J12 Bleu, Chanel’s ceramic takes on new shades

There is a word that is over-used and abused, as much in the world of watchmaking as in that of fashion, design, cars and luxury in general: icon. Over-used, because it is said and written in hundreds of contexts. Abused, because there are, in any domain you care to look at, very few objects truly worthy of being considered icons. But in watchmaking, unquestionably, it is the case of Chanel’s J12, which the Parisian Maison presented at the latest edition of Watches and Wonders in a spectacular new blue ceramic guise with which it celebrates the watch’s 25 years.

Chanel presented in Geneva no fewer than nine references of the J12 Bleu, all limited editions ranging from the most easy-to-wear to the most sophisticated in terms of movements and use of precious stones. In this article, we will discuss the two versions of the J12 Bleu Calibre 12.1 with a 38 mm case, but the important element in this watch’s story – namely the ceramic’s new colour – also applies to the other references, up to the most precious, with sapphires, diamonds and tourbillons.

COCO CHANEL, THE COLOUR BLUE, AND CERAMICS

The most impressive fact about ceramics is the time it took the Maison to develop the new colour: five years. Chanel’s aesthetic has always been characterised by two non-colours, black and white, but in the brand’s history blue has accompanied Mademoiselle Coco‘s life and creations. Throughout her creative history, she was inspired many times by the shades of the Côte d’Azur waters and the summer sky of southern France. Coco Chanel did not only have blue clothes of her own design or blue accessories in her Parisian home on Rue Cambon: she also owned a Rolls Royce in a distinctive blue shade.

This is the reason why, after the black J12 (launched in 2000) and white J12 (presented in 2003), the Chanel manufacture, under the leadership of creative watchmaking director Arnaud Chastaingt, decided to make a considerable investment – in financial terms as well as in materials research and development – to create the blue ceramic that catalysed the attention of journalists and traders in Geneva.

From the injection of the raw material into a mould to bring the piece into shape to the polishing and assembly of its components, every step in the production of Chanel’s highly resistant ceramic is based on a precise dialogue between cutting-edge technology and high-level craftsmanship. The result is a colour too blue to be black, too black to be completely blue. And, above all, a matte blue that has never been seen in watchmaking before.

While the black and white J12s have always sported an extremely soft, sensual and refined polished finish, the matte of blue is surprising because it still manages to enhance the light that strikes the case and bracelet. All the hand-polished finishes, assembly and quality control carried out in the Chanel manufacture require the mastery of generations of savoir-faire and state-of-the-art techniques. A series of meticulous processes that guarantee flawless functioning and aesthetics.

THE CALIBRE 12.1 

Speaking of movements, the calibre 12.1 is at work, as is obvious, inside the J12 Bleu. A compact automatic movement, which replaced the old ETA encased in previous J12s and which we discovered in 2019 on the revamped version of the watch. Produced for Chanel by Swiss manufacturer Kenissi, the movement shares the same design as the calibre MT5402 by Tudor (the building where Kenissi is located is next to that of the Tudor manufacture…), but has been modified in many respects. One of the main mechanical differences is the addition of the date complication, which brings the number of rubies to 28. Not all specimens include this complication, many have 27 rubies. However, Chanel uses the same calibre 12.1 name for all movements of this type.

The movement is chronometer-certified by the COSC and has high-end features such as a variable inertia balance wheel with a free spring. It has a 70-hour power reserve, all features it shares with the latest Rolex and Tudor movements. The balance wheel is mounted on a solid bridge to ensure stability. The bidirectional central winding rotor is supported by seven ball bearings and fixed with a central screw.

The Chanel J12 with calibre 12.1 won the Ladies Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2019. This prize was undoubtedly a recognition of the watch’s long history of success, but the focus of that nomination was undeniably the movement, which caught the jury’s attention.

AS ELEGANT AS A CHANEL JACKET

Chanel’s new J12 Bleu calibre 12.1 38 mm is available in two variants: one with 12 baguette-cut blue sapphires serving as hour markers, and another on which the hour markers are made up of black lacquered Arabic numerals. On both references, the dial is impeccably structured on three levels. The outermost tilted rehaut displays the chapter ring, on which the minute hand delicately ‘rests’. A little more inwards, a large matte blue painted section shows the hour markers and date window, at 4:30, with a tone-on-tone date disc so as not to disturb the chromatic harmony of the dial. Finally, a thin circle with a chemin-de-fer minute track, on which the hour hand ‘rests’, separates the outermost section from the central one – characterised by the presence of the Chanel logo, the J12 Automatic inscription and the ‘viewfinder’.

The bezel of the watch is fixed, in black-coated steel with a highly resistant matte blue ceramic ring with a baguette motif. The case back is made of sapphire crystal, allowing a full view of Calibre 12.1 at work. The wording ‘Limited Edition’ reminds us that we are dealing with a limited edition timepiece, although Chanel has not specified the precise number of pieces produced, whether for the version with sapphires or the less precious one with Arabic numeral hour markers.

Case and bracelet, although not integrated, form a whole thanks to the colour continuity provided by the highly resistant matte blue ceramic. And the case is also water-resistant to 20 bar. Exactly what you would expect from a watch that was born 25 years ago with a strong nautical vocation and a bond to the sea that inspired its creator, Chanel’s then Creative Director Jacques Helleu. The three-row bracelet is comfortable, warm and enveloping and has a triple folding clasp in black-coated steel.

LIMITED EDITIONS ONLY

As we wrote above, in addition to the 38 mm case version, Chanel has planned other references for the new J12 Bleu, all in limited editions. Two have a 33 mm case, the 12.2 calibre and feature sapphire or diamond indexes; for these too, Chanel has not specified the number of pieces produced. Then there are: the J12 Bleu Diamond Tourbillon (55 pieces); the X-Ray (12 pieces); the versions with 42 and 28 mm cases and sapphires on the dial, bezel and bracelet (12 pieces each); the one with sapphires on the dial, bezel and bracelet with a 38 mm case (100 pieces). The two watches featured in this article are attractively priced. The version without sapphires costs 11,000 euros, the one with gemstones, 25,500 euros.

Twenty-five years ago, Chanel launched the J12 in black ceramic. Although there were brands such as IWC and Rado that had already been producing ceramic watches for some time, Chanel’s timepiece was the first to transform ceramic into a precious material. It was an immediate success, also due to another unique aspect of the watch: its unisex appeal. Today, the blue version pushes this aspect even further and promises to become a must-have like the other two. Because that is the fate of icons – the real ones. Like the J12.

By Davide Passoni