Contained in the pristine and deceptively monochrome Wonders Geneva 2026, a definite line was drawn. To 1 facet stood the everlasting novelties – together with the deep, inky ceramic of the everlasting J12 Bleu, becoming a member of {the catalogue} after 5 years of intense analysis. This assortment was already the topic of our Imaginative and prescient cowl story final yr, however we’re going with a distinct strategy this time. You see, to know the true, unfettered soul of Chanel watchmaking, one has to step into the totally self-contained world of the capsule assortment. This yr, it’s the Chanel Coco Recreation.
Like all of Chanel’s extremely anticipated capsule collections, Coco Recreation exists individually from the principle novelties. But, to name it secondary can be a profound misunderstanding. Chanel treats its capsules not as an afterthought, however as a sanctuary reserved solely for its most daring inventive expressions and highest stage of watchmaking. As Frédéric Grangié, CEO of Chanel Watches, explains, every thing begins with creation, a sketch, and a imaginative and prescient delivered to life by Arnaud Chastaingt and his Watch Creation Studio. Inside Chanel’s manufacture at La Chaux-de-Fonds, each technical problem turns into a possibility to raise its savoir-faire. The final word expression of mentioned savoir-faire is the capsule assortment.
THE MASTERPIECE OF THE BOARD
The undisputed centrepiece of the 14-piece capsule assortment – and its ignition spark, based on Chastaingt – is The Chessboard, a wide ranging excessive horology masterpiece that discovered a loving proprietor even earlier than Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026 opened. Framed as a rare chess recreation, it positions Gabrielle Chanel because the central determine: the Queen who masters the principles and units the tempo.
In keeping with Grangié, it’s the most complicated challenge the Maison has ever undertaken, requiring greater than 1,000 hours of growth on the ceramic alone. The board rests on a black obsidian base, that includes 64 squares of alternating black and white extremely resistant ceramic enclosed by a spectacular row of 516 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Each single recreation piece of this distinctive set has been crafted by combining gold, ceramic, and diamonds in a uniquely Chanel model. The 32 items are miniature sculptures referring to the universe of the Home. The 16 black pawns are sculpted in a high-tech black ceramic that’s seven occasions tougher than metal, and highlighted by white gold and diamonds. Their opponents are sculpted in pure white gold with a wealth of delicate particulars; we cowl this in higher depth within the cowl story however beneath is the tl;dr.
The road-up of items is a collectors’ dream:
• The Kings: Represented by magnificent lions. The white King is snow-set with 764 diamonds, whereas the black King is sculpted in black ceramic and set with 142 diamonds.
• The Bishops: Modelled as elegant couture model busts.
• The Knights: Sculpted as horses rising from bases detailed with Chanel’s iconic quilted impact.
• The Rooks: Putting miniatures of the Vendôme column.
• The Pawns: Sixteen refined rings of ceramic and gold.
The literal “secret” of the board lies inside the white and black Queens. Wearing an intricate diamond tweed go well with (due to course), these two items conceal high-precision quartz watch actions with 25mm dials hidden underneath their pedestals. The proprietor may even put on them as secret timepieces on an included chain product of white gold, diamonds and onyx.
THE COMPLETE CAPSULE
Past the chessboard, the capsule explores all elements of the gaming universe, taking part in on Chanel’s emblematic codes of line, black, and white.
The proprietary Gabrielle Watch (restricted to 10 items) options Mademoiselle rising from a black-lacquered dial in her iconic pose. Her white go well with is rendered in a brand new, patented tweed-setting approach. Grangié notes that it required 10 check iterations and two grasp setters to good this system, which captures the feel of woven vogue tweed utilizing hand-set gem stones as if it have been being worn. The silhouette is repeated on the Gabrielle Lengthy Necklace (restricted to 5 items), that includes a gold-sculpted Mademoiselle suspended from a diamond and onyx chain.
The gathering then shifts seamlessly into 8-bit digital gaming nostalgia. The Coco Recreation Lengthy Necklace (restricted to 5 items) reinterprets Mademoiselle as an all-pixel drawing that took 4 months to design, using blackened titanium and 193 diamonds. Chanel is, in fact, no stranger to pixel designs, because it has demonstrated through the years however particularly within the Cybernetic fashions, which debuted in 2023.
This digital motif strikes on to the wrist with the J12 Coco Recreation Charms (restricted to 55 items), which suspends a pixelated lacquer appeal from the crown of a matte white ceramic watch. In the meantime, the J12 Coco Recreation 38mm contains a pixelated character laser-cut from a carbon plate appearing because the second hand, trotting round a black-lacquered dial. It’s out there in an Haute Horlogerie version set with baguette diamonds, alongside two restricted editions in shiny white and matte black ceramic.
The top of the J12 capsule choices is the J12 X-Ray Coco Recreation (restricted to 12 items). This skeletonized mechanical marvel requires 1,600 hours of sapphire crystal machining and options sapphire hyperlink bracelets crossed by a central line of baguette- minimize diamonds. It homes the manual-winding Caliber 3.1, a motion requiring seven days of meticulous meeting by hand.
The remaining formed items of the Maison (Chanel is without doubt one of the few watch manufacturers the place we settle for this terminology) additionally be part of the enjoyable. The Première Coco Recreation Ring (restricted to 5 items) is a double-faced secret ring; one facet shows a big 0.90-carat baguette diamond embedded in sapphire glass, whereas the opposite flips to disclose an octagonal diamond-set Première watch face. For a extra informal look, the Première Coco Recreation watch spells out C-H-A-N-E-L through Scrabble tile–impressed white lacquer and sapphire charms swinging from a basic leather-interlaced chain bracelet. Lastly, in reference to the tokens of dominoes, the Code Coco Recreation contrasts a white quilted leather-based strap with two black dials and a signature Mademoiselle turnlock adorned with a princess-cut diamond.
THE VISION BEYOND TIME
For Chanel, this showcase is proof that creativity goes far past mere aesthetics; it’s embedded in each story and technical breakthrough. By vertically integrating its métiers, Chanel continues to problem the codes of conventional watchmaking. The couture home that broke into watchmaking in 1987 with its personal imaginative and prescient has now created a proud area for its distinctive strategy and identification, provides Chastaingt. The Coco Recreation assortment proves that prime watchmaking doesn’t all the time should take itself so critically, even when the underlying craftsmanship is breathtakingly critical.
Flip the web page for our unique, full-length conversations with Chanel Watches CEO Frédéric
Grangié and Watchmaking Creation Studio Director Arnaud Chastaingt. These conversations have been
edited for readability, size and language.
BIG PICTURE
As president of Chanel Watches & Advantageous Jewelry, Frédéric Grangié charts the course for the maison’s inventive drive.
In fact, anybody will likely be accustomed to Chanel, however the message that creativity is paramount for the model in watchmaking is price realizing extra about. Please inform us about this, particularly because it pertains to the Coco Recreation capsule assortment and wonderful watchmaking?
At Chanel, every thing begins with creation – a sketch, a imaginative and prescient, an instinct delivered to life by Arnaud Chastaingt and his Watch Creation Studio. From there, the problem is to nurture a tradition the place our experience serves our inventive ambition. The Chanel Watch Manufacture and the Creation Studio work hand in hand; each technical problem turns into a possibility to raise our savoir-faire. For this reason now we have totally built-in all métiers, together with our excessive jewelry workshop, inside the Chanel Manufacture at La Chaux-de-Fonds. Creativity is our driving pressure at the same time as a younger participant in watchmaking – we deliver extra new creations to the market annually than many extra established names.
The Chanel Coco Recreation capsule assortment is an ideal illustration of this spirit. Right here, audacity and playfulness are mixed with absolute product integrity. Take the chessboard, for instance, it’s the most complicated challenge now we have ever undertaken, requiring greater than 1,000 hours of ceramic growth. Each single piece, all the way down to the smallest pawn, embodies the top of ceramic craftsmanship. To serve our inventive intention, our group even developed a brand new gem-setting approach that evokes the feel of tweed, unmistakably a Chanel signature. This system is now being patented, and I consider it’s the primary of its variety, really capturing the essence of tweed as if it have been being worn. For us, the purpose is all the time to construct a dwelling patrimony, continuously elevating our savoir-faire.
We ask this as a result of creativity is rather more than design, as showcased within the many distinctive creations that we see yearly but in addition in wristwatches such because the pincushion collection (the Mademoiselle Privé Pique-Aiguilles) and Blush J12 field set. These are solely two examples, however they’re distinctive on the planet of watchmaking. What does this say about Chanel’s imaginative and prescient of watchmaking?
This speaks to the unique inspiration of Gabrielle Chanel: her quest for freedom and her audacity and refusal to be sure by conference. At Chanel, we goal to problem the codes of conventional watchmaking. Each watch we create should mix technical sophistication with delicate and distinctive design. Our imaginative and prescient is to supply one thing really distinctive in a market usually outlined by custom.
However creativity additionally means elevating our savoir-faire and pushing the boundaries of supplies. For instance (past the chessboard famous above), our analysis into ceramic led to the creation of the blue ceramic for J12, a shade distinctive to Chanel, achieved after 5 years of analysis and that’s becoming a member of the everlasting assortment this yr. The Mademoiselle Privé Pique-Aiguilles was realized with Les Cadraniers de Geneve (see beneath), permitting us to work with the easiest to deliver our imaginative and prescient to life. The J12 field Dripping Artwork from the Blush watch capsule assortment showcases how the Chanel world of magnificence may very well be interpreted in watchmaking, once more additional proving that, for us, creativity goes far past aesthetics – it’s embedded in each story behind each element.
You could have mentioned that your job is to assist realise the creativity of watchmakers. How do you do that, from the enterprise facet of issues?
My position is to create the proper situations for creativity to flourish. For this reason we pursued vertical integration from the very starting, bringing all key métiers collectively inside the Chanel Watch Manufacture. We put money into our personal ecosystem of impartial watchmakers, all the time supporting and defending the transmission of distinctive savoir-faire. These selections will not be simply strategic, they’re important. They permit Arnaud Chastaingt and his Watch Creation Studio to push inventive boundaries ever additional, guaranteeing that our relentless pursuit of innovation is matched by technical mastery.
Watches are, historically, understood as masculine objects, however Chanel famously made deep inroads into making issues extra unisex. The technical nature of watches, particularly with reference to mechanical actions, is what attracts many lovers. What’s Chanel’s expertise right here, particularly with its stake in Kenissi and of the Châtelain Manufacture?
The Chanel Watch Manufacture and our partnership with Kenissi are a testomony to our dedication to technical excellence and independence. By growing our personal actions and mastering each side of manufacturing, we be sure that every Chanel watch is as achieved on the within as it’s distinctive on the skin.
However for Chanel, watchmaking has by no means been about gender. It’s about individuality and freedom, values rooted in Gabrielle Chanel’s personal strategy to model, the place she boldly borrowed from the masculine
wardrobe to create one thing new. Our watches, whether or not for males or girls, mirror this spirit. We goal
to problem conventions, to supply one thing distinctive with out ever compromising on technical excellence.
Chanel can be a significant supporter of impartial watchmakers and types. For the Monsieur vary, you tapped into Romain Gauthier’s experience. Will you take into account extra such tasks? As long-time followers of MB&F too, we’re reminded that Max Busser by no means claims to be a watchmaker however a creator; this strategy would work very effectively for Chanel, or so we expect. What’s your perspective?
Chanel has all the time positioned nice significance not solely on creation itself, but in addition on craftsmanship. The standard of workmanship and the experience of artisans are important to our capacity to deliver the concepts and designs of our inventive studios to life. In watchmaking, this dedication is embodied by the event of quite a few areas of experience on the Chanel Manufacture in Switzerland, from our gem-setting workshop, to grasp watchmakers able to designing and assembling our manufacture actions, and in addition an unparalleled mastery of ceramic, perfected over the previous 25 years because of the J12 watch, to the purpose of being unrivalled on the planet right now.
On the similar time, the Maison has made numerous investments geared toward supporting and defending impartial watchmaking and its distinctive savoir-faire. Collectively, these corporations type a novel watchmaking ecosystem, permitting our watchmaking inventive studio entry to this wealth of experience. For instance, our most complicated dials are commonly produced by Les Cadraniers de Genève, owned by F.P. Journe (as famous above). The Calibre 12.1 that powers the J12 comes from Manufacture Kenissi. Romain Gauthier certainly contributed to the creation of Calibre 1, Chanel’s first in-house motion. MB&F is an integral a part of this watchmaking ecosystem and possesses a imaginative and prescient of watchmaking that leaves nobody detached. Imagining a inventive encounter between Max Büsser and Arnaud Chastaingt is certainly an exciting prospect. Maybe it’s going to occur in the future, however finally the choice rests with them!
“For Chanel, watchmaking has by no means been about gender. It’s about individuality and freedom”
BLANK CANVAS
Refusing to be sure by shaped concepts affords whole inventive liberty to Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the Chanel Watchmaking Creation Studio.
What sparked the Coco Recreation assortment?
Initially, I used to be impressed by one of many basic Chanel codes, black and white, and the duality of the 2. With chess, dominoes, Scrabble, and the like, I shortly made, up to now, a reference to Chanel’s design, as a result of all these recreation items are usually white with totally different graphic parts in black. For his or her design, it’s one thing quite simple, with no ornamentation and no ornament. It’s very straight; very minimalistic. And whereas they’re video games, they’re additionally instruments. There, I discovered one thing that linked with the Chanel philosophy. That’s how the gathering was born.
So, the concept of the fusion of Chanel codes with the aesthetic qualities of video games got here to you a few years in the past?
I feel it was earlier than I began working for Chanel, after I noticed the graphic [design] connection to video games. A very long time in the past, I collected dominoes that I discovered in Parisian flea markets. A few of them may very well be very outdated and product of ebony and ivory, and I bear in mind noticing that the supplies may type the premise of a Chanel brooch or one thing like that. So, I feel it’s that form of concept that stays in your head for a very long time, and at last, in the future, you discover the alternatives for instance them in collections.
And proper now is an efficient second for this theme, as a result of possibly you wished to precise one thing about playfulness inside the home?
I don’t know if it’s a query of time [or timeliness]. In creation, generally you may have a form of obsession. You by no means know why you need that form of theme at the moment, however yeah, I discovered it was a very good time for instance the theme in my assortment.
How did the gathering take form round this theme?
I feel the chessboard was the start of the challenge. The plate of the chessboard has this duality of black and white, a really graphic structure. For me, the connection got here in a short time. I’ve been fascinated by these objects for a very long time. At college, a trainer of mine discovered it attention-grabbing to show chess, so I discovered and performed chess between the ages of six and 10. You study loads from chess. There’s technique, it develops creativity, and I bear in mind it as an incredible microcosm of the world. You by no means know, whenever you play chess, if the sport will likely be 5 minutes or one hour. So I discovered, too, that the notion of time whenever you play chess is essential, and it was good for me in my inventive course of thereafter to create a metaphor of Le Temps Chanel, or an allegory of Chanel Time, and recreate this Chanel world on the chessboard with Gabrielle Chanel because the queen of the sport.
How did you resolve which side of which recreation to translate into which timepiece? There are such a lot of concerns about the best way to categorical a watch, so how did you mix all these parts and parts and resolve which is the easiest way to include a time- telling factor on this type or this mannequin?
It was very pure. The black and white was my first obsession, and I actually wished to have a white-on-black assortment. I can by no means begin creating with out a story. I all the time want a narrative earlier than beginning sketches. And as soon as you discover the story you need to inform, it comes collectively in a short time. And that’s when it turns into magical, as a result of, in fact, you realize the theme. For instance, after I determined to place the taking part in card with Gabrielle Chanel as a queen of hearts on the Boyfriend, it labored very simply.
So it’s very natural, it virtually feels inconceivable to clarify since you’re not analysing it with a line of reasoning; it simply feels apparent that this design needs to be on this mannequin or assortment…
More often than not, my creation is spontaneous. I’ve been doing press interviews for 2 days now, and this yr, I’ve had a whole lot of questions on inspiration. And it’s very exhausting to clarify the place our inspiration comes from, as a result of more often than not we don’t know. Perhaps we observe the world in another way than others do – I say that with actual humility; I’m not implying that we’re higher. I feel we’re like a sponge, and we soak up all types of knowledge, and in the future we materialise them.
Creation may be very pure. I all the time say that in essence, my job is 5 phrases: to dream and encourage desires. I’ve a quite simple job, and Chanel is a home of creation. Creation is in the beginning of every thing for watches, and so Chanel is a stupendous playground territory for me. And at Chanel, now we have this manufacture. The primary day I began working for Chanel 13 years in the past, I used to be so stunned that at the moment it was a bit of little bit of a secret. And the primary time I found it, I mentioned, Wow, Chanel has so many stunning industrial instruments and on this manufacture, we had developed so many stunning savoir faire. All of the technical individuals who work for Chanel, they completely know the normal tradition of high-end watchmaking, however they know that in the event that they work for Chanel that it’s a home of creation. They’re masters of classical music, however we ask them generally to play electro.
And that second whenever you really feel you’ve arrived on the good approach or expression, it’s additionally an intuition and never one thing which you can analyse with a guidelines.
Yeah, in fact. Lastly, when you realize it’s a very good creation with good concord, construction and structure, it’s only a query of emotion.
What are your ideas in your imaginative and prescient of watchmaking readability, and the way do you categorical it?
I feel my private imaginative and prescient and the Chanel imaginative and prescient are completely intertwined. I don’t say this simply since you’re right here right now, however I’ve been fascinated by Chanel for a really very long time. The J12 linked me with the watch world after I was about 20 years outdated. For a very long time I believed the watch world was not the territory of designers, however Chanel opened my eyes to the actual fact it’s very inspiring to work on the watch. At Chanel, now we have, I feel, our personal definition on the watch. Personally, I refuse to think about {that a} watch is just a measuring software for time that you just put on on the wrist. In fact, it’s, on one stage, however for me, it’s a creation that claims loads about you, it’s an identification marker that may categorical ‘you’ simply, and that’s why I discovered this object so fascinating. And if I need to put time on a hoop, on a belt, on a glove, on a necklace, underneath a stone, in fact I’m free to do this, and I’m certain Gabrielle Chanel would have had the identical imaginative and prescient.
Talking of concepts and inspiration, I perceive that you just go to 31 Rue Cambon with some frequency, you favor to not put on your individual watch designs, and also you encourage your group to rotate incessantly amongst their private watches. Would you say that this dedication to neutrality and freshness is a very powerful high quality to materialising in your imaginative and prescient?
Thanks, as a result of I take your query like a praise, you realize (laughs). I discover it attention-grabbing that within the watch world, all these manufacturers now we have right here right now have a distinct imaginative and prescient. However that’s just like the world – everyone’s totally different and it’s good to have folks with totally different factors of view, totally different visions, totally different nationalities.
In regards to the masculine and female codes within the Maison, you’ve talked about how they complement and so they affect one another, and generally there’s a whole lot of crossover between the 2. For this yr’s watch presentation, how do you see that relationship?
It’s true that Chanel is (the) final female model, that’s already the best way we go. However the query of gender has actually modified these final years, and right now, greater than ever. As a result of Chanel generally can break the norms, after I create one thing, I can envision it for ladies or males, it’s true, however I feel extra about model than gender. For instance, you’ll be able to see right now males sporting a small watch with no [inhibition or hesitation]. Within the story of Gabrielle Chanel, she was impressed by males so many occasions. If you’re a designer for Chanel, you all the time play with this duality between masculinity and femininity.
This text was written by Ken Ke with interviews accomplished by Ashok Soman and Zara Zhuang
This story was first seen as a part of the WOW #84 Summer season 2026 problem.
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