When you think of a grand Parisian maison like Chanel, you think of precious, finely wrought creations. The fancy frocks of haute couture, to be certain; ineffably elegant perfumery and cosmetics, of course; and of late, the house’s enchanting division of fine jewellery. Which is why it was so surprising when Chanel unveiled its latest collection of high jewellery dubbed simply, and inspired entirely, by Sport.
The inspiration, according to the director of Chanel’s fine jewellery creation studio Patrice Leguéreau, was the sporty style of Chanel. It’s an integral part of the house’s history, though an aspect that is perhaps lesser known today.
Consider, for example, that Gabrielle Chanel was the designer who bucked the notion of tight, restrictive clothing for women in the 1920s. Instead, she proposed a revolutionary straight line silhouette that embraced, enhanced and allowed for an active lifestyle. It also marked a turning point in fashion history, when the sense of athleticism and fitness became a quality of beauty for women.
In fact, as early as 1921, Gabrielle Chanel created a Sport atelier within her haute couture house. It’s all about a sense of freedom of movement and a harmony with the body. Think of it as a through line to what Leguéreau has now transposed into the form of high jewellery.
Haute Joaillerie Sport is a major evolution of jewellery design at Chanel. In the recent past, the collections have hinged on visual motifs, themes and icons from the house’s heritage. Things like the fabric of tweed, for example, or the leonine symbol of Gabrielle Chanel’s star sign. Sport, on the other hand, is a more abstract concept rooted in movement.
The key aesthetic quality of this Sport collection is a streamlined form that moves. Movement, after all, is one of the pinnacle qualities of high jewellery: hard metal and stone is worked and refined to create adornments that don’t just sit stiffly on the body. Instead, they respond to motion. The Place Vendôme tradition has been necklaces and bracelets articulated at nearly every joint and link so it is supple, fluid and mobile.
The Haute Joaillerie Sport collection is made up of 80 designs in total. There are six thematic chapters to the design story, but the truth of the collection is that its ideas and motifs commingle freely with a dynamic transversal quality.
A common thread throughout is a range of cocktail rings that share a similar, curved bombé form. The design originates from a chapter dubbed Graphic Line, but these rings can be thought of as prime examples of layered ideas. Prime among them: perhaps the most vibrant and varied use of colour in Chanel jewellery.
First, in the use of excellent coloured gemstones. Several of these cocktail rings feature centre stones like emeralds, sapphires and spinels of superb quality, and which are actually transformable. The centre gemstones are mounted on movable settings that can be swivelled around to reveal a diamond-set underside.
A second way that Chanel has made colour a focal point in Sport is through lacquer and anodised aluminium. On some of these rings with coloured centre stones, for example, the setting prongs are lacquered to match the colour of the gemstone. In other designs, lines of black onyx are used to strengthen the contrasts; and coloured anodised aluminium—a challenge to work at so fine and precise a scale—are also deployed to set gems like emeralds in colour-matched mountings.
The importance of colour and rare gemstones also makes itself particularly known in Sport. The top prize, without question, are a series of jewels that feature a suite of Kashmir sapphires that took the maison more than five years to source and assemble. In total, five Kashmir sapphires weighing 42.86 carats—with three cushion-cuts that include 17.18cts, 10.15cts, and 6.36cts; and a pair weighing 4.40cts and 4.77cts that went into earrings.
These Kashmiri treasures were set onto some of the Sport collection’s hero pieces. One of these is a necklace centred with a 10.15ct stone, designed with a chevroned motif that starts out tight and condensed in the back with closely-set diamonds, and which expands toward the front almost like a zipper. At the front, the chevron opens out into a cascade of fancy-cut diamonds, and which is framed by a graduated line of baguette-cut rubies set diagonally.
And in the back, the clasp is fashioned—for the first time in Chanel history—in the octagonal shape of the 2.55 bag’s turn lock. Fully gem set, it also functions exactly as the bag’s clasp does.
The innovation doesn’t stop there. With Sport, Chanel is pushing new boundaries of its technical savoir-faire in jewellery making. The poetic inspiration is perhaps the direct, unfettered ease of Gabrielle Chanel’s designs, and how they empowered women to live active, independent lives.
As jewellery, that comes through in a theme called Sporty 5 which transforms the house’s emblematic numeral into a karabiner shape. Inspired by quick release sports fittings, these fully functional clasps become an elegant, graphic detail. The bonus, of course, is that one won’t need any help wearing or removing a necklace that is secured with a snap hook.
But perhaps the most technically impressive innovations in Sport come from its interpretations of sportswear details. One of these is the incorporation of super lightweight carbon fibre in a pair of chunky cuffs that echo Gabrielle Chanel’s personal style signature. The high jewellery designs feature a deconstructed print of the Chanel letter logo, but what’s truly impressive is that the cuffs are offered as an interchangeable set.
There is a centre line, set with a D IF round brilliant diamond, and lined with three rows of diamonds and rubies. On this, the two sets of ‘shells’ of the cuff can be removed and attached. One of these is is fully diamond set; and the other is a dark grey carbon fibre weave that weighs almost nothing. All white, all black, or a mix of both—they’re as fun as they are innovative.
One last highlight of savoir-faire. Chanel developed and debuted a brand new tube chain that it calls a “sport cord”. Essentially, it is a supple and very sinuous chain that is punctuated by discs of gold or ceramic. Visually, the maison imagined these as sliders, reminiscent of drawstring cords. There is a ‘Sweater’ necklace, where these cords dangle and shimmy with the lightness of their fabric inspiration.
And from the Gold Slider theme of the collection come a series of necklaces with a transformable feature. There is a button-shaped mechanism, which can be pressed to allow the chain to slide freely up and down—adjusting the length so that a necklace can be worn high as a choker or draped as a sautoir. And unlike a lot of high jewellery that must be removed to be adjusted, these transformations can happen right on the neck. Ergonomic, dynamic and freeing to wear… sporty, in a word, and well scored.
