There’s no other timepiece in the brand’s universe that quite reflects the boyish attitude of their founder as well as the new Boy.Friend. This attitude is said to be thanks to the love of her life Arthur Capel – who died tragically in December 1919. She affectionately nicknamed him “Boy”… After nine years spent at his side, Gabrielle would retain a certain stylistic fabric for her creation. First it was N°5, a perfume born from loss and absence. From this suffering would also hail a philosophical and imaginative grieving: “I believe in the fourth dimension, and in a fifth (…) It’s born from a need to be reassured, to believe that we can never lose everything and that there’ll be something on the other side.”
Today, Chanel is recalling this idea by designing a timepiece that fits into the brand’s watchmaking vocabulary. With its modesty, pure aesthetics, and unidentifiable shape, the Boy.Friend bears within it the art of putting a spin on elements from the male wardrobe in a design that is both classic and contemporary, owing its curves to the Première watch. Whether in its XL 37 x 28.6 mm format or its Large 34.6 x 26.7 mm form, the concave casing reveals a new aesthetic dimension. Highlighted by a number of beveled angles and satiny polished finishings, two colors of gold, white or beige, with or without diamonds, this oblong timepiece with no visible numerals emerges into the light.
All questions of look, balance, proportion, and details are now answered. By adopting a masculine, almost virile, attitude, the Boy.Friend overturns the rules and transforms the academicism of female watchmaking. A Mississippi alligator leather bracelet encloses and embraces the wrist of the wearer, awakening all the charm of a tomboyish allure. By plunging into the archives of the precipitous death of Gabrielle’s great love, Chanel stripped time of its numerals and, with one last pirouette, respects the spirituality that was the saving grace of the “Dame aux Camélias” who once said that “it suffices to wear something on the wrist to have confidence in the future.” Released in six versions, each more desirable than the next, the Boy.Friend watch can be snatched up from September 1st onwards.
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