Raves in abandoned warehouses, clubbing until dawn in London and Berlin, the electro scene partied through the night to pulsating sounds and strobe lights. As electro culture developed during the 80s and 90s, it became more aesthetic, more sensory. “The Electro capsule collection is full of references to electro culture,” says Arnaud Chastaingt, who is at the head of Chanel’s watchmaking creation studio. “I imagined the collection like a DJ set, inviting our classic watches to perform on this stage and borrow features from the electro scene.”
Let’s go crazy!
These classics set acid colours against darker notes. Arnaud Chastaingt explains how “the contrast between black and colour is central to this story. Colour illuminates black and inversely black brings out colour. It’s a radical combination and a very graphic one, too.”
First off, the J12, the party girl we always knew it was. The J12 Calibre 12.1 lends its colourful beat to the collection, in black ceramic with gradient colours for the numerals that circle the dial and the markers on the bezel. Another interpretation, the J12 X-Ray Electro Calibre 3.1 – a new in-house movement that plays on transparency – pumps up the volume with a gradient of 12 sapphires on the dial and a further 58 on the bezel, in a 12-piece limited edition. As for the J12 Electro Dream – in black or white ceramic – its circle of sapphires around the bezel creates smooth transitions between 12 shades, mirrored by the 12 baguette-cut sapphire indexes on the dial.
Bringing down the house is the J12 Electro Star. In white gold, this dancing queen displays baguette diamonds across its entire surface, but reserves its side view for coloured sapphires. This precious rainbow even extends to the oscillating weight of the automatic movement, in black.
The rhythm of the night
The Première is also in the grips of electro fever, with neon-coloured leather woven through the links of the Triple Tour’s triple-row chain bracelet. Seven Première watches line up inside the Electro Box, one for every day (or night) of the week.
On the Code Coco Electro, the black strap gives way to a shocking pink leather cuff with a glossy black trim, while another flash of pink appears on the lining of the BoyFriend Electro’s quilted strap. A pixelated robot on the dial takes us back to the early days of digital graphic art, and the first questioning of the relationship between man and machine.
“(The Electro capsule collection) is the first time I’ve told a story across every one of our watch collections,” Arnaud Chastaingt concludes. Bright colour and bold graphic effects give an electro beat to the rhythm of time.
