The Stopper

Paris is the city of CHANEL, and at the heart of Paris is Place Vendôme, whose geometric qualities are perhaps best recognised as the shape of the N°5 stopper. Cut to exacting proportions and used throughout the collection, emerald-cut diamonds fashioned to the precise ratio of Place Vendôme create a striking visual motif, replete with the architectural detail of the corners graphically omitted—a signature of the CHANEL identity.

When she applies her perfume, a woman holds the substantial weightiness of the N°5 stopper intimately in her hand—a relationship now captured in High Jewellery. Patrice Leguéreau, Director of the Fine Jewellery Creation Studio and designer of this collection, says, “I use emerald-cut diamonds in different positions, sometimes as the stopper sitting on the bottle, but also, with a twist of the wrist, as though the cap has been removed.” A grand paradox, the geometric stopper of the N°5 bottle is removed to reveal the ultimate femininity—a duality translated into five High Jewellery styles.

Some designs are effervescent with cultured pearls—seawater cultures that emulate Aldehyde compounds, a transformative element of the N°5 formula—while graphic forms of transparent rock crystal become wearable versions of the stopper. Exceptional savoir-faire wraps other styles in undulating ribbons of precious metal and gemstones, and emerald-cut yellow sapphires are all aglow like Place Vendôme in sunlight.