Chanel’s J12 Bleu, As Envisioned by Arnaud Chastaingt

Chanel’s signature black and white may define the luxury Maison’s visual language, but as Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the watchmaking creation studio, reveals, the new J12 Bleu proves that colour — especially deep, hypnotic blue — has always been part of the House’s creative DNA. In this exclusive conversation, he shares the obsessive journey behind the J12 Bleu’s creation, his views on masculine-feminine codes and why every detail, down to the minute track, matters.

Arnaud Chastaingt

There is this impression that Chanel is only, or mostly, about black and white. Is the new J12 Bleu an attempt to dispel this myth?

It’s true what you say, that Chanel is black and white, (Chastaingt himself is never pictured in anything other than black – Ed), it’s the duality that is really part of our codes. You know, it’s very important, but I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Of course, black and white are really perfect as the frame of the House, but colours were omnipresent in Chanel creations since the beginning, and Gabriel Chanel herself was using colours in her creations. The Bleu is (thus) really more than just a choice of colour… (Looking back on) the story of the J12, it was created in 2000 in black, and in 2003 in white. The J12 was launched in ceramic and (so) ceramic became really our exceptional savoir-faire that we have in our manufacture (including the ability to use colours in this material, which is technically challenging).

You know that we have a manufacture at La Chaux-des-Fonds and it is just amazing and inspires me a lot. I am doing design (in Paris), but I have a lot of conversations with the team at the manufacture. For example, (the Dripping Art J12 boxed set), the five watches where we put enamel on ceramic, which is new. I really liked to explore different creation processes with the manufacture team and it was similar with the J12 Bleu; it was a long project that took five years of development.

J12 BLEU 38MM SAPPHIRES

Tell us more about this “Bleu”, and how it came about?

Of course, I was dreaming about a dark blue like (you see in the J12 Bleu), but (to make it a reality) I knew that I would have to give the manufacture time to find the colour I was dreaming of, and time to find the perfect process of development. You have to go from a powder to a solid (this relates to how ceramic is formed for cases and bracelets, which is covered in more detail in the main story – Ed). There are many steps in the process of fabrication and of course this was very complex for the manufacture. It is not like cooking, where you can add (some elements) and find the perfect blue (by trial and error, following a recipe and eyeballing the ingredient mix). No, no, it’s not like that. The manufacture team made so many samples and sometimes the blue was too red, or yellow, and I remember the day when they proposed to me the final samples. I knew when I had this sample (of the blue that was used in the production pieces) in my hands that it was the blue I was dreaming of for Chanel; it was an emotional response, ultimately.

That is a challenging way to work! How many versions of blue were there?

So, it takes time – a lot of time – but at Chanel, you know, we always allot time to do things in the best way because we are the House of Creation; creation always goes with excellence (in the various aspects of the making-of), you know. That goes for the whole House of Chanel, you know, whether for couture, for perfume, for jewellery. And of course, for watches too.

As for how many versions of the blue I saw, I don’t know exactly. It’s true that in the creative process, I’ve never shared some sort of Pantone reference (or the typical sheet of colours that show all the versions of a possible colour – Ed). No, absolutely not. It was more a discussion. The team at the manufacture knew that my dream was to have a shade, you know. Black and white are not colours (black is the absence of light, of colour and white is all colours – Ed) in the optical sense. You can say they are shades, in English. In my discussions with the manufacture, I said I want to give colour to black (as if under a blue light). So, after this discussion, the team understood that I wanted a dark blue – a blue that is black or a black that is blue! They did many tests, and produced many samples before we found the perfect colour for Chanel.

J12 BLEU 38MM SAPPHIRES

You talk about a “rigorous elegance,” with regards to the J12 Bleu. What does this mean, and does it have to do with the many tests and experiments that had to be done?

Yeah, it’s really difficult for me to explain. I was looking for something uniform, but not like in the military or anything. That is not the way I want to go. I wanted a uniform colour, like many men who wear jackets in a blue so dark it looks black. A nice kind of black; dark blue can also be another code of elegance. It could be the new black, for people who absolutely do not want to wear black because it reminds them of mortality.

What is your approach to designing timepieces for men and for women?

Of course, Chanel is feminine brand and a feminine House; of course, we know that 90 percent of our customers are women. The Premiere watch is absolutely only for women, yet it was a little bit different with the J12 because this watch was created by a man for himself (this was the late Jacques Helleu, 25 years ago; it was a creation that deeply impacted Chastaingt, as you will discover – Ed). After a while, women wanted this watch too (and perhaps more and more women too, given the popularity of the smaller sizes – Ed). Today, we’re surprised because a lot of men are wearing the J12. Maybe more in the new generation…

It’s very paradoxical, you know, because we have a very powerful feminine brand today and yet the style was inspired by men. You may know the story of Gabrielle Chanel (and what Rebecca Doulton called “her penchant for appropriating clothes from men’s wardrobes and giving them her magical designer’s twist” – Ed). It is true that in my time (as director of Chanel’s Watchmaking Creation Studio), we made the Monsieur watch, which is only for men, but it was not my obsession to make watches for men or for women. It (referring to the Monsieur watch) was more because I started working for Chanel in 2013 and I discovered the big secret when I entered the House: Chanel wanted to develop its own movement at the manufacture, with the Calibre 1, and I was very surprised because not so many brands can do that. Chanel told me that I’m free to do whatever I want around (this first calibre). I thought (because of Gabrielle Chanel’s inspirations) that it would be a great story to have the first all in-house watch from Chanel be a watch for men.

But it’s very interesting for a designer or creator at Chanel because we play all the time with masculine and feminine codes… You know that when I created the Boyfriend watch, I was thinking of Gabrielle Chanel stealing the watch of her boyfriend in the morning! Men were never far from Mademoiselle Chanel’s thoughts.

J12 BLEU 38MM SAPPHIRES

The J12 is a sports watch in form but your obsession with details in design gives it an entirely different style. Tell us why details such as the length of the hands and the width of the minute track are important to you?

Thank you! I use this word, ‘obsess’ too; I’m obsessed with details. You know, with the design of a watch (all of its design content), you have to consider everything, from A-Z. My development team and the creative team know that I’m obsessed about details. Everything is important: the crown, the typography of the numbers, the buckle, the finishing of the leather, and, of course, the finishing of the movement. If you want to see me smile at the end of the project, I have to (be sure of) everything. I can’t do it differently. It’s impossible for me to let something go (if it isn’t just right); all the details have to have been considered.

Your question reminds me of the exercise of reworking the design of the J12 in 2019; I have a very specific story with this watch. Maybe you know I discovered this watch more than 20 years ago (when I was a student). I had a real crush on (the J12), and maybe this watch opened my eyes to the fact that the watch world could be the territory of designers too. (At the time), I thought (watch design) was a territory for only watchmakers, and for technical thinking.

So, when it came to the exercise to rework the J12, I understood the importance of the details of this; my creative process was more that of a surgeon than a designer because (obviously) I didn’t have to start from scratch. The watch (already) fascinated me and so I understood that humility and respect would be the best way to approach the (2019 rework). I analysed all the details of the J12 and all the proportions. A watch is like a microcosm (of details) and when you enter it, it is like magic (for creator and collector alike – Ed). If it was not perfect (like this), we would not have launched the watch (this was the anniversary collection in 2020 – Ed). But you know it is the same way for all of Chanel, for all product categories; if a perfume is not perfect, we don’t launch it.

Additional context and clarifications have been inserted in the responses by the editor, marked as “Ed”.

This story was first seen in the upcoming WOW #78 Vision 2025 Issue cover story

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