Chanel Elegantly Embraces Sport with New High-Jewelry Collection
The Haute Joaillerie Sport 80-piece assortment nods to Coco Chanel's active lifestyle with sapphires, diamonds, rubies, and onyx
Bright red stripes, sleek carbon fiber, and a playful carabiner are some of the surprising elements in Chanel’s latest high-jewelry collection, Haute Joaillerie Sport, inspired by its pioneering founder, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. In the 1920s, she led an active lifestyle—horseback riding, skiing, golfing—and devised a wardrobe to suit her needs.
Unveiled for VIP clients in Monte Carlo in late June, the new offerings echo that energetic style. “The line is refined and streamlined to create jewelry that embraces the body’s anatomy, in the same way as sportswear,” explains Patrice Leguéreau, director of the Chanel Jewelry Creation studio. He leaned into the house’s technical savoir faire to realize transformable pieces such as the diamond and lacquer Sporty 5 necklace, which has a number 5, a wink to the iconic perfume, cleverly fashioned into an outsize link that can be attacked to the necklace or an earring.
The house reimagined Coco Chanel’s signature codes in both subtle and graphic ways. The Quilted 2.55 necklace, for example, is constructed in flexible diamond and black lacquer openwork patterns with a smart swivel closure borrowed from the 2.55 handbag. Other pieces boast vibrant stripes (an homage to the famed Breton sailer shirts) and bold star shapes (Coco’s first-ever fine jewelry in 1932 featured a celestial motif).
With six distinct themes underscoring the house’s revolutionary roots, the 80-piece assortment brims with rare gemstones, including Kashmir sapphires, rubies, diamonds and onyx, some set into necklaces, earrings, watches and rings with bands of matching lacquer.
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Fall Issue under the headline “Active Interest.” Subscribe to the magazine.