CHANEL’s watch collection carries through the French brand’s identity with its provocative designs and by tapping into the maison’s signature motifs. We take a closer look at the history of CHANEL’s watches and how their watches, and the J12 model in particular, has grown into one of the most hotly-coveted accessories for the fashion elite.

CHANEL Watches Debut
The CHANEL watch collection premiered in 1987 with the appropriately named PREMIÈRE watch. The watch’s unconventional design was inspired by the Place Vendome, the iconic square in the heart of Paris. This particular piece of urban design is distinguished for its clipped corners that give the square its unique octagonal shape. This architectural influence was combined with design concepts from CHANEL’s No5 perfume bottle and its cabochon stopper to complete the PREMIÈRE’s design.

On the heels of this debut, CHANEL opened its first watch boutique at 40 Avenue Montaigne in Paris’s posh shopping district.

Over the years, CHANEL’s watch business flourished with the acquisition of Manufacture C&F Chatelain in Switzerland. In turn, CHANEL expanded Chatelain’s factory floors to make room for the growing collection. Soon after, in 1997, another boutique opened in Paris at 18 Place Vendome, across from the Ritz Hotel where Mademoiselle Chanel historically resided.

The J12 Collection
In 2000, CHANEL released the J12 Collection. The watch’s all-black design was sleek, sporty and struck all the right chords with CHANEL fans. But the J12’s most distinguishing feature was the use of ceramic as its core material, a novel material choice in watchmaking. The elegantly cool J12 nearly immediately became a commercial sensation and was considered by tastemakers as one of the most iconic modern watches. CHANEL followed up the success of the J12 with an all-white version in 2003.

In 2005, CHANEL upped its watchmaking competition with the J12 Tourbillion and entrée into the world of grande complications, the upper echelon of watchmaking and movements. The limited edition J12 Tourbillion included a hand-wound mechanical tourbillon movement with the first ever ceramic main plate.

Today, the CHANEL J12 as developed an impressive celebrity following including actress Blake Lively, supermodel Alessanda D’Ambrosio and tennis star Anna Kournikova.

CHANEL’s Watchmaking Accolades
Since the J12’s celebrated release, CHANEL’s watch manufacturing has grown into a real force in the world of watchmaking, releasing novel complications and world firsts. 2010 saw the launch of the J12 Retrograde Mysterieuse; this complicated design featured a retractable vertical crown at the 3 o’clock marker.

In 2012, CHANEL released its Première Flying Tourbillon and was named the Best Ladies Watch at the Grand Prix d’Horologerie de Genève. The following year, CHANEL was awarded the Artistic Crafts Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horolgerie de Genève for their Mademoiselle Privé Camélia Brodé.

To explore more of CHANEL’s accessories, check out our post The History of CHANEL Jewelry here.