Chanel Returns To Its Roots With Its New High Jewellery Collection

The Chanel 1932 High Jewellery collection is exquisite evidence that a truly brilliant idea can spark creativity for generations

Inside the vast, pitch-black venue where Chanel has decided to present its new high jewellery collection – called 1932 after the year that Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel unveiled her first (and only) high jewellery line – the man who dreamt it up is waiting. Past a large poster replica of the original event that took place 90 years ago, across a large hopscotch lit up with white lights and through multiple mise en scène rooms where high jewellery reproductions of the original Bijoux de Diamants collection are on display with photographs taken at the time of Gabrielle Chanel’s presentation, there in the distance he sits.

Long and lean and with that suave allure that only French men seem to have, Patrice Leguéreau has been telling the Chanel story through gemstones since he became the director of Chanel’s Fine Jewelry Creative Studio in 2009. But this time, with 1932, he has upped the ante on himself, for this is the second time in his career at the house that he has revisited that original Chanel collection.

“From the beginning, she [Gabrielle Chanel] had a modern vision and a style that was very contemporary. Her values, which she set out when she was designing – of liberty, of comfort, of independence, of choice – are values that still speak to women today and they are ones I am committed to continuing to defend,” says Patrice about his choice to revisit the designer’s high jewellery collection. “And from a stylistic standpoint, her pieces are imbued with a simplicity and purity that keeps them from becoming confined to a particular era. This makes it easy for Chanel’s creations to travel through time and always look and feel modern,” he adds.

Patrice’s approach for the 1932 collection was to reinterpret three celestial bodies that have often been symbols that Chanel referenced in her jewellery and her designs. The sun, the moon and, of course, the stars. “It’s about trying to bring out the character of each of these symbols,” says Patrice about the methodology behind how he designed the collection. “Each of them transmits different emotions and represents very different things. The sun conjures up ideas about power, and the strength of its rays, while the star has a more delicate connotation. Its rays are more subtle and there are more of them that twinkle in the night. And as for the moon, it’s all about its roundness, its connection with the concept of femininity and its softness, the softness of its glow. So I wanted each piece of jewellery to reflect in their own way these fundamental elements of the three symbols,” explains Patrice.

And inside the dark venue, the necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets of the collection shine brightly, displayed as if floating in air, along the walls of a round room crafted in the centre of the monumental location. There are 77 pieces that make up the collection, 34 of which celebrate stars and their kissing cousin – the shooting star comet, 18 pay homage to the moon, and over 20 pieces honour the sun, which also happens to be part of the founder’s astrological chart.

Other noteworthy aspects of this collection are that a number of the high jewellery pieces are transformable and, unlike the original Bijoux de Diamants collection (which as the name suggested focused primarily on the pure white gemstone) the 1932 collection has incorporated quite a few radiant coloured stones. Yellow and blue diamonds, rubies, pink and blue sapphires, tanzanites as well as opals and onyx all find homes among the celestial bodies (and one endearing satellite brooch) in this collection.

The celestial essence of the 1932 collection seems to have taking much inspiration from the famed Comète necklace that was a central piece in the original Bijoux de Diamants offering. A diamond necklace that is a bejewelled embodiment of a shooting star that just happened to have encircled the neck of the wearer. “I wanted to recreate the sense of movement of that necklace, its beautiful asymmetry, the fact that sits open along the neck, it’s a very powerful piece. It was really the starting point of this collection,” confirms Patrice.

The overall effect of the 1932 collection is one of bodies in motion. Necklaces that look like they are orbiting the collar, rings that glint and shimmer as if the wearer has captured sunbeams in their hand and earrings that, thanks to the cut and choice of the gems, appear as if they might begin to rotate around the lobe at any moment.

With this high jewellery collection, Patrice has deftly shown reverence for the storied past of the Chanel house. But not at any moment did it seem stuck in the past. Rather 1932 had a gravitational pull all its own. Drawing collectors into its orbit, entranced by its heavenly beauty.

Photography by Arash Khaksari. Fashion Director: Anna Castan. Model: Mariana Barcelos at Ford Models. Hair: Eduardo Bravo. Make-Up: Alisonn Fetouaki. Producer: Karolina Volbi

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s October 2022 Issue