The year was 1932 and designer Gabrielle Chanel had just created the first High Jewellery collection in history. “Bijoux de Diamants”. Now ninety years on, the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio has drawn inspiration from that iconic collection to create a new story. The “1932” High Jewelry collection—a voyage out of time and place to gaze up at the heavenly bodies that trace our sky. 

‘I wanted to return to the essence of 1932 and to harmonize the message around three symbols: the comet, the moon, and the sun,’ explains Patrice Leguéreau, Director of the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio. ‘Each heavenly body shines with its own light.’

Retaining this Bijoux de Diamants theme of heavenly bodies, “1932” draws a new map of the heavens. The comet, an icon of CHANEL jewellery, is threaded around the neck and flared over the bust. The original crescent moon now rises to become a full moon, with its light glowing in a shimmering halo. And the power of our sun sheds the clarity of its rays throughout, as twisting spirals and shooting stars circle in endless pursuit of these celestial bodies. 

There is a sense of personalisation at the centre of this collection, too—an homage to Gabrielle Chanel’s fierce spirit of individualism. Out of the collection’s 77 spectacular creations, 13 are transformable. Star-studded coils can be twisted around the wrist at will, to create unique constellations. And by wearing them in her own way, each woman traces a unique course for the comets against her skin. 

Where the original “Bijoux de Diamants” collection was almost entirely pristine, though—a pure distillation of light—the “1932” collection gives pride of place to a rainbow of colourful gemstones. Sapphires as blue as the night feature alongside spinels that bloom like the dawn, while yellow diamonds glowing like the blazing sun meet opals just as deep and intricate as the galaxy. 

‘By revisiting the past to better project itself into the future, the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio has invented living jewelry, in an osmotic relationship with the ever-changing rhythms of the body's movements,’ explains the House. In this way, the “1932” collection represents the latest chapter in a dreamlike tale that began with Gabrielle Chanel herself. A story that continues to unfold across the cosmos.

The stars aligned. 

fin.