the next level by utilising a sapphire architecture. Its mainplate, intermediate, and gear-train bridges are milled from transparent sapphire to create an illusion of levity within the crystalline beauty.
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