While Chanel has released a newly furnished version of their J12 model watch, Frédéric Grangié, the president of watches and jewelry for Chanel spoke with WorldTempus on the subject.
When asked about the J12, Chanel's best-selling watch, Grangié said, "The J12 is enjoying a new lease on life! Attired in black ceramic when it was launched in 2000, it adopted a striking and specific positioning, but the introduction of white in 2003 revolutionized everything seen on the wrist, and we have kept the flame alive until 2019. Under the guidance of Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of the Watchmaking Creation Studio, we embarked on a special exercise on this icon in pursuit of three objectives: revisiting its design with a sense of humility yet modifying about 70% of the original; making the back and technical content as beautiful as the front; and consolidating our watchmaking quality with this icon. Our participation in the Kenissi movement production company naturally accompanied this transformation of the J12, which has become a watchmaking reference in its own right with regard to its design, components, materials and caliber. A new campaign has revitalized its image, fronted by Chanel’s muses and generating excellent results everywhere, from Japan to the USA. During the second half of 2021, the J12 will write a new chapter, with a 33mm diameter version in white and black and a new 12.2 caliber through its sapphire caseback. It is in the spotlight through a digital campaign involving 12 mini-films highlighting its specificities as a watchmaking icon and the reveal of Margot Robbie as the new face of the advertising campaign."
"In all areas of Chanel's activity, its designers keep their fingers firmly on the pulse of society," said Grangié about the societal inspirations of the watch. "This Electro project was initiated in 2019 on the musical theme, illustrating the French Touch of the 1990s. We soon realized that this would be a crossover theme with ties to the Boy.Friend, J12, Première and Code Coco lines. It is very unusual creative gesture within the watch industry. We have this freedom. It's not a matter of following a given formula, since design at Chanel is as free as possible, we trust our creatives to have such flashes of inspiration. Timing is also part of the strength of design, and the launch was perfect. It certainly matches what customers want to wear today, reflecting great designers’ ability to be one step ahead of the market. We have concerts and a very ambitious program of events planned in Asia, yet the results of distance selling combined with the W&W show have exceeded our expectations and enabled us to sell almost all of the models in the Electro Haute Horlogerie collection."
Information originally sourced from WorldTempus.