Chanel blurs the boundaries between luxury, fine jewelry and technology with the Première Sound watch, a three-in-one combination of style, time and music.
Christmas is just around the corner! It's time to add this unique piece of technology to your wishlist. Just warn your friends and family that they'll have to shell out 14,800 euros for it. But when you love, you don't count, right? Chanel's Première Sound is an enhanced reinterpretation of the Première watch, launched in 1987. This audacious piece was imbued with the iconography of the octagonal case inspired by the stopper of the N° 5 bottle and the shoulder chain of the house's iconic bag. Today, it is reinvented for the 21st century in an innovative fusion of watchmaking and technology.
HYBRID JEWEL
This 18-carat yellow gold-coated steel necklace, interlaced with a black leather ribbon and an audio cable, lets you tell the time, make phone calls thanks to the built-in microphone, and listen to music. Simply connect it to your smartphone (Apple, Android) or any other audio device.
This beautiful work was imagined by Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the Maison's Studio de Création Horlogerie, and designed over a two-year period by Master & Dynamic, a New York-based manufacturer of high-end audio products, which often collaborates with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Céline.
The Première Sound watch was launched last September in a digital campaign featuring Chanel ambassador Lily-Rose Depp. But another star has already adopted it: Lana Del Rey. The American artist notably wore it during her concert at Rock en Seine, in Paris, where she marked her comeback after ten years.
TECHNOLOGICAL PROWESS
The removable earphones, flanked by the double C, feature a planar diaphragm and beryllium-coated dynamic drivers, with a classic frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The wire itself houses a remote control for adjusting sound volume, controlling audio and video content playback, and taking calls.
The earphones are also IPX3 waterproof, meaning they are splashproof, while the watch can withstand water pressure up to 30 meters deep. But given the price, we'll happily refrain from a swim. One of the other attractions of this long necklace is that it also plays with the vintage spirit of its jack plug, while accommodating modern technologies with Apple Lightning and USB-C adapters.
If the Première watch reinvented the codes of watchmaking in the late 1980s, the Première Sound is conquering the digital age, skilfully combining past and present in all elegance and discretion.
CHANEL.COM
