Since reintroducing Fine and High Jewelry into their universe, CHANEL has produced spectacular creations that rival any of the old guard jewellers that also call the famous Place Vendôme and its surrounding streets home. Previous collections have been inspired by iconic CHANEL motifs and symbols like tweed and the Coromandel screens so loved by Gabrielle Chanel. Triumphs of beauty, design, and technical skill, these collections now seem to be leading up to the House’s most ambitious High Jewelry collection yet. The CHANEL COLLECTION N°5 is nothing short of spectacular. It ascends the world of jewelry into that of art. It is quite frankly, jaw dropping.
Patrice Laguéreau, the Director of the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio, has imagined COLLECTION N°5 as an homage to the world’s most famous perfume and its iconic bottle. Upon its launch in 1921, CHANEL N°5 took the world by storm. It was the first “perfume for women with the scent of a woman” and it was encased in a jewel like bottle that was as expertly designed as the heady fragrance itself. A decade later, Gabrielle Chanel would further disrupt the rarified world of luxury with her one and only fine jewelry collection, Bijoux de Diamants. These platinum and diamond pieces shocked the rather staid world of fine jewelry. Chanel further broke with convention by showcasing the pieces on wax mannequins rather than the traditional black velvet trays.
Laguéreau looked to these two historic moments in Gabrielle Chanel’s life and drew deep inspiration for these remarkable CHANEL COLLECTION N°5 High Jewelry pieces. He notes, “Gabrielle Chanel approached these two universes with the same visionary values, focusing on audacity and the quest for excellence. I wanted to rediscover that creative gesture with this collection, which has been conceived like a journey through the meanderings of the N°5 perfume’s soul, from the architecture of the bottle to the olfactive explosion of the fragrance.”
The pinnacle of this incredible collection is the magnificent 55.55 necklace. It features a jaw dropping centre stone – an impeccable 55.55-carat custom cut D flawless stone that anchors the incredible design. Evoking the iconic CHANEL N°5 bottle, it is set in white gold and features an additional 104 round diamonds, 42 baguette diamonds, and a cascade of pear-shaped diamonds. Needless to say, this necklace is nothing short of breathtaking. CHANEL has only produced one of this spectacular piece, and it will remain as part of the House’s patrimony as a testament to the staggering talent of the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio.
The collection is additionally made up of a stunning selection of High Jewelry pieces that pay homage to five distinct facets of the world’s most iconic perfume. The Stopper, where an emerald cut that references the Place Vendôme is done in rock crystal, diamonds, and onyx, is adorned with additional diamonds, pearls, and yellow sapphires. Delicate ribbons of diamond play beautifully against the clean Art Deco lines of the pieces. The Bottle, an absolute icon, is imagined in white diamonds, yellow diamonds, yellow sapphires, pink morganite, mother of pearl, and lacquer. Quite literally dripping in stones, the pieces give the appearance of perfume enveloping the skin. The Number, the famed N°5, features whimsical pieces in yellow gold, golden beryl, diamonds, yellow sapphires, a 4 carat sunrise hued sapphire, and an amber topaz drop of more that 30 carats. Imagined as broaches, watches, rings, chokers, necklaces, bracelets, and dripping earrings, the pieces are playful yet elegant. The Flowers references the very heart of N°5 – the carefully selected blooms the give life to the scent. Jasmine, May Rose, and the ylang-ylang blossom are rendered in diamonds, pearls and pink sapphires. A long sautoir necklace features a intricately crafted rose while the trio of blooms are worked together as an asymmetrical bouquet in the Absolu N°5 plastron set. Lastly, The Sillage is an homage of the olfactory trail that perfume leaves. These pieces are imaged as abstract motifs that shimmer and lay across the body and are befitting of a Russian Tsarina. The Golden Burst necklace features a staggering and striking 350 carats of imperial topaz while the alluring Blushing Silage set features diamonds, garnets, rubies, yellow and pink sapphires. And finally, the magnificent Diamond Silage necklace glistens with a 10 carat flawless stone at its centre surrounded by a constellation of scintillating diamonds in a starburst shaped patter.
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THE STOPPER
THE BOTTLE
THE NUMBER
THE FLOWERS
THE SILLAGE
