STYLE / Watches
74 hong kong tatler. august 2019
“Apartfromthebuckle,everythinghaschanged,”
saysNicolasBeau,directorofinternationalbusiness
developmentforwatchesandfinejewelleryatChanel.
We’rediscussingtherevampofChanel’siconicJ12watch,
whichdebuted 20 yearsago.Atfirst,Beau’sstatement
seemsincongruous.Evenwithboththeoldandnew
versionsoftheJ12infrontofus,spottingthechangesis
likeplayingamicroscopicversionofWhere’sWally?Butas
Beauwalksusthroughthetweaks,Ibegintounderstand
whathemeansby“everythinghaschanged.”
Thehourandminuteindexeshavebeenmovedonto
theslantedflangesurroundingthedial,alongwiththe
words“SwissMade,”reducingvisualclutter.Therail
trackinthecentreofthedialsportsthickerhourindexes.
Inarelativelyrecentinnovation,thehandsarenowof
equalwidths,whereaspreviouslythehourhandwas
thickerthantheminutehand.Thehandsontheblack
versionhavebeenredesignedtoincludeaportionofblack
Superluminova,aperfectmirrorreflectionofthehands
onthewhiteversion.(Thehandswerepreviously
completelywhite.)
Theroundcounterweightonthesecondhandisnow
thesamewidthasthearrowontheotherend,whereit
hadoncebeenlarger.Thewords“J12”and“Automatic”
havebeenchangedtotheofficialChanelfont,and
theArabichournumeralshavebeenreworkedbya
professionaltypographer.Thenumeralsarealsonow
madeoutofceramic.
Ontopofthedialchanges,theteamhasalsomodified
theproportionsofthebracelet,makingthelinkslonger
andnarrower.Onthebezeltherearenow 40 notches
ontheouterrimwheretherewereoncejust30.The
indentationsontheundersideofthebezelhavealso
changed,sothatturning the bezel results in a pleasant
sound—Beaulikensittothesoundofthedoorclosing
onaluxurysportscar.WhenyouareChanel,these
detailsmatter.
Thefinalchanges can be seen on the back of the watch.
“Theoneflawinthe previous J12 was that it was not as
beautifultoviewfrom the back as it was from the front,”
saysBeau.Thesteel case back of the old J12 housed a
conventionalETAmovement, procured from the Swatch
Group,thatwas“not necessarily beautiful,” he confesses.
“WethoughtaluxurybrandlikeChaneldeserves
somethingofahigherlevel.”
Toachievethis,Chanel took a stake in Kenissi, a
manufacturerthatalso provides watch movements for
Rolex’ssisterbrand Tudor. Today, Chanel owns 20 per
centofKenissi—andtheresultisacompletelynew
self‑windingcalibrespeciallydevelopedjustforthenew
J12watch.Itincludesabeautifuloscillatingweightwitha
circlemotif—Chanel’swatchmakingsignature.Madeout
oftungstentomaintainwindingefficiency,itisvisible
throughanewsapphire‑glasscaseback,whichisanchored
toanewceramiccasebackplate.Thecalibre,12.1,is
chronometer‑certifiedbytheSwissChronometer Testing
Instituteforoptimal precision and reliability.
TheJ12becamean overnight sensation when it was
introducedin1999 by Jacques Helleu, then artistic
directorofChanel.To update the J12 while respecting the
spiritofHelleu’swork was no mean feat, and the team
approachedthetask with the precision of a surgeon. Some
70 percentofcomponents have been changed, but the
newJ12looksjustlike a slightly refreshed version of
itsiconicself,which is precisely what Chanel would
havewanted.The more things change, the more they stay
the same. Take a closer look at Chanel’s
revamp of its iconic J12 watch
BY NICOLETTE WONG
Augmented
Reality