To design their latest watches, Chanel turned to its founder’s favorite flower for inspiration…
The camellia is one of the most recognizable symbols of Chanel house and in a way the personal charm of Gabriel Coco Chanel. The mythical status of this flower within the fashion brand led them to the idea of creating a watch that beautifully bridges the differences between watchmaking and fine jewelry. The resulting horological piece was named Premiere Extrait De Camelia and comes in two sleek variants.
Both models are constructed of 18-carat yellow gold with a titanium back, but their dials are what sets them apart. The simpler of the two offered retains a dark color palette thanks to black lacquer. Its slightly more glamorous twin is decorated with 116 diamonds, weighing 0.37 carats. No model received the traditional hour or minute indices, but both were decorated with an 18-carat camellia-shaped gold amulet encrusted with diamonds.
Inside, both models have been given a precision quartz mechanism and waterproof properties to a depth of 30 meters. Also, they both received a rubber strap with velvet finishing details, for the most comfortable wearing experience.
There is no universally accepted theory as to why camellias have become so important in Chanel design canons. Fashion house historians believe that this can be attributed to the role they played in The Lady of Camelias, which Coco Chanel watched at the age of 13. After that, she started incorporating them into all her creations, packaging and the like.
Finally, we can say that both versions of Chanel Premiere Extrait De Camelia are limited to a thousand pieces, with the version with the black lacquered dial costing $ 7,100, and the one decorated with diamonds $ 14,200.
