Chanel Première Mini - Steel & Diamonds - ref. H2433

Nonchalance, set with diamonds.

Description

52 diamonds set on the case, 4 others placed as hour markers on a white mother-of-pearl dial, all mounted on a rubber strap. The combination seems incongruous for a second, then perfectly obvious: it is exactly the kind of departure Chanel has always allowed itself, and that no one else manages as well.

The octagonal case, meanwhile, has not changed since 1987. Its chamfered edges recall both the cap of the N°5 bottle and the layout of the Place Vendôme, two references that the Maison superimposes in a single object of such reduced size. It is a watch that tells the story of Chanel without any need for a logo to appear.

The detail that completes this design is found on the back. The winding crown is not on the side of the case, but underneath it: nothing therefore comes to interrupt the octagon, whose 8 sides close without the slightest roughness. It is a choice that goes unnoticed, and whose elegance is only appreciated by looking at the watches that do not have it.

The Mini format is the smallest in the line. At these dimensions, the Première ceases to be a watch and becomes a bracelet that tells the time: what it has always more or less claimed to be.

How to wear it?

The white rubber changes everything. Where the Première with a chain and leather strap calls for an outfit, this one asks for nothing: it can be worn with jeans as well as a summer dress, and the diamonds accommodate it very well. It is a summer watch that can also be taken out in winter, provided you embrace the white.

Its tiny format makes it easy to stack with bracelets. It does not compete with anything you already wear.

Its quartz movement also makes it a watch that you pick up without thinking, without winding or setting it.

Why did Françoise choose it?

Because it is the Première, and the Première is the entry point into Chanel watchmaking. Designed in 1987, it is the Maison's first watch and remains, nearly 40 years later, the one that summarizes it best.

Françoise especially loved what this version does with the model. Combining a setting of 52 diamonds with a rubber strap is a move that few houses would dare. Yet it is very much the spirit of Gabrielle Chanel, who saw no contradiction in mixing styles and materials. The precious version of the Première already exists; this one is the version that has fun with it.

Finally, she appreciates that it is a watch you can actually wear. A set piece that you can wear every day without paying attention to it is rarer than it seems.

History

Chanel entered watchmaking in 1987, more than 75 years after the opening of its first boutique. The watch that marks this entry is called Première, and it was designed by Jacques Helleu, then Artistic Director of the Maison.

Helleu did not look to traditional watchmaking. He sought the design of the watch in what Chanel already possessed: the octagonal cap of the N°5 bottle, itself inspired by the layout of the Place Vendôme. The case was born from this superposition and the line was launched in 3 references, with its leather woven chain strap echoing that of the 2.55 bag.

The Première is said to be the first watch the Maison designed exclusively for women: a point that Chanel claims and which has never been contradicted. It has never left the catalog since and has been offered over the decades in several sizes and a multitude of materials, including this small format.

Chanel now offers its direct heir under the name Première Ruban: the same case, the same rubber strap principle, in renewed colors and materials.