When fashion reinvents a luxury watch, the house on the rue Cambon is never too far from the Place Vendôme. Ever since 1924, the Maison Lesage has been creating perfect embroideries that require an unequalled savoir-faire for Chanel’s haute couture, ready-to-wear, and accessory lines. Now, for the first time, this expertise is being used to create a watch casing. The Mademoiselle Privé watch, a new line of jewelry watches, is put together through the sublime and meticulous gestures of this embroiderer. The camellia, Mademoiselle Chanel’s lucky charm ever since 1923, acts as a gateway to Gabrielle’s private realm. Conceived like a box, the casing, round like a cookie, opens ever so slightly to reveal either a starry night sky of diamonds on dials sprinkled with fragments of Coromandel lacquered panels, or nacre camellias.
A marriage of exceptional savoir-faires is thus inscribed onto a new page in Chanel history. The creation of this camellia was made possible through a “needle painting” technique. The artisans weave them with a unique thread of colored silk. An 18 carat gold case encrusted with 562 cut diamonds, the wrist enclosed in a satin bracelet. The Mademoiselle Privé line is the splendor of an haute couture parade brought up to speed within an everyday timepiece. But, it’s also a numbered edition that’s limited to 18 copies. Delicate and sensual, the line is just like Chanel’s chimeric dreams.
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