Chanel No 5 Celebrates 100th Anniversary With The 55.55 High Jewellery Necklace
Truly a piece of art.
Undoubtedly one of the most iconic designers of all time, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel didn’t care for rules very much when she launched the label—she was an advocate of masculine styles when women rarely even wore pants.
And when she created Chanel No 5 back in 1921 with Ernest Beaux, it caused quite a commotion. Touted to be the first “perfume for women with the scent of a woman”, the modernity of the fragrance, purity of the bottle and the mystery of the name intrigued even naysayers.
55.55 necklace in white gold and diamonds, featuring a 55.55-carat emerald-cut DFL Type IIa diamond. (Photo: Chanel)
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CHANEL N°5, Glass, black cotton cordonnet, black wax seal, printed paper, 1924. Patrimoine de CHANEL collection, Paris © CHANEL (Photo: Chanel)
That’s not all. In 1932, Coco Chanel introduced new ways of wearing jewellery with her Bijoux de Diamants collection that once again shattered the codes of French high jewellery designs.
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And to honour Coco Chanel and pay homage to her revolutionary vision, Patrice Leguéreau, Director of the Chanel Fine Jewelry Creation Studio, dreamed up the “Collection N°5”, the first-ever high jewellery dedicated to the Chanel No 5 perfume.
He said: “Gabrielle Chanel approached these two universes with the same visionary values, focusing on audacity and the quest for excellence. 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.”
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Exceptional Levels Of Creation & Technical Mastery
55.55 necklace from the "Collection N°5". Adjustment of the rows of diamonds to ensure the necklace hangs perfectly and positioning of the final stones. (Photo: Chanel)
What makes this necklace extraordinary is that it exquisitely highlights the codes of the fragrance, from the bottle to the stopper. In fact, the centrepiece of the 55.55 necklace is the 55.55-carat custom emerald-cut diamond in the shape of the No 5 bottle.
“This is an unprecedented approach,” said Leguéreau. “We started with a rough diamond that we had cut, not to make the biggest stone possible, but to obtain a perfect octagonal diamond weighing 55.55 carats.”
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55.55 necklace from the "Collection N°5". Assembling the necklace components previously set with stones to create a flawless finish. (Photo: Chanel)
That’s not all. The D Flawless quality of this stone and the 18-carat white gold bezel set with 104 round diamonds and 42 baguette diamonds, plus the cascading pear-shaped diamonds in different sizes (cut one by one) are all testaments to Chanel’s remarkable technical mastery.
And if you’re looking to purchase this stunning beauty, we’re sorry to break the news that it’s not for sale. The 55.55 necklace will be archived in Chanel’s Patrimoine, and will forever be a part of Coco Chanel’s legacy.
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