19.01.2021
Chanel isn’t a name you would readily think has an underdog story in the 2000s considering, well, it’s Chanel. But when it decided just over two decades ago to take its watchmaking game seriously, naysayers lined up to pour cold water on its attempt even before it worked out the roadmap for success. (True story.) Against all odds and a commendable tolerance against trolling, Chanel finally flexed its credentials with some of the most technically endowed high-tech ceramic wristwatches in this lifetime which only goes to show what commitment – and not listening to keyboard warriors – can deliver. The sailing yacht-named J12, designed by the late Jacques Helleu, became its best-selling and most emblematic silhouette to date, putting the shine back onto the scratch-resistant and lightweight black or white ceramic known for its glossy housing. From diamond-encrusted versions to skeletonised dials to genius mechanical innards by Renaud & Papi, you can bet that the J12 isn’t going to leave its line-up anytime soon. Now, Chanel has commissioned a new tome, titled Eternal Instant, that celebrates all the honest goodness of the ceramic wristwatch, written by luxury veteran Nicholas Foulkes. The 160-page coffeetable book, published by Thames and Hudson, looks into the nook and cranny of the design as well as the marketing that helped to propel the J12 to become one of the most successful high fashion to watchmaking crossovers we know. The tome is available from January 26 (check your local listings).
