From the outset, the J12 transformed ceramic into a precious material and rewrote two hundred years of history to redefine the standards of feminine watchmaking. Jacques Helleu, the artistic director of CHANEL at the time, created this piece to fulfill his own desires. He wanted a beautiful yet different watch. He did not simply design a watch, he created a legend.
First launched in black in 2000.
In 2002, with its first chronograph.
2005, the J12 is equipped with a tourbillon, numbered and limited edition of 12 pieces.
2007, it sets off on a voyage with the launch of the J12 GMT equipped with a second time zone.
Joining forces with Audemars Piguet in 2008, a high-end caliber (AP 3125) is designed, for which CHANEL redesigns the balance bridge and the golden rotor coated in black ceramic.
2009, the J12 Noir Intense transforms a block of pure ceramic into 724 baguettes. No other watch manufacturer had ever set ceramic like this before. Produced in a limited series of five.
2010 marked yet another major turning point, J12 Rétrograde Mystérieuse, this timepiece in high-resistance black or white ceramic and white gold – unique in every sense of the word – is defined as a compendium of innovations, complications and world firsts: a tourbillon, digital minutes display, retrograde minutes hand, a 10-day power reserve and a retractable vertical crown.
In 2011, the J12 takes the stage in titanium ceramic that is more lively than gold and more intense than platinum.
In 2013, the J12 Moonphase is born with its mechanism displaying the different moon phases on a deep blue aventurine disc that glitters like a summer night.
In 2014, with the J12-G10 watch, CHANEL takes an adventurous turn to feminine watchmaking by adapting an essential from the military world, the NATO bracelet.
In 2016, discreet and silently curling around the wrist, the watch takes shape in a miniature 19-mm version, the J12∙XS.
2017, a silhouette in the form of a hat, pumps and a braided suit spreading her arms on the dial to indicate the time. The J12 showcases Mademoiselle Chanel: playful, cheeky and joyful.
2018, CHANEL presents a set of 12 one-of-a-kind watches, each decorated with an abstract composition produced in ceramic marquetry. The 12 pieces together form a polyptych.
CHANEL received an award in 2019 for the J12 caliber 12.1 watch, during the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) ceremony, in the Ladies’ category.
Continuing in 2020, the new J12 X-RAY watch displays its watchmaking mastery in a unique sapphire crystal case that allows us to admire the incandescent purity of its forms. With a new movement that has been designed and assembled by the CHANEL Manufacture– the Caliber 3.1 – the J12 X-RAY is all about transparency.
For its 20th anniversary, the J12 wants to play. It takes twenty symbols and references from the Maison CHANEL: a 2.55 bag, a camellia, a bottle of N°5 perfume and even a tweed jacket. It becomes the J12∙20. Punctuated with 12 diamonds, these polished rhodium-plated motifs are found on its bezel and dial. Sublime irreverence to sign the absolute freedom of this edition, limited to 2020 pieces, and also available in an Haute Horlogerie enameled version (picture above), numbered and limited to 5 pieces.
