For Gabrielle Chanel, creation was always an act of freedom. A freedom made of intuitions, memories, encounters, journeys and intimate references, capable of turning into recognizable signs and, ultimately, into principles of elegance. It is from this personal universe that CHANEL’s High Jewelry collection “Signes & Symboles” was born: a precious dialogue between the camellia, the star, the sun and the lion, emblems deeply connected to Mademoiselle’s life, style and imagination.
From the comets that lit up the sky over Aubazine to the stars carved into the abbey’s pavements, from the geometric perfection of the camellia to the power of the lion, her zodiac sign, and the radiance of the Mediterranean sun she so deeply loved, each symbol becomes part of an unmistakable aesthetic vocabulary. These signs run through her collections, inhabit her private worlds — from the apartment on rue Cambon to the villa La Pausa — and return today in jewels that do not simply adorn, but tell a story.
“My jewelry represents an idea,” Gabrielle Chanel used to say. This phrase perfectly captures the spirit of the collection: jewelry is not only precious matter, but thought, identity and intuition. As with her dresses, which Chanel preferred to shape directly on the fabric rather than draw, her jewels also emerge from a free gesture, outside the rules of classical jewelry. Mademoiselle loved to mix genres and eras, to place the sumptuous beside the simple, exceptional stones next to personal talismans, ancient references alongside the modernity of gesture.
Within this universe, the necklace becomes the absolute protagonist. No longer a simple ornament, but a precious architecture, a visual manifesto, a symbolic object. The collection brings together 85 creations in which the CHANEL Jewelry Creation Studio combines opulent forms — from the plastron to the bandeau — with the geometric purity of its compositions. Vertical and horizontal symmetries, sculptural volumes, fluid lines and central pendants transform the jewel worn around the neck into a scenic presence, capable of defining the body while telling a story.
The research into stones is one of the most fascinating elements of the collection. Blue, red, green, orange, yellow and pink are expressed through precious stones, fine stones and hard stones, creating an intense and sophisticated chromatic balance. Sapphires, rubies, emeralds and diamonds — the collection’s “Precious Four” — converse with tanzanites, imperial topazes, garnets, carnelian, turquoise, chrysoprase, onyx, pink sapphires and yellow sapphires. Each gem is chosen not only for its value, but for its ability to strengthen the symbolic character of the jewel.
The Imprimés chapter interprets the camellia, the star and the sun as recurring motifs, almost like a precious fabric. In bandeau and plastron necklaces, these emblems are arranged in lines punctuated by brilliant-cut diamonds, emerald-cut diamonds and custom-cut stones. The Imprimé Lion necklace, the centerpiece of the collection, expresses this vision with particular force: a vertical cascade of diamonds draws a V-shaped line, enhanced by a 20.66-carat octagonal-cut sapphire and a sculpted lion’s head entirely pavé-set. Here, the necklace takes the form of a monumental narrative, where the lion joins the camellia, the star and the sun.
The lion holds a central place in the CHANEL imagination. An emblem of the House’s High Jewelry, first revealed in 2012, it represents Gabrielle Chanel’s strength, sovereignty and character. In the necklaces dedicated to this symbol, the feline appears as a sculptural and graphic presence. In the Lion Millénaire, the lion’s body emerges in profile like a diamond bas-relief on onyx, positioned on either side of a 6.12-carat octagonal-cut ruby. The contrast between the intensity of the ruby, the depth of the onyx and the brilliance of the diamond creates a jewel of striking impact, almost heraldic, yet entirely contemporary.
Alongside the power of the lion, the collection celebrates the more intimate and protective dimension of jewelry: that of the talisman. For Gabrielle Chanel, talismans were objects charged with meaning, bearers of luck, memory and protection. In the necklaces of the collection, this idea is translated into sculpted amulets, suspended symbols and luminous pendants. The Talisman Graphique, in yellow gold, yellow sapphires and star engravings, radiates a solar energy, culminating in a camellia adorned with a 3.57-carat emerald-cut D FL Type IIa diamond.
The Talisman de Symboles, on the other hand, explores a more colorful and playful register: on a tubular chain, amulets and symbols in gold, diamonds and pink sapphires alternate — the camellia, the star, the sun and the lion — enriched by onyx, carnelian, turquoise, chrysoprase, spessartite garnets and white ceramic. The result is a vibrant necklace, where every detail seems to hold a meaning and every stone adds a new nuance to the story.
The star, another fundamental sign of the CHANEL universe, recalls the nights of Aubazine and the celestial dimension that has always run through the House’s aesthetic. In the Symbole Étoile necklace, the violet-blue of tanzanite beads meets the warmth of garnet, carnelian and imperial topaz. Gabrielle Chanel used to say that there was nothing prettier than a topaz, “this gilded water”: a poetic definition that finds new life in a creation capable of combining light, color and transformability. The jewel can in fact change function: in its short version, the back of the necklace becomes a bracelet, while the diamond and garnet stars can be detached and worn as earrings.
The camellia, Mademoiselle’s favorite flower, returns as a sign of balance and perfection. Its natural geometry, essential and harmonious, makes it one of the House’s most recognizable emblems. In the jewels of the collection, the camellia is not only a floral motif, but a pure form that converses with diamonds, pink sapphires and exceptional stones, evoking femininity, restraint and modernity.
Finally, the sun brings into the collection the Mediterranean light so beloved by Gabrielle Chanel. It is a symbol of energy, warmth and radiance, expressed through the glow of yellow gold, the reflections of yellow sapphires, the luminosity of diamonds and the radial construction of many creations. In the necklaces, the sun often becomes rhythm, rays, movement: a luminous presence that amplifies the jewel’s scenic force.
“Signes & Symboles” thus tells of a still and enchanting journey into the CHANEL universe. A journey in which past and present, heritage and creation, personal memory and jewelry savoir-faire meet. The necklace, in particular, emerges as the privileged form of this narrative: important, symbolic, architectural, transformable. Around the neck, jewelry becomes language. And every stone, every emblem, every sign takes part in the construction of an idea destined to endure.
