IN 1921, Gabrielle Chanel and French perfumer Ernest Beaux conceived the iconic Chanel N°5 perfume, the first “perfume for women with the scent of a woman”.
Now, to celebrate the perfume’s 100th anniversary, Patrice Leguéreau, director of the Chanel Fine Jewellery Creation Studio, has created the Collection N°5, the first high jewellery collection ever to be dedicated to a perfume.
Chanel 55.55 necklace
In a show-stopping tribute to the fragrance, the collection comprises 123 pieces, each one expressing the many different facets of the N°5 perfume, from the profile of the stopper to the silhouette of the bottle.
The pièce de résistance is the 55.55 necklace, a glittering white gold and diamond creation that elegantly captures the codes of the fragrance.
Chanel 55.55 necklace
At the heart of the necklace is an emerald-cut, 55.55K diamond, which is of the highest grade in both colour and clarity, set in an 18K white gold bezel, forming the necklace’s enormous pendant. Framed by 104 round diamonds and 42 baguette diamonds, the design testifies to Chanel’s technical mastery and brings together the worlds of perfume and high jewellery to dazzling effect.
Chanel 55.55 necklace
“Gabrielle Chanel approached these two universes with the same visionary values, focusing on audacity and the quest for excellence,” said Leguéreau.
“I wanted to rediscover that creative gesture with this collection, which has been conceived like a journey through the meanderings of the N°5 perfume’s soul, from the architecture of the bottle to the olfactive explosion of the fragrance.”
by Joshua Hendren