Watchmaking, by its nature, is a traditional business. The great names – Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin, among them – are centuries old. Chanel created its first luxury timepiece, the Chanel Première, in 1987. It was a remarkable debut. It was designed by the French fashion house’s then-dreamer-in-chief, Jacques Helleu, who lifted the Chanel No5 perfume bottle stopper as the dial design and the leather-plaited chain of the 2.55 handbag for the strap. Chanel’s first watch was simply born a classic.
Now, almost 40 years later, Helleu’s spirit of in-house-design appropriation has its own cover version. For his elegant bottle-stopper wristwatch has inspired the Chanel Première Sound, a sautoir necklace based on the watch, with (removable) earphones attached. Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the Chanel Watchmaking Creation Studio simply says it’s ‘a different way of wearing time', and that the Première Sound is in keeping with the house founder’s typically forward thinking.
Of course, ever the modernist, Gabrielle Coco Chanel was nothing if not technically astute. After all, she had, very early on in her design career, worked with Jean Cocteau and Sergei Diaghilev to produce stage wear designed for bodies pushed to extremes. Chanel's creative drive, meanwhile, was propelled by a desire for freedom – of movement, style, ideas. The very notion of the Première Sound, an autonomous tech jewel destined for bodies on the move, would have been music to her ears.
In terms of design, the Chanel Première Sound looks like the original watch dial on a very long, double-tour strap. It's created in gold-plated steel with the classic black-lacquered dial. The crown is fitted with an onyx cabochon, and the watch is powered by a high-precision quartz movement, allowing for years of fun.
The necklace chain is also gold-plated. And, when it comes to the headset, the dual-driver tech, IPX3 water resistance and clarity control features promise a decent sound, with the microphone and remote control function offering a non-fussy style solution.
Then, of course, the Première Sound's gold-and-black colour scheme comes into play, adding a flashy 1980s flavour, especially in the gilt interlocking Cs on the earbuds. In fact, there’s an all-round disco feel about the whole thing. Even the way it simply all clips together amounts to a quaint, retro spin reminiscent of roller discos, Walkmans and extremely short shorts. No wonder we can't wait to get spinning around.
£12,600; find a boutique or enquire at chanel.com
