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Chanel watches bring another iconic muse into the fold
The house of Chanel isn’t just an icon in itself, but is also built on a body of muses and masterpieces that are iconic in their own right. One such example is Chanel J12, the instantly recognisable, yachting-inspired ceramic and steel timepiece.
In 2000, Chanel’s artistic director, Jacques Helleu created a watch to fuse his two biggest passions, the automotive world and the sailing world, taking inspiration from the latter and the America’s Cup J-Class yachts, to name the J12. At a time when the traditional watch market was dominated by gold and steel, the J12 introduced the first fully black and white watches, made from ceramic—what was then an underestimated material.
The renowned J12 timepiece celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020, and earlier this year, actresses Margot Robbie, Penélope Cruz, Ali MacGraw, Zhou Xun and Kim Go-eun, all ambassadors of the house, joined together in the J12 It’s All About Seconds campaign. Revealing their stories in 12 questions and answers while conversing about pivotal life moments and exploring the significance of time in their journeys, each woman wore the J12 33mm in a highly resistant ceramic in one of its two timeless colourways: black and white.
Siobhán Haughey, who made history after winning Hong Kong’s first Olympic medal for swimming at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is another Chanel ambassador and nautical muse to the J12. Sporting a white iteration of the athletic watch, Haughey shared in a social media post in April, “The J12 watch is here to witness not just the milestones, but also the small moments in my life”.
In a solo black-and-white video that showcases the classic J12 model, the swimmer emerges from the ocean wearing the J12 Black 33mm Calibre. “Sometimes it can be overwhelming if you want to improve on everything,” she says. "You just have to think about the 1 per cent that you want to work on today.” Making every second count is a philosophy she lives by, both as an athlete and a person.