CHANEL Première Flying Tourbillon a Distinction in Design

25 years ago Chanel launched its first line of watches, and they have celebrated this milestone with the Limited Edition CHANEL Première Flying Tourbillon
Equipped with a flying tourbillon - one of the most complicated and highly regarded watch mechanism - the Limited Edition timepiece represents a new age of timepieces made for women.  In most watch companies, woman's timepieces are mostly powered by quartz. 
It is thought that men are more of a mechanical mind and thus can appreciate the intricate craftsmanship required to create a mechanical masterpiece.
 Chanel always on the forefront of woman's fashion is making a stand for mechanical movement in woman's watches by unveiling a timepiece of incredible watchmaking expertise.  The movement is that of highly regarded Audemars Piguet (Renaud et Papi)SA.  This is not the first contribution, Audemars Piguet has had with Chanel.  In 2008, Chanel partnered with AP to create the J12 caliber 3125, a fusion of AP 3120 an innovative automatic winding system and a Chanel J12 ceramic case.

The unique 37mm diameter case shape is fashioned after the cap of the Chanel N °5 perfume bottle, which is inspired by one of Coco Chanel's most favourite places - place Vendôme. The place Vendôme also inspired Chanel's Première watch unveiled in 1987.

 

  The glossy black ceramic dial surrounds a Camélia Flying Tourbillon at the 6 'o'clock position. Coco Chanel loved the Camélia flower for its elegant simplicity and purity.  She decorated her apartment in the motif of this flower on Coromandel screens and in vases with rock crystal. In Asia the flower symbolized purity and longevity, and thus she placed it on many of her designs.  The top of the flying tourbillon cage displays the flower in geometric simplicity.  The flying tourbillon is only supported on one side creating the illusion that it rotating,  unsupported by any means.  Click here to read an in depth tourbillon article. 

Chanel J12 Chromatic Ceramic Titanium Built Tough

Just by looking at the Chanel J12 Chromatic Ceramic Titanium watch, one can see this watch is crafted from some seriously sturdy stuff. The luster has a curious shimmer, the like of which I have never seen before. The name suggests some type of Ceramic Titanium blend - a suggestion of metallurgy advancements. Chanel spent hours of research and development, and finally came up with a material that was actually a titanium and diamond powder combined with a ceramic compound mixture achieving an intriguing metallic .
The watch is predominantly ceramic, an extremely hard and resilient material with high scratch resistance.
Rado is the company that first began experimenting with the hardiness of ceramic, for example one of the techniques they use is adding a layer of treated crushed diamond to the layer of ceramic thereby making the watch as hard as diamond. Ceramics, being tough an inexpensive, is now all the rage, and more watch companies such as Fossil and Michael Kors are utilizing this material more than ever. In addition many people who have metal allergies opt to use hypoallergenic ceramic instead.
Click here to read more about Rado and its vision.

The J12 Chromatic Ceramic Titanium encompasses 7 models catering to men and women including a smaller 33 mm model featuring a Quartz movement ; a 38 mm and 41 mm sporting automatic movements with round or baguette-cut diamonds.