Chanel’s Sport high jewellery collection stops you in your tracks, and makes you reconsider high jewellery from a functional rather than just an ornamental perspective. It also redefines high jewellery through its bold and innovative departure from the expected, and in doing so, elevates many everyday sports accoutrements into something extraordinary.
The Sport High Jewellery Collection
The 80-piece Sport High jewellery collection was unveiled earlier this year at a star-studded event in Monaco. Divided into seven chapters– Graphic Line, Chanel Print, Quilted Icons, Sporty 5, Gold Slider, Sweater Sport and Collector Sport – this collection handpicks motifs and design inspirations from the Maison’s long history, but presents them in fresh and contemporary ways.
The high jewellery world is built upon tradition and conventions yet Sport challenges both with its daring take on two opposing ideas – sports wear and couture jewellery.
The inspiration for the collection came from a 1920’s Chanel Sport Atelier business card, discovered in the Maison’s archives. Always ahead of her time, Coco Chanel had set up a separate Sport Atelier within her couture house in 1921, to create trendy and elegant clothing for outdoor activities. In this very spirit, this latest high jewellery collection redefines luxury by offering a playful and modern aesthetic to the world of high jewellery.
The collection is also a confident and stylish homage to the brand’s founder. Chanel was an avid and accomplished sportswoman. The essence of her active lifestyle and love of movement has been captured in the dynamic designs, exceptional craftsmanship and vibrant colours of this high jewellery collection.
Jewellery Design
Designed by Patrice Leguéreau, Director of the Fine Jewelry Creation Studio at Chanel, the Sport high jewellery collection is easy to wear and crafted to follow the contours of the wearer.
Two themes run through the collection – freedom of movement and body awareness. Both are aptly conveyed through the simple yet striking design aesthetic of the collection.
The Graphic Line necklace, one of the hero pieces of the collection, is study in structure and fluidity. It perfectly encapsulates the sporting spirit, which is driven by discipline yet interspersed with moments of sheer creativity and unabashed brilliance. The necklace is set with a dazzling 10.15 cts cushion-cut Kashmir sapphire. It is further embellished by graduated lines of baguette-cut rubies, arranged in a chevron pattern. But then there is a mosaic of colourless diamonds that bring an unexpectedly playful touch to what would otherwise have been an elegantly conventional high jewellery necklace.
What’s even more special about this necklace is its back, where the brand name, Chanel, is displayed, similar to sports team names emblazoned on the back of team jerseys.But this is not the only example of the House’s name appearing on the pieces. The Chanel Print Lion brooch presents the lion’s mane as a jumble of letters in colourless diamonds, which spell Chanel, as do both halves of the carbon fibre Print cuff.
The collection also features a selection of cocktail rings. This is where you see Leguéreau having fun with design and volume. Each ring is set with a hero coloured gemstone and boasts chunky dimensions and architectural details.
Graphic Line ring with tsavorite garnet, mandarin garnets set in orange aluminium, diamonds and black lacquers 
Graphic Line ring with rubies, diamonds and red lacquer 
Graphic Line ring with sapphire, diamonds and red lacquer 
Graphic Line ring with red spinel, sapphires and diamonds 
Graphic Line ring with sapphires, diamonds and onyx 
Quilted Stars ring with ruby, diamonds and onyx, 
Mandarin garnet, diamond and green lacquer ring 
Diamond and red lacquer ring
The jewellery designs are led by simplicity but find distinction in the details. Stripes appear, either singly or in pairs, reminiscent of similar markings on sports jerseys. Baguette-cut coloured gemstones create boundaries, a chevron motif of pavé-set colourless diamonds relieves the severity of red-lacquer, a parallel of green racing stripes provide the perfect counterbalance to the luminous orange of a mandarin garnet.
In addition, Chanel’s favourite number, 5, is woven in the collection in a myriad of fascinating ways. It is seen in the silky depths of the five blue Kashmir sapphires, that appear as hero gemstones in different pieces. It is seen in the five stars that sit atop the Print Lion brooch. And it is seen in the digital sports chronometer-like “5” numeral that adorns charms, rings and necklaces, a thoroughly delightful take on the signature numeral of the brand.
Colour
One aspect of this collection that leaves an indelible impression is the brilliant use of colour. Deeply saturated coloured gemstones grab your attention, while colourless diamonds create the perfect background of sparkle and brilliance.
The collection predominantly revolves around three colours – blue, red and white and the finest sapphires, rubies and colourless diamonds create this colour palette.
But then there are splashes and pops of loud, “look at me” hues. The radiant green of a large Tsavorite garnet in the Graphic Line ring, for instance, is offset with the neon orange of mandarin garnets. Crisp black, red, blue, green and orange lacquer provides definition.
As always, Chanel pushes the boundaries of what can and cannot be described as high jewellery. Carbon fibre, which rarely makes an appearance in high jewellery, features strongly in this collection. Black is set against white and red, creating clashing tones that throb and pulsate with energy. Anodized aluminium in bold jewel tones, border similarly coloured gemstones, intensifying their already vibrant tones.
Undoubtedly, this collection is generous with colour. Even though the palette itself is not exceptionally wide, the colour tones are confident and used cleverly, adding vigorous zing to the pieces.
Craftsmanship
The innovative jewellery craftsmanship that has gone into making some of the pieces is also worth mentioning.
The humble carabiner is elevated to high jewellery in the Sporty 5 necklace. A sport cord, crafted from carbon fibre and diamonds using Chanel’s proprietary jewellery-making technique, offers exceptional flexibility, much like the cords on sport hoodies. The transformable diamond and carbon fibre Chanel Print cuff is meticulously handcrafted to fit like second skin on the wearer’s wrist, ensuring freedom and ease of movement.
The Slider necklaces introduce a novel concept in high jewellery: the ability to transform a sautoir into a choker with a simple adjustment, without even removing the necklace!
With an emphasis on craftsmanship and jewellery making techniques, this collection takes high jewellery into an altogether new and exciting direction.
Chanel’s Sport High Jewellery Collection – A Branding Perspective
With this collection, Chanel successfully writes a new chapter of its brand story. This chapter takes inspiration from the past but looks towards the future. This balance of brand heritage and innovation further establishes the brand’s identity as a Maison that is contemporary in its outlook, but still unmistakably Chanel.
Brand Heritage and Brand Storytelling
This collection reimagines Coco Chanel’s spirit of liberation and elegance through both the aesthetic beauty and functional designs of the pieces.
But the storytelling is rooted in the present. It is a new chapter, built upon inclusion and expansion, and geared towards the younger generation.
On the face of it, high jewellery and sports aesthetics should have nothing in common. But this collection, quite brilliantly, creates a bridge between the two and encourages the wearer to think outside the box – luxury and an active lifestyle do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Moreover, it defies the traditional notion of high jewellery collections being grand and “well-behaved.” The Sport high jewellery collection has the energy of a Formula One circuit, and seems to enjoy every moment of it.
A thoroughly modern brand storytelling is also witnessed in the design, colours, craftsmanship and jewellery materials of this collection. Carbon fibre necklaces and cuff bracelets, diamond and gem-studded carabiners, punchy colours and lacquer stripes evoking sports uniforms, help create a brand story that is inclusive while being very, very exclusive.
Brand Symbolism
The collection features the brand name, CHANEL, in many pieces, which is a first for any high jewellery collection. This is a boldly confident design choice, something that is associated with sports logos, high end sports footwear and even fashion jewellery, but certainly not high jewellery, until now. That the Maison’s name has been added to its catalogue of jewellery motifs, is another first for Chanel. Yet, this reinforces rather than dilutes Chanel’s brand identity – a brand known to experiment with the unexpected.
In addition, the collection also incorporates many familiar brand symbols, including the lion, tweed, and the letter C, but in wholly new and refreshingly sporty ways. This once again reaffirms Chanel’s status as a heritage brand that embraces innovation.
Brand Identity
Chanel is a brand that seamlessly blends heritage with modernity. The brand has always stood for independence, freedom, uniqueness and femininity and the Sport high jewellery collection reinforces this identity.
It is an empowering collection with a playful, even whimsical side. By taking certain timeless sports icons and using them to create meticulously crafted high jewellery, Chanel has created a unique space for itself in the exclusive world of high jewellery. It is also a feminine collection that is underscored by strength and vitality, the hallmarks of the modern woman. In this way, the collection stays true to the Maison’s brand’s identity.
Featured Image: Chanel Graphic Line Necklace, Sport High Jewellery Collection
