Quick Look: Chanel Coco Clock

This recently popped up on one of my feeds and quite frankly, I was intrigued. Mind you, Chanel isn’t a brand that’s on my radar, and even though I was aware of their accomplishments in the watchmaking world, Chanel to me were handbags and perfumes, with the occasional lipstick thrown in the mix.

Now, dear readers, before your thumbs start tapping and drawing out the pitchfork emoticon, hear me out. Or rather, keep scrolling. 

I still remember quite fondly the time my colleague and I visited the flagship boutique at 31 Rue Cambon, because she wanted to buy the bag. I think it was the 2.55. To be honest I don’t remember this particular detail. They all look the same to me. Yes, iconic and unmistakably Chanel in black with quilted diamond pattern, but otherwise... Of course, who can forget the No.5 perfume? As someone who is not a keen disciple of the fashion industry, I think that pretty much covers it... 

Let’s get back to the topic at hand. When I saw this my interest piqued. What a wonderful and whimsical display! Such Playfulness. I needed to know more! But guess what? Clocks, being something less “commercial” today, it was surprisingly difficult to find any information of note to quench my thirst. What’s that you say? The official website? Sure. Have a look. It’s not exactly brimming with information on this particular item of whimsicality. Therefore i fired up Google, and let my fingers do the research.

Chanel J12 feat. Coco, Limited to 555 pieces each colour.

It appears that this caricature of Coco Chanel was first used to tell the time on the J12 ceramic watch back in 2017 (that I could find. Leave a comment below if I’m wrong), in a limited edition of 555 pieces per colour (well, black or white). They have brought her back in a table clock form this year. There was a different version of the clock previously featuring a dial inspired by her love of coromandel screens. The obsidian case is of course, inspired by the shape of the stopper on the perfume No.5, which in turn was directly inspired by the shape of Place Vendôme in Paris.

Chanel Coromandel Clock

Bird's eye view of Place Vendome

What I really wanted information on, and something that was difficult to come by, was the movement in the clock. From first glance it’s skeletonised mechanical movement, but it’s too large to be a watch movement, as my first instinct was that it was the Calibre 2, designed with the help from Romain Gauthier, in the shape inspired by a Camellia flower; a favourite of Coco’s. Upon further digging, I managed to find what i needed. The movement appears to have been designed by Chanel Creative Studio and produced by the famed L’Epee Manufacture. You know, the ones that do all the clock collabs with MB&F, not to mention some really cool clocks of their own. The dial features a playful caricature of Coco Chanel, complete in diamonds and pearls, with cloissone enamel by master enameller Anita Porchet.

Chanel Calibre 2 - in the shape of a Camellia flower

8 Day clock movement, designed by Chanel, produced by L'Epee

The other collab which is much more distinctively L’Epee, the Chronosphere, was more widely covered.

The Chronosphere, Collab with L'Epee

So there you have it. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one dying to know what was powering the mademoiselle clock. There’s gotta be at least another 1-2 of you out there. And in case you’re wondering why there was another Chanel related article, it was the search for this clock movement that led me to the whole Kenissi movement supplier, which was covered in the previous post.

Coco Clock Specs:

Dimensions: 110mm x 153mm x 61mm

Cased in Obsidian

18k gold base with 136 diamonds

18k gold ring with 305 diamonds

8 Day power reserve manual wind with winding key

LImited Edition of 10 pieces

Price: Approx. $756,000 AUD

Talking Shop: New Kids On The Block - Kenissi, Norqain, Fortis

When we talk about the major players in the Swiss watch movement manufacturing, certain names come immediately to mind - ETA is generally the first, mostly followed by Sellita (keeping in mind that Unitas and Valjoux are part ETA). However, there could soon be a third vying for attention, once their new factory is fully operational sometime in 2021-22.

If you guessed Kenissi, you’d be correct. If your reaction is “huh?” then keep reading.

Not much is known about Kenissi’s founder, only that the owner is an industrial supplier of sapphire crystal across the industry. It moved into movement manufacture, managed by Eric Yvon Pirson (head of Tudor), Jean-Paul Girardin (formerly of Breitling), and Philippe Jacques Dalloz. They are constructing a new movement production site (within a building that will be 150m long) in Le Locle, (home of Zenith, UN, Tissot, Mont Blanc and others) on land owned by Rolex, but with ownership shared between Tudor, Kenissi and Chanel.

Kenissi already produces movements for Tudor as their “Manufacture” movement, which debuted in the Tudor North Flag (2015), followed by Breitling in 2017, and then in a highly finished form for the new Chanel J12 in 2019. 

Tudor Manufacture Calibre

Breitling Calibre B20

The movement itself is well known, and the specs are nothing to sneeze at. It features a full balance bridge with two fixed points for added structural rigidity and shock resistance, COSC-certifiation, and with a very practical 70-hour power reserve. The GMT version features a jumping hour which allows the wearer to easily set the local time as well as changing the date backwards and forwards at any moment.

Chanel Calibre J12.1

The new ‘Manufacture’ will mean a massive increase in production capabilities and will allow ease of continued supplies to Tudor and Breitling as well as simultaneously expanding their client base, which already includes Norqain and more recently, Fortis. Given the trajectory, it is not farfetched to consider that more brands will look to Kenissi as a possible alternative to ETA/ Sellita, with Bell & Ross a strong contender to be next (possibly due to its Chanel connections).

Norqain Calibre NN20

Who is Norqain?

Norqain is an independent, family-operated business that was founded in 2018 by Ben Küffer (formerly of Breitling), who brought on his father, Marc Küffer, as Chairman of the Board. Marc was the owner and CEO of Swiss luxury watch producer Roventa-Henex (a private label watchmaker since 1959 - making watches for the likes of Farer), member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss Watch Industry Association for 25 years and also being on the board of Ulysses Nardin. Ted Schneider, from the family that owned Breitling for nearly 40 years, and Mark Streit, the Swiss ice hockey legend and Stanley Cup winner, are also part of the management and board. It also has close ties to Breitling via Kenissi in the form of Jean-Paul Girardin, who oversaw the development of Breitling’s manufacturing capacities, moving there after it was sold to CVC Capital in 2017. Norquain’s dedication to quality, design, and value for money quickly made it a favourite amongst industry insiders.

Fortis are still around?

Yes. They had financial difficulties back in 2017/ 2018, and were taken over by Jupp Philipp, who was a big fan of the brand, but with a background in the food industry. It took him nearly eight months to assess the company and analyse the business before signing on the dotted line in September 2018. Since then they have devised a roadmap for Fortis, and with Kenissi on board, they hope to develop the brand into a contender for the likes of Breitling, Tudor and IWC.

The attraction of the Swiss watch industry may be that of the shiny new products being released every year, but behind every flowery PR prose, there are not just the watchmakers that assemble the watches, the artists who decorate them, but also the parts suppliers, without whom there would be very few watches produced.

The possibility of a third significant player in movement supply is also interesting because it means more competition, and competition is always good for an industry, and this could possibly lead to better pricing. There is a lot of uncertainty in the watch industry at the moment, and there are also concerns about possible job losses in the coming 12 to 18 months, a firm who will probably be taking on more employees is also a welcome thing.

 

Top 10 Women's Swiss Mechanical/Automatic Watches

It appears that there is a demand of some sort out there for lists of top watches or recommended watches. It also appears that such a list doesn't really exist for ladies' watches. At least not in any usable form. So here at The Sydney Tarts we thought we'd compile a list of top 10 watches for women. These are watches we feel are either classics in their own right, or extremely popular/in-demand. They're not necessarily watches we'd recommend, but of course, watches are entirely subjective and all the watches in this list are pretty good watches in their own right. Really comes down to what sort of watches you like, and how thick your wallet is.

For this post we will be concentrating on the 10 best mechanical/automatic Swiss watches for women. This will cover all price points and we'll do another post later on focusing on quartz models. For brands that offer various ladies' watches in mechanical or automatic, we've picked the most popular or the most iconic model, but will also mention in the text in regards to the other models.

So, here we are, in no particular order... Well, that's not really true. They're in order of "what comes to mind", ie, the first watch is the first one that comes to mind, etc etc. By the 8th we were grasping at straws simply because a lot of watches for women seems to be quartz only...

1. Rolex Lady Datejust Automatic
Well this one is a no-brainer. It's not the prettiest watch in the list but it is classic, and reliable, and a proven workhorse of a watch. Like its male counterpart, these will withstand pretty much anything you throw at it. Rolex watches are over-engineered and are of course, designed first and foremost to be tool watches. So if you are tough on your watches, you really can't go wrong with the Rolex. They also come in a huge variety of colour/material/dial combos, making it easy (or tough) for you to choose one the exact version that's best suited to you.

2. Omega Ladymatic
This is a fairly new addition to the Omega range, although the name Ladymatic has been used in the past. The current Ladymatic, as modeled by Nicole Kidman, is designed purely for women, rather than a scaled-down men's model. The watch is extremely elegant, comes in a biggish size, perfectly on-trend and powered by an in-house movement. Like the Rolex, there are quite a number of dial/material combinations to choose from. The Ladymatic might be new, but it's proved to be very popular and fast becoming a classic for Omega. They've certainly developed a winner here. (Honourable mention: the Ladies Constellation, but these do sell more in the quartz model)

3. Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Lady Manual
We debated long and hard on this one, and finally settled on the Reverso Lady. The cause of the debate is the new Rendez-Vous range, which is just on 2 years old and doing extremely well for Jaeger-LeCoultre. However, our reasoning was that if you were to only get one Jaeger-LeCoultre, it would have to be the Reverso, as it is iconic for JLC, and no one else makes anything like it. (ie, reversible case) So here we are. Our pick of the litter would be the Duetto model, simply because you get two watches for the price of one. There's the daytime (front) side and the evening (reverse) side, powered by the same mechanical movement. (Honourable mention: Reverso with a single side and plain case back for personalisation, or, if you must have a round watch, the Rendez-Vous)

4. Chanel J12 Automatic
I'm sure this watch needs no introduction. Chanel has done an amazing job with this model, and in a relatively short time, created an instantly recognisable icon that has possible brought about the renaissance of the use of ceramic as a case material and the style copied ad nauseum (Much like the Datejust). These are so popular in fact that they're commanding extremely high resale prices, and in some cases, higher than the original list price.

5. Cartier Tank Francaise auto
Cartier has a number of classic watch models, from the Tank, to Santos, to the more current Ballon Bleu... and even within the Tank and Santos range, there are numerous sub-ranges to choose from... but the watch we keep coming back to is the Tank Francaise. To be honest these probably sell more in the quartz version, but the automatic is right up there.

6. Tag Heuer Lady Link Auto (34.5mm)
The Lady Link comes in different sizes and the automatic movement powers the 34.5mm size version. Like the Ladymatic and the Rendez-Vous, this is a series designed especially for ladies. Ok you might argue that there IS a Link series for gents, but at the very least the Lady Link isn't a pre-shrunk Gents version. Beautifully modelled by Cameron Diaz, the Lady Link is classy with a hint of sportiness. Just like Cameron herself. Tag could not have chosen a better ambassador for this range.

7. Breguet Reine de Naples
Personally, not a big fan of this piece. However, it is quite popular and apparently doing quite well for Breguet. There is just something not quite right to my eyes about an egg-shaped watch. But you can't ignore the pedigree. Breguet is a genunine watchmaker and respected by all. I... just can't get past the styling. But you have to give credit where it's due. It certainly is distinctive.

8. Girard Perregaux Cat’s eye
The Cat's Eye collection was launched in 2004, and is available from a simple three-handed watch to something with complications.The oval shape allows for this without being too large to fit on feminine wrists. It is also quite heartwarming to see complication watches for women, and you'd expect nothing less from another brand with rich watchmaking history.

9. Patek Philippe Nautilus Ladies Automatic
The first Patek ladies watch that came to mind was actually the Twenty4, then we realised that you'd have to spend the equivalent of a nice apartment to get it with a mechanical movement (along with carats of diamonds). So the Nautilus is out next choice and it would seem that this range is probably the default women's watch for women who appreciates the watchmaking craftsmanship. Granted it is a pre-shrunk gents watch and gussied up a bit with diamonds, mother-of -pearl and pastel colours, but they have managed to make the range quite feminine and attractive.

10. Piaget Altiplano (34mm)
The whole Altiplano range trades on one exquisite feature - being ridiculously thin. They're classy and feminine, powered by an ultra-thin mechanical movement... there is nothing not to like with this range. Don't forget that although Piaget seems to be just as well known for their jewellery, they do have a proper watchmaking history and do lay claim to the world's thinnest automatic movement, so these watches aren't just pretty faces!