A new capsule collection brings a strobe of intense colour to the iconic J12
Last year marked the 20th anniversary of one of the most iconic timepieces in high fashion – the instantly recognisable J12. Never had stark black and white ceramic ever looked so good on a watch, and it soon became a main feature on the wrists of many a jet-set celebrity, from Victoria Beckham to Nicki Minaj.
The J12 was designed in 2000 by Jacques Helleu, then artistic director of Chanel, who incorporated his great love for automobiles and yachts. He greatly admired the chassis lines of racing cars and, above all, the regal silhouettes of the America’s Cup racing class, the J12 – which gives the famous watch its name.
Chanel is also one of the very few high fashion houses that has accompanied the evolution of its watch designs with haute horlogerie engineering as well – it introduced the calibre 3123 in 2008, and then in 2019, a new movement from Kenissi, a Geneva-based manufacturer.
This year, the J12 returns with a rainbow-hued capsule collection called Chanel Electro, which borrows its graphic codes from the subculture of ’90s electro music and its glittering subterranean nightlife.
The J12 Electro edition is presented in four initial Fine Watchmaking creations:
J12 X-Ray Electro Calibre 3.1
Sapphire on sapphire – the J12 X-RAY has 12 baguette-cut sapphire hour indicators, as well as an exquisitely-blended colour spectrum around the bezel crafted from 58 more sapphires. A numbered limited edition of 12.
J12 Electro Dream
Available in stark black or white ceramic, which in turn isolates or intensifies the unbroken rainbow gradation of sapphires that gleam on the bezel. Limited edition of 55 pieces each.
J12 Electro Star
This decadent timepiece is entirely iced-out with 578 baguette-cut diamonds along its length, and illuminated by a rainbow strobe of sapphires in a variety of hues that encircle the wrist. Numbered and limited to 12 pieces.
J12 Electro Box
A black lacquer box opens to reveal a polyptych of twelve J12s presented in a matte black ceramic and steel treatment case. The composition vibrates to the rhythm of a 12-beat gradation of color. An inseparable ensemble forming a unique creation, the J12 Electro Box is a concept imagined as a “performance”, by Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of the Fine Watchmaking Creation Studio.
Images courtesy of Chanel, artwork by Curatedition. All rights reserved.
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