“Sous le Signe du Lion”: the Fine Jewelry Collection by Chanel

The lion was already a strong symbol in the creative universe of the Mademoiselle, who liked to say: “I’m a bee born under the sign of a lion”. She offered her vision for jewelry in 1932: never-before-seen and modern in terms of style and possibilities for wearing it, notably breaking with traditional codes of finery. Between her fingers, ceremonial jewelry of the court, strictly codified on corsages, was fashioned into crafty ornaments, intended to reflect the personality of a woman or to be in line with her times. One day in October 1932, she confided her cerebral work process to French newspaper “L’Intransigeant”: “Before, jewelry started out as a design… My jewelry represents first and foremost an idea!” This same idea is today incarnated in a collection of 58 styles, first in the distinguished and expressive figure of the lion, then in harmoniously composed volumes and proportions. Opting for a chromatic look, the quasi-totality of the styles are mounted on grey gold encrusted with white diamonds and pearls, allowing Chanel to perfect the lofty and powerful, noble, and gracious, elegance of this beast.

The forms are opulent or more delicate. Available in long necklaces and breastplates, watches, brooches, or earrings, the sumptuous jewels pay witness to the extraordinary technical mastery of the workshops at Chanel Haute Joaillerie. And so, the Lion Céleste brooch, fashioned in white gold and sprinkled with diamonds, takes up the Venetian lion motif that reigns supreme in Chanel’s apartment, its paw resting on a globe. In this same vein, the brooch and the Constellation du Lion pendant earrings unite the lion with a comet. These two symbols that are near and dear to the Mademoiselle’s heart here associate gold diamonds, yellow and white, with the warmth of yellow sapphires and rutilated quartz. An homage to the lion at St. Mark’s Basilica, the Lion San Marco ring incarnates a fateful encounter: that of Mademoiselle Chanel and Venice. Surmounted with a lion sculpted in lapis-lazuli and a star encrusted with yellow diamonds at the heart of a white one, only 5 copies of this yellow gold and platinum ring will be made avialable… Baroque and voluptuous, this collection adorns the lion with the glimmer of diamonds.