CHANEL’s Heavenly ‘1932’ Collection Delivers Hope

On November 5, 1932, CHANEL‘s first High Jewelry collection, Bijoux de Diamants, was first unveiled at Gabrielle Chanel’s apartment at 29 rue du Faubourg de Saint-Honoré.

More than jewelry, the glittering pieces brought a much-needed ray of hope and optimism to a world still reeling from the turmoil of the Great Depression that had begun three years earlier.

“I wanted to cover women in constellations,” Mademoiselle Chanel said. “Nothing could be better for forgetting the crisis than feasting one’s eyes on beautiful new things.”

Now, ninety years after its creation, the spirit of that iconic moment is being resurrected with “1932,” the CHANEL jewelry collection that voyages through time, summoning the wonders of celestial bodies.

“I wanted to return to the essence of 1932 and to harmonize the message around three symbols: the comet, the moon, and the sun,” says Patrice Leguéreau, director of the CHANEL Fine Jewelry Creation Studio.

The forms and movement of these heavenly bodies are conveyed through three separate themes, represented by the diamonds’ round shapes and sparkling facets.

“Each heavenly body shines with its own light,” Leguéreau says.

Inspired by Mademoiselle Chanel’s love for the stars, the comet becomes alive in necklaces that evoke its dynamic movement.

The sun’s power is captured in radiating rays from the hearts of yellow diamonds.

The moon emerges in the CHANEL jewelry collection as a bib necklace with a shimmering diamond halo and as delicate crescents sparkling at the earlobes.

Scatterings of stones evoke star-studded galaxies, while sapphires, rubies, and blue and yellow diamonds infuse color into the collection.

“I love everything that’s above us: the heavens, the moon. I believe in the stars,” Mademoiselle Chanel once stated.

For those of us living in an uncertain world, these cosmic creations could not have come at a more fitting time.