What if the most precious jewels were not the ones we wear, but the ones we have always inhabited? The camellia she borrowed from menswear, the lion of her astrological sign, the stars carved into the stone of Aubazine abbey, the Mediterranean sun whose light she praised: Gabrielle Chanel never stopped wearing her symbols long before turning them into gems. With 85 High Jewelry pieces, the new “Signes & Symboles” collection tells this intimate story, that of a woman for whom every jewel told an idea before it told a stone.
Because that is precisely the singularity of this collection: it follows no convention. Neither that of classic jewelry, nor that of trends. It mixes eras, cultures, scales, with that same freedom that was Mademoiselle’s own signature.
A Dialogue Between Symbols and Gems
Camellia, star, sun, lion: four identity motifs that CHANEL’s Fine Jewelry Creation Studio brings into dialogue with the art of jewelry in all its symbolic dimension. The collection is built around an opulence of forms, plastrons and headbands leading the way, where geometry imposes its rigor through a play of vertical and horizontal symmetries. An extremely refined color research dresses these compositions: blue, red, green, orange, yellow and pink express themselves boldly and assertively, carried by a remarkably precise lapidary work.
Four exceptional gems come to magnify this ensemble: sapphire, ruby, emerald and diamond. The Imprimé Lion necklace stands as the collection’s centerpiece, sublimated by a 20.66-carat octagonal-cut sapphire. The Imprimé Émeraude ring, for its part, showcases a 10.44-carat octagonal-cut emerald set with rose gold claws. As for the Symbole Camélia Rose ring, it swirls around a 10.32-carat oval-cut D FL diamond, encircled by pink sapphires.
The Imprimés, a Living Material
Camellia, star and sun repeat themselves in rhythmic motifs, arranged in lines of faceted stones on bib or headband necklaces. The Imprimé Lion necklace pushes the exercise to its peak: brilliant-cut, emerald-cut and bespoke-cut diamonds, mounted on rose and white gold threads, draw a vertical cascade in a V shape that ends in a diamond with cut corners. The 20.66-carat sapphire crowning the piece protects a diamond-paved lion’s head, sculptural and full of authority.
The Lion, Sovereign Since 2012
First revealed in 2012, the lion remains CHANEL High Jewelry’s most powerful emblem. On the Lion Millénaire necklace, it appears in a diamond bas-relief on onyx, framing a 6.12-carat octagonal-cut ruby. The ring of the same name pushes the contrast even further: two ring heads, one adorned with a 9.41-carat oval-cut ruby, the other with a diamond lion’s head on onyx, to be worn together or separately depending on the day’s mood. Bolder still, the Lion Emblématique brooch bears a mane composed of mingled rubies, sapphires, turquoises and emeralds, whose chromatic diversity is tempered by a delicate yellow gold cording.
The Talismans, a Chosen Protection
There is something deeply personal in this collection’s talisman jewels, like an echo of Gabrielle Chanel’s universe where everything was signs to decipher. The Talisman Graphique necklace pairs yellow gold amulets paved with yellow sapphires with a camellia flower topped by a 3.57-carat D FL type IIa emerald-cut diamond. The Talisman de Symboles necklace goes even further in its mixing of materials: camellia, star, sun and lion are rendered in gold, diamonds and pink sapphires, warmed by the presence of onyx, carnelian, turquoise, chrysoprase, spessartite garnets and white ceramic. The four Talisman Gabrielle rings each pair a colored stone with a sculptural emblem in white gold set with diamonds: carnelian for the camellia, onyx for the sun, turquoise for the lion, chrysoprase for the star.
The Symbols, Between Heritage and Color
The Symbole Étoile necklace dares one of the collection’s boldest chromatic pairings: the blue-violet of tanzanite against the warm orange of garnet and carnelian, crowned by a 26.21-carat cushion-cut imperial topaz, that “golden water” Gabrielle Chanel herself so admired. The set plays with the ways it can be worn, the short version transforming into a bracelet at the back of the neck. Finally, the Symbole Saphir ring asserts its presence with a 25.45-carat cabochon-cut sapphire, encircled by sapphires and diamonds.
A Heritage Worth Wearing
What strikes you, moving through this collection, is how every piece seems to have always existed within Gabrielle Chanel’s universe, as if the Fine Jewelry Creation Studio had merely revealed what was already there. “Signes & Symboles” does not only tell a story of rare gems and lapidary craftsmanship: it tells of a woman who wore sumptuous jewels alongside modest talismans, never ranking their value. Past and present, heritage and creation answer each other here with rare evidence, like a signature time cannot erase.
