Keira Knightley in the Chanel high jewelry collection.Photo: Virgile Guinard/ Courtesy of Chanel.
Sports are a hot topic this summer: Football’s UEFA Euro Cup has all of Europe’s attention, the Paris Olympics are a mere month away, and Wimbledon is around the corner. Chanel’s new high jewelry collection “Haute Joaillerie Sport,” which was showcased this week in Monaco, wasn’t directly inspired by any of these events, but it’s certainly a timely debut.
The 80-piece collection designed by creative director Patrice Leguéreau infuses hallmarks of the house and symbols of various sporting attire and equipment to make unique and modern pieces. Many of the necklaces and earrings incorporate what appears to the viewer to be the drawstring of a hoodie but are actually cleverly crafted high-tech aluminum tube chains. A brooch reimagines a snap hook into a slightly distorted number 5—another quintessential Chanel symbol.
Beyond the modernity of the designs, this year’s collection is notable for its robust use of colorful stones. “Patrice wanted colors that were clear, distinctive, and assertive,” said Marianne Etchebarne, the Diretrice of International Product Marketing for Chanel Watches and Fine Jewelry. Sapphires, rubies, spinels, garnets, yellow diamonds, emeralds, and onyx—the stones are highly pigmented and often large in carat weight (the largest being a 35.10-carat sapphire used for a ring). “There are never more than two or three colors in any one piece,” continued Etchebarne. “This graphic signature is conceived to showcase the beauty of the gemstones.” Color is also woven throughout the collection in the high-tech but non-sparkling forms of lacquer and carbon fiber.
The principality of Monaco has a long history of sport with two big events each year anchoring its place in the calendar—the Monaco Grand Prix (Formula 1) and the Monte Carlo Masters (Tennis). It was also a favorite destination of Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. Editors in Monaco for the jewelry unveiling were treated to a cocktail party at Lagerfeld’s former summer home, La Vigie (a gift to the designer from Prince Rainier III of Monaco), as well as a gala dinner at the Casino de Monte-Carlo attended by friend of the house Keira Knightley.