The maison’s 2024 High Jewellery collection brings the comfort and flair of sport style to refined jewellery techniques
Chanel's most recent High Jewellery collection, Haute Joaillerie Sport, presented pieces infused with sporting aesthetics, all the while speaking to Chanel's history. From the start, Coco Chanel prioritised freedom of movement for her customers, and even created a special 'Sport' atelier in 1921 to further pursue that design ethos.
Chanel Jewellery Creation Studio director Patrice Leguéreau drew on this history in creating the 2024 collection, referencing not only the “sporty allure” that defined Chanel, but also the many motifs of the atelier. The lion (Chanel herself was a Leo), the star, and the number five are all present throughout the collection, frequently joined with bold, graphic lines and modern touches. An expansive collection, totalling 80 pieces, Haute Joaillerie Sport introduces a sense of playfulness to iconic house codes.
Below, explore the key pieces and themes in Chanel’s Haute Joaillerie Sport collection:
Drawstrings and diamonds
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
The ‘Sweater’ necklace offers a bejewelled take on everyone’s favourite piece of loungewear: the sweatshirt. The twin ‘sport cord’ tube chains, specially developed by Chanel, evoke the drawstrings of a hoodie, yet their golden and diamond-encrusted components elevate the everyday to the extreme. Complemented by an abstracted collage of letters that, upon closer inspection, spell out ‘Chanel’ (alongside the number five, of course), the cords remain the focal point, balanced by sapphire and red lacquer accents.
Carbon cuffs
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
One of the collection’s most notable material additions is that of carbon fibre. The material’s featherweight characteristic makes this ‘Chanel Print Cuff’ all the more wearable, aligned with the sporty ease attained by the collection. The layered text and base introduce textural variation, made all the more prominent by the racing stripes punctuating the cuff’s centre. By merging the modern and the ancient, carbon fibre and diamonds, this cuff is a piece of technical history.
Fashionable functionality
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Adapting the trusty carabiner, the ‘Sporty 5’ necklace transforms the common piece of sporting equipment to represent the virtues of form as well as function. In the necklace, the carabiner, which would normally be used as a clasp, is made the centrepiece. Re-formed into a number five, the carabiner is accompanied by a pear-cut diamond. With its asymmetry lending an air of nonchalance, the ‘Sporty 5’ necklace is a diamond-covered lesson in reinvention.
Spotlight on sapphire
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One of Chanel’s great triumphs with the Haute Joaillerie Sport collection is the use of five Kashmir sapphires, the attainment of which was the product of several years of research. Utilised here in the ‘Gold Slider’ ring, the sapphire is truly the star of the show. Offset with two metallic tones and surrounded by mixed chevron and quilted patterning, the sapphire shines without being overwhelmed. The ring also features rubies and diamonds, continuing a variation on the colourway themes established in the collection.
Interwoven finery
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
One of the motifs of the collection, the quilted pattern adds geometric structure to this ‘Quilted Stars’ necklace. As a reference to the weave of high-performance fabrics, the patterning acts as a base for the jewelled embellishments that cover it. With blue stars, black lacquer in the number five and brand name, and yellow accents, the eye easily travels from feature to feature. Grounded by a central yellow jewel and a row of baguette-cut diamonds, the necklace is a clear representation of the “sporty style” that Leguéreau pursued.