STYLE Edit: Chanel marks 100 years of its iconic N°5 perfume with a dazzling 55.55-carat diamond necklace and a collection of 123 high jewellery pieces
Chanel N°5 is, hands down, the most famous perfume in the world. In 1921, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s vision led her to create the first “perfume for women, with a woman’s scent” with perfumer Ernest Beaux. The result changed olfactory history forever – N°5’s mysterious scent has captured the world ever since.
In 1932, the visionary revolutionised the world of jewellery and launched her one and only high jewellery collection, Bijoux de Diamants, in platinum and diamonds.
To pay homage to 100 years of Chanel N°5, the French maison presents its newest masterpiece: the 55.55 necklace. Patrice Leguéreau, director of Chanel Fine Jewellery Creation Studio, drew inspiration from N°5 to create what is possibly the brand’s most extraordinary creation yet: a high jewellery necklace bearing a custom-cut 55.55-carat diamond.
The necklace is the centrepiece of a series named Collection N°5, the world’s first and only high jewellery line inspired by and dedicated to a perfume. Each of the 123 pieces draws inspiration from the myriad elements that make up Chanel N°5, from the bottle to the sillage.
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“Chanel’s ambition is always to pay tribute to the talent and visionary audacity of Gabrielle Chanel,” says Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel Watches and Jewellery. “Creation remains and always will remain the essence of our brand. The necklace is testimony to this.”
And what a tribute it is. The 55.55 necklace is absolutely stunning, thanks chiefly to the 55.55-carat diamond at its heart, which was specially cut for the brand.
“This is an unprecedented approach,” observes Leguéreau. “We started with a rough diamond that we had cut, not to make the biggest stone possible, but to obtain a perfect octagonal diamond weighing 55.55 carats.”
The shape of the diamond reflects the octagonal stopper of the N°5 perfume bottle, which, as the visual representation of the scent, is arguably just as iconic as the fragrance itself. (Adherents of Chanel N°5 will also recall that the bottle was itself inspired by the geometry of Place Vendôme in Paris, the home of French jewellers and the view Gabrielle Chanel enjoyed from her suite in Hôtel Ritz Paris.)
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The diamond is of D Flawless quality, set in white gold and surrounded by a bezel comprising 104 round diamonds and 42 baguette-cut diamonds. The pendant is complemented by a cascade of pear-shaped diamonds that surround the central gem. For a creation of such complexity and visual impact, the two years that went into its making feel like a short time indeed.
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The dazzling necklace is so precious that Chanel has decided that it is not for sale. Grangié notes that “by joining our patrimoine at 18 Place Vendôme, rather than being sold, this necklace will forever bear witness to this chapter in the history of Chanel Fine Jewellery … It will constitute an eternal and visible symbol of the unfailing links that unite Place Vendôme and the N°5 perfume.”
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- When Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel created the first ‘perfume for women’, she referenced the view of the Place Vendôme from her Hôtel Ritz Paris suite for the bottle
- Chanel N°5’s octagonal stopper is as iconic as the fragrance, and its shape is now reflected in this custom-cut 55.55-carat high jewellery diamond necklace