The Signature Garnet Secret Watch, which Chanel has put forward for this year’s jewellery prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, is a unique piece from the Signature 2016 collection, which also includes the Signature Morganite, Signature Diamond and Signature Sapphire, all cuff-style secret watches.
For this 2016 collection, Chanel has chosen to revisit the quilted motif that Coco Chanel debuted on her signature handbag with its long chain, worn across the body. This new look was all part of Coco Chanel’s desire to give women greater freedom of movement. Like her perfumes, she gave the bag a number. The now iconic model 2.55 (after the date of its creation: February 1955) with its quilted diamonds borrowed from the equestrian world, was the inspiration for a 2015 high jewellery collection.
The Signature Garnet Secret Watch, produced in Chanel’s fine jewellery workshops in Paris’s Place Vendôme, reproduces the quilted motif on a broad 18-karat white gold cuff made up of square and triangular elements sprinkled with precious stones, creating a colourful jigsaw-puzzle effect. Each puzzle piece is paved with round diamonds, orange and yellow sapphires and garnets in a mix of different sizes, each in a unique configuration. A breakdown of the precious gems the bracelet contains bears witness to the variety of the gem-setting, in terms of colour and geometry: 91 brilliant-cut yellow sapphires (2.5 carats), 79 fancy cut orange sapphires (30.4 carats), 87 brilliant-cut spessartine garnets (2.5 carats) and no fewer than 1171 brilliant-cut diamonds, making a total weight of 78.9 carats.
The centre of the cuff is dominated by an imposing 39.9-carat cushion-cut carmine garnet. Four triangular claws set with three diamonds give a clue to the presence of a secret mechanism under the jewel. The garnet can be lifted to reveal a tiny rectangular white gold watch face, the same size as the other elements on the bracelet. The watch bezel is set with round diamonds framing a dial paved with tiny diamonds. The hour and minute hands are driven by a quartz movement.
The red-orange spessartine garnet after which this unique piece is named is so called because of the granular form in which the stone is found (from the Latin granatus). The stone, which is prized for its hardness and brilliance, has been increasingly used in jewellery since major new deposits were discovered in Namibia and Mozambique. The Signature Garnet Secret Watch by Chanel provides a most splendid setting for this distinguished gemstone.
