From its beginnings to the present day: the Chanel manufacture and its modus operandi.
It was 1987 when Chanel debuted in the world of hands by launching the Première, the famous watch with the octagonal case inspired by the architecture of Place Vendôme in Paris and the cap of perfume N° 5.
Since then, each of the Maison's timepieces, once designed by the Chanel Creative Studio in Paris, headed since 2013 by Arnaud Chastaingt, is made in Switzerland. In the manufacture that the House has in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
A glass-fronted building with a modern characterlocated at an altitude of 1,000 metres and with a view of the Swiss mountains. Every stage of the development and production process is managed in-house combining traditional know-how and state-of-the-art technological tools.
There, engineers and master watchmakers turn ideas from the French offices into realityi: ranging from design, with the creation of a 3D model for each watch and a technical dossier incorporating all the specifications related to standards, resistance and reliability, to the creation of a prototype to verify the technical choices and harmonise volumes and curves; from the realisation of the gauges to all the final stages of production, some of which such as the assembly of links or the weaving of leatherhandmade.
Chanel and ceramics
In La Chaux-de-Fonds, specialised artisans and craftsmen also take care of the entire production line of ceramic components, one of the emblematic watchmaking materials of the French House; since 2000, when it was first adopted to create the iconic J12 watch designed by Jacques Helleu.
Again, all stages are followed by the companyfrom the selection of minerals in the form of powders, which through an exclusive process enable the characteristic black and white of the watches to be obtained, to debinding, which consists of removing the binder used to agglomerate the raw material, to polishing, the last stage.
Other ateliers housed in the Chanel factory include a department dedicated exclusively to to the development and assembly of haute horlogerie movements, where, for example, the Calibre 5, the first flying tourbillon equipped with a rotating solitaire diamond, and a workshop specialising in gem-setting techniques for timepieces with precious stones.
