J12: High-Tech Haute Couture

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J12: High-Tech Haute Couture - Chanel
2 minutes read
A 21st century watch icon marrying couture styling and a high-tech material, the J12 by Chanel flies its wearers to the moon.

Blacker than ever before, high-tech ceramics entered the Chanel universe in the year 2000. This through-coloured material earned its pedigree with an exceptional intense shade that resists fading. Inalterable as well as stain- and scratch-resistant, it beautifully accentuates the sporting chic lines of the J12, an androgynous creation designed by Jacques Helleu, then Artistic Director of the brand, and which has since become an authentic watch icon.

Its polar opposite in opalescent white caused a sensation in 2003. This remarkably radiant interpretation worked a special magic and became a benchmark in the watchmaking world. It makes a perfect match with precious metals to generate peerless light effects. At the start of 2013, it appeared in a White Phantom version teamed with an all-white dial to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

 

J12 Moonphase en or blanc céramique de titane sertie d’un total 554 diamants baguettes © Chanel

 

Whether black or white, the J12 is entirely in keeping with the world of Mademoiselle Chanel who said that these colours embodied absolute beauty and made a perfect match. In both cases, the ceramic used is mineral and notably composed of zirconium and ythium. The type used on the J12 Chronomat launched in 2011 is of an entirely different nature, since it is a metallic ceramic mainly composed of titanium carbide. It is extremely hard and polishing it with diamond powder takes three times longer. This creates shimmering reflections that vary according to the lighting, oscillating between black and white of which it generates a range of astonishing subtly graded shades.

 

J12 Moonphase en céramique high-tech noire, lunette sertie de 54 diamants. © Chanel

 

The Chanel universe also encompasses the constellations that the founding designer interpreted on many occasions. At the end of 2013, they are joining the J12 collection in the form of a star-studded sky in spangled aventurine. Artfully positioned at 6 o’clock, it provides a background for an original moon-phase display featuring a small serpentine hand circling from one lunar cycle to the next. The J12 Moonphase also incorporates a date display around the rim of the dial, swept over by a hand playfully tipped with a discreet moon crescent. The bezel is slimmer than ever to provide a broad opening for the dial that is delicately satin-brushed or guilloché-worked in a traditional spirit.

 

J12 Moonphase en céramique high-tech blanche. © Chanel

 

Equipped with the most romantic of the horological complications, the new J12 come in six versions including two in black ceramic and two in white ceramic, either non-set or adorned with 117 brilliant-cut diamonds. The Chromatic white gold and titanium ceramic version shines dazzles with its 554 baguette-cut diamonds, while the ultra-jewellery interpretation in white gold boasts 696. Each in their own way contributes to the renewed seductive powers of the J12.

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