Chanel rewrites the rules of luxury watchmaking
The iconic J12 line gets a bold new shade, but the star of the show has to be the Diamonds Astroclock, an ethereal one-off creation
J12 Bleu
At Watches and Wonders 2025, Chanel made it patently clear it isn’t just keeping time – it’s rewriting the rules. Three standout collections took centre stage, each flexing serious creative muscle.
First, to celebrate the J12’s 25th birthday, Chanel unveiled a seductive shade for the iconic line – blue, the first new colour since 2011’s Chromatic edition.
This particular hue, between blue and black, offers a sophisticated depth that speaks to the fashion house’s love for midnight blue – a shade Gabrielle Chanel chose for her evening gowns to exude both mystery and elegance.
Its beauty belies the amount of research and experimentation it took Chanel’s watchmaking engineers to get the colour just right: five years. As Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the Chanel watchmaking studio, noted, the art of ceramic is now a part of the house’s legacy as much as its haute couture.
The J12 Bleu is not merely another addition to the line, but a symbol of how the brand has ennobled ceramic to the level of precious material. Here are four exceptional models in the collection.
J12 Bleu 38 mm
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With a 38 mm case and bracelet in matte-blue highly resistant ceramic, this is a watch that blends the best of power and style.
It has the calibre 12.1 self-winding movement and a power reserve of 70 hours, produced by Kenissi Manufacture – co-owned by Chanel – so it doesn’t get more reliable than that. Plus, it’s certified by the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, so while it’s out there turning heads, it’s also keeping perfect time.
And that baguette-cut pattern on the ceramic ring of the black-coated steel bezel? Crafting ceramic into those thin shapes without shattering the metal is a feat unto itself – a delicious, technical detail you can wield as a subtle flex.
J12 Bleu Sapphire 28 mm/42 mm
This duo in 28 mm and 42 mm is a celebration of contrasts. One is bold, the other delicate – yet together, they create perfect harmony.
The baguette sapphires encircling the bezel and running down the spine of the bracelet are absolute showstoppers, with 170 on the larger timepiece (17.01 carats) and 196 on the smaller one (8 carats). The gems are like little bursts of light adorning the ceramic – and letting the blue really pop is the black bezel coated with diamond-like carbon, which also brings the entire piece together with a structured, sharp edge.
Chastaingt certainly knows how to play with extremes. With a nod to Gabrielle Chanel’s obsession with balance, these pieces transcend their role as timekeepers to become a visual dance of colours, shapes and styles.
J12 Bleu X-Ray
The J12 Bleu X-Ray takes the sapphire watch game to another level. For a start, no less than 1,600 hours of precision craftsmanship went into sculpting the case and bracelet from a single block of synthetic sapphire. That’s about 200 work days, or 10 months.
Obtaining the right shade of blue for the stone was no mean feat, either. Craftsmen had to inject a cocktail of metal oxides and other elements into the transparent crystal block, finally achieving their target after several rounds of trial and error. To emphasise the transparency, colourless sapphire plates and bridges were used to support the calibre 3.1 movement, making the gears look like they’re floating.
The black DLC-coated, white-gold bezel and bracelet links are set with 196 blue baguette-cut sapphires. More than 30 hours of work were needed for this process alone, but the effect is stunning: It’s like wearing the sun-dappled ocean on your wrist. Does all this effort justify the S$1.6 million price tag? Well, you’ll just have to ask one of the 12 future owners, since only a dozen of these beauties will be produced.
J12 Bleu Diamond Tourbillon
The calibre 5 movement at the heart of this timepiece is pure genius – a 65-facet solitaire diamond (0.18 carat) is mounted on a tourbillon cage, so that it rotates in sync with the tourbillon to reveal all its facets. It took three years to develop and was showcased as Chanel’s first in-house tourbillon movement in a black ceramic J12 in 2022.
The house’s ceramic work is already top-tier, but the matte-blue finish with hand-polished bevels on the case and bracelet is next-level craftsmanship – bevelling ceramic, rather than metal, is notoriously difficult.
The Bleu edition is sure to be an ultra-exclusive collector’s item, with production limited to 55 pieces.
Blush Watch Capsule Collection
Chanel’s Blush Watch Capsule Collection is creatively audacious, taking inspiration from make-up – the very essence of transformation and allure – and translating that into high watchmaking.
Gabrielle Chanel revolutionised the fragrance and cosmetic industries in the early 20th century, and this line feels like an evolution of that rebellious spirit. It’s unapologetically bold and fearlessly feminine – but in a way that even watch purists will have to respect.
Chastaingt and his team used just about every technique in the book to make the transformation happen: Grand Feu enamel (a rarity in contemporary watchmaking); decal and pad printing on dials (for intricate layering of colours); miniature painting (true artisanal craftsmanship); and gold sculpting (elevating symbols of Chanel Beauty to fine jewellery status).
These three pieces caught our eye.
Mademoiselle Prive Pincushion “Beauty Art”
This is Chanel at its most poetic and avant-garde. Last year, the house created a domed watch inspired by a sewing pincushion; this time, it offers a domed watch with beauty essentials scattered across a black dial.
There are tubes of lipstick, eyeshadow palettes, blush and nail polish – crafted with blackened gold, Grand Feu enamel and miniature painting.
Against these are Gabrielle Chanel’s hands, sculpted in gold, a finger studded with a pink sapphire, her tweed sleeves adorned with a half-pearl. A long necklace with mother-of-pearl beads and diamonds snakes its way across this tableau.
You can almost imagine Mademoiselle at her dressing table, candidly captured in the act of getting ready. It’s an artistic, wearable sculpture blending fashion, beauty and high watchmaking into a single extraordinary objet d’art.
The 55 mm blackened titanium case sports a blackened steel bezel embellished with 84 baguette-cut pink sapphires and an 18K yellow gold case-back.
Secret Watch “Kiss Me”
A lipstick case that tells the time when slid open? That’s cheeky, chic, and oh-so Chanel.
The Secret Watch “Kiss Me” design is based on the marque’s 1954 lipstick case. Here, the watchmaking studio opted for black titanium instead of gold, making it four times lighter while retaining the lacquered aesthetic.
Each tube requires 45 minutes of hand-polishing, because titanium is immensely difficult to polish without losing its geometry. An 18K gold ring ornamented with yellow baguette-cut beryls mimics the gold centre band.
Then there’s the secret watch mechanism, where the sliding system reveals a black lacquered dial with a satisfying click. The absence of visible screws ensures a seamless aesthetic.
Meant to be worn as a long necklace, the lipstick watch is fastened to an 18K yellow gold chain with onyx and rhodolite beads. Only five of these delightful numbers will be made.
Boy.Friend “Coco Art”
This timepiece is where Pop Art meets haute horlogerie, inspired by the unmistakable graphic lines and vibrant colours of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol.
It uses tampography – a printing process that uses a silicon pad to transfer an image onto an object – to create a portrait of Gabrielle Chanel in her signature look of pearl earrings, layered necklaces, and cuffed sleeves.
Then the magic unfolds. Twelve custom pad-printed emblems bring Gabrielle’s silhouette to life: Beige skin, blue hair, red nails, a stroke of black defining her features as she perfects her look.
The hot pink baguette-cut sapphires on the bezel are the perfect complement to the pop art vibe – an added dimension of colour framed by the black-coated steel case. Limited to 20 pieces.
The Lion of Mademoiselle
The Lion of Mademoiselle is a triumphant tribute to Gabrielle Chanel’s personal totem. The majestic king of beasts wasn’t just a symbol for her – it was part of her identity, as her star sign (Leo), guardian, and emblem of protection.
By bringing that symbolism into the collection, Chastaingt and his team forged a deeply personal connection to the creations. Deserving particular mention is the Diamonds Astroclock.
Anatomical accuracy and artistic sensibility merge in a solid gold sculpture of a lion, rendering it alive with movement, strength and grace.
Amulet Watch “The Lion of Mademoiselle”
A sculptural, protective lion forged in matte gold with the addition of onyx, rock crystal and diamonds – the elements come together to create an aura of strength and mystique.
The design takes cues from Gabrielle Chanel’s own jewellery collections, in which gold dominated. Instead of a polished finish, the matte texture gives the timepiece an edge, while the brilliance in the diamonds brings it to life. The 350 hours of work on the lion – made using the lost-wax casting technique – and chain show Chanel’s dedication to perfection.
Gabrielle believed in the protective nature of rock crystal, so wearers of this amulet will carry a bit of magic with them. The faceted front and smooth back of the crystal add depth, enhancing the play of light, while the rays cut into the back grant it an extra dimension of mystical beauty.
The watch itself boasts a white gold dial, and is powered by a quartz movement. On the back of the rock crystal is a 1.5-carat brilliant-cut diamond, ensuring that the piece looks just as good no matter which way it faces.
Diamonds Astroclock
The Diamonds Astroclock, a one-off creation, captures the energy and symbolism of the lion and stars in a way that’s never been done before. As the Jamiroquai song goes: “She’s just a cosmic girl, from another galaxy.”
Exquisitely sculpted in white gold and set with 5,037 diamonds, the lion is the gravitational force of the timepiece, majestic and eternal atop the hand-polished obsidian pedestal. It took eight months to snow-set its shimmering skin, while its body was cast in nine parts and then assembled.
Time is suspended within a transparent glass sphere, airy and ethereal. The movement is a celestial choreography: A spinning comet marks the hours, while the Leo constellation – Gabrielle Chanel’s astrological sign – rotates to indicate the minutes. A small, diamond-set, white-gold sphere twirls to count the seconds, a quiet heartbeat of the stars. It also functions as a power reserve indicator.
The Astroclock’s black brass structure is trimmed with gold threads. Both regal and futuristic, it’s a cosmic relic guaranteed to “send you into hyperspace when you see her pretty face”.
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