Chanel has unveiled an ultra-luxurious chessboard, with Gabrielle Chanel as the queen
A diamond-encrusted chess set with hidden timepieces inside the most extraordinary objet d'art of the season.
Sitting at the intersection of fashion, horology and homeware, director of Chanel’s Watchmaking Creation Studio, Arnaud Chastaingt, has created a 32 piece chess set with hidden timepieces inside.
Not any old chessboard, the black and white board is crafted from gold, ceramic and diamonds… hundreds of them. Each of the 32 pawns represents one of the House’s iconic emblems, like the lion, mannequin bust and the Vendôme column.
Gabrielle Chanel is represented by the two queens (wearing a diamond-encrusted tweed suit, no less), made from 18k white gold and set with 193 brilliant-cut diamonds. Hidden under her slingbacks are two watches, which can be transformed into wearable pieces with a white gold, onyx and diamond chain. The obsidian board itself is a work of art without its accoutrements, encrusted with a casual 516 brilliant-cut diamonds.
With the reinvigoration of the Chanel J12 watch this year, and having been appointed as official Time Keeper of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, Chanel has solidified itself as one of the masters of luxury horology. The Chanel Chessboard is not only a marker of the brand’s horological capabilities, but creativity and beauty, too. Check mate.
Credits:
Images courtesy of Chanel
words:Cable Writers
