Interview with Arnaud Chastaingt

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The interview with Arnaud Chastaingt, part 2  - Chanel
5 minutes read
The first CHANEL watch was created in 1987. In 35 years, CHANEL has established itself in the world of watchmaking with all the audacity and freedom of a House of Creation

For the past 8 years, you have been managing the Watchmaking Creation Studio located on the Place Vendôme. Before unveiling your new creations, how would you sum up the collection you presented in 2020?
The year 2020 was marked most notably by the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the J12 watch with creations such as the J12∙20 and the J12 Paradoxe. That same year, High Watchmaking was a particularly inspiring field of expression for me. Projects such as the "Mademoiselle Privé BOUTON" collection, the J12 X-RAY watch and the "Coco O'Clock" collection allowed me to really highlight my vision of CHANEL High Watchmaking and to illustrate the creative facets that define it.

Interview with Arnaud Chastaingt

In 2021, for the first time, we have chosen a transversal theme and thus a story that can be read across the entire watch collection.

This year, you have chosen to illustrate “Le Temps CHANEL” with a transversal theme. Can you present this collection to us?
It's a year rich in color for “Le Temps CHANEL”! For 2021, I’ve chosen to tell a story and recount our creations via a universe that really inspires me. It’s an immersive capsule collection whose graphic codes are borrowed from the world of ELECTRO music culture.

How has this musical movement inspired you?
In the 1990s, this musical movement imposed a radical, eccentric visual universe, reflecting the nightlife and the atmosphere in which it evolved. Electro music went beyond the musical field alone, generating a veritable aesthetic culture. The performance is global, sensorial, graphic and goes beyond just the sounds. Indissociable from the places in which it unfolds, ELECTRO culture developed as a movement of artistic expression in its own right. It is quite fascinating and very inspiring!

Interview with Arnaud Chastaingt

How did you translate this inspiration?
I imagined this capsule collection like a DJ line-up, inviting our classics to take turns on the stage while borrowing the codes of this universe. The confrontation between black and color sits at the heart of this story. Color illuminates black. The depth of the black underlines color, the union is radical, and the contrast is graphic. Rhythmed by the dance of the hands,
“Le Temps CHANEL” vibrates to the sound of ELECTRO music. For this collection, the J12, PREMIERE, CODE COCO and BOY-FRIEND are revealed in a graphic, vibrant and hypnotic ambiance.

The J12 watch is a striking illustration of this collection. Can you present your ELECTRO interpretation of this iconic creation?
For this occasion, the J12 Calibre 12.1 comes exclusively in its black ceramic finish. Its numerals are made up of a circular gradation of 12 touches of color that punctuate its dial and bezel and quite simply electrify its look. The J12 ELECTRO sets the tone for the collection and introduces 4 High Watchmaking interpretations.   
A black lacquer box set reveals a polyptych of twelve J12. The composition vibrates to the rhythm of a 12-beat chromatic gradation. Inextricably linked, the ensemble forms a unique creation. This J12 ELECTRO BOX concept has been conceived as a "performance".

Interview avec Arnaud Chastaingt

The J12 ELECTRO DREAM creation merges these 12 colors into a circular and continuous gradation of sapphires that shine on its bezel. On its dial, 12 baguette-cut indexes echo this chromatic palette.
While only the brilliance of the baguette-cut diamonds appears to illuminate the J12 ELECTRO STAR, its profiles are fully encased in a camaieu of sapphires that wraps around the wrist. Dressed in black, the Calibre 12.1 that equips this watch features a mass also set with a circular gradation of colored sapphires.  

Interview with Arnaud Chastaingt

In 2020, the audacity of the J12 X-RAY's integral transparency made a lasting impression. It is also part of this ELECTRO theme.  
Indeed, equipped with the Calibre 3.1, the J12 X-RAY is very present. Twelve baguette-cut sapphires now mark the hours through a punctuation of colors. This gradation echoes the preciousness of the bezel, which, on this occasion, has swapped its diamonds for a spectrum of sapphires.

In another register, the PREMIERE watch is also very surprising.
For the "Première" collection, it’s the "triple turn chain" watch that I invited to the party! Here too, we chose full black before braiding its chain with a colored leather link. The contrast is intense, the depth of the black illuminates this gradation of neon colors that embrace the wrist. The style of this creation is resolutely impactful and optimistic.
This creation also comes as a box set. The PREMIERE ELECTRO BOX creation deploys a graphic polyptych of 7 watches lined up so as to offer an ultra colorful chromatic field. It is a veritable hymn to color and a promise of uninhibited looks.

Interview avec Arnaud Chastaingt

The CODE COCO and BOY-FRIEND watches have also succumbed to the captivating sounds of ELECTRO music. Can you tell us about these two new interpretations?
CODE COCO electrifies the collection in a most unexpected way. For this occasion, it has swapped the color black of its bracelet for a matte pink, fluorescent leather, trimmed with patent black. Embracing the wrist, the CODE COCO ELECTRO is eye-catching and boasts a certain audacity.

Interview with Arnaud Chastaingt

The BOY-FRIEND watch has also opted for an electric pink, but only on the lining of its padded strap. In the 90s, the ELECTRO movement developed a singular graphic universe and was notably nourished by the graphic codes of digital and electronic art. Here, it is the pixelated motif of a robot that appears on the black screen of the BOY-FRIEND.

The House of CHANEL has a very personal definition of High Watchmaking. Can you share your vision of this territory and present us with your new creations?
At CHANEL, High Watchmaking goes far beyond a technical complexity. "High Watchmaking" is a combination of two words with which I haven’t always had a natural affinity. Originally, traditional watchmaking created and appropriated this name to categorize the family of watches with complications. The term "complications" is a word I find rather difficult. Why make it complicated when you can make it simple?
Personally, I prefer to dream of "watchmaking clarity". The House of CHANEL has a very singular definition of High Watchmaking. The savoir-faire of our watchmakers is a métier d’art that I benefit from in the same way as when we collaborate with a jeweler, a glyptician, an embroiderer, an enameller or a glove-maker. High Watchmaking for me is the ultimate expression of my vision of CHANEL watchmaking. It is such an inspiring playground where excellence, daring and the exceptional are key words. At CHANEL, “Haute Horlogerie” [High Watchmaking] and “Haute Couture”, have one word different, but the magic is just the same!

In 30 years, CHANEL has established itself in the world of watchmaking and is now one of the biggest players in the industry. In your opinion, what makes CHANEL watchmaking so unique?
CHANEL is a House of creation and its watchmaking has fully adhered to this rule. In 1987, CHANEL entered this universe with the freedom that characterizes it. But at CHANEL, freedom of creation and excellence of savoir-faire go hand in hand. This combination is a given at CHANEL and each watch combines these two requirements. A CHANEL watch always illustrates a story of style.  Time is punctuated by the measurement of a pace, the pace of CHANEL Time.

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