SIGNATURE LION COLLECTION

SIGNATURE LION COLLECTION Lion

Gabrielle Chanel was born under the sign of Leo, her birthdate 19 August 1883. Like the lion, Coco Chanel was majestic, instinctive, radiant, powerful and fiercely protective of the things that were hers.

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A profusion of white diamonds creates a handsome frontal lion, while carefully calculated volumes ensure the most flattering portrait. Handcrafted in white gold, this brooch represents Gabrielle Chanel’s zodiac sign, Leo.

In 1919, Gabrielle Chanel fled Paris to Venice, the city of the lion, devastated by the loss of her great love, Boy Capel. While there, under the watchful eye of the Lion of Venice, Coco found new inspiration and the courage to go on.

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The majestic, pavé diamond lion of this ring, handcrafted in white gold, stands boldly upon the summit of an internally flawless, custom Marquise­cut, 5.28-carat diamond of radiant and staggering beauty.

Throughout her life, Gabrielle Chanel kept figures of lions, the emblem that would be engraved upon the buttons of her tweed suits. Forever protecting Coco Chanel, the lion is the spirit of CHANEL High Jewellery.

“I’M A LEO AND LIKE HIM, I SHOW MY CLAWS TO PROTECT MYSELF, BUT, BELIEVE ME, I SUFFER MORE BY CLAWING THAN BEING CLAWED.”

— Gabrielle Chanel, Pierre Galante, Les Années Chanel, Ed. Mercure de France - 1972, p. 322

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A transformable lion necklace begins with a river of diamonds encircling the neck, creating a classic style when worn on its own. The detachable lion is added for a longer, bolder necklace, the Leo sign emblazoned with diamonds, amidst a constellation of pear­cut, oval­cut and cushion­cut diamonds handcrafted in white gold.

Working from an original design by the High Jewellery creative studio, a sculptor crafts the lion from clay, creating a majestic creature in motion, which is then cast in yellow gold. The lion stands on a base of quartz crystal and white diamonds, materials beloved by Gabrielle Chanel, while the paw of the lion protects a clock, enclosed in a clear crystal globe, with a dial paved in diamonds.

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This lion desk clock is an exceptional example of the savoir-faire process embraced by the High Jewellery atelier, with every element of the piece carried out entirely by hand.

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The majestic lion is carved into rutilated quartz, a powerful gemstone said to connect the physical world with the spiritual realm, and flecked with naturally occurring golden strands. One of the lion's paws rests majestically on a diamond star, as though, like Gabrielle Chanel, it has the universe in its hand. If you peer carefully through the lion’s crystalline body, you see a constellation crafted from gold, the celestial map of Leo, Coco Chanel's astrological sign. Finally, a cushion-cut, 32-carat yellow diamond marks the 1932 collection and the birth of CHANEL High Jewellery.

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Gabrielle Chanel in her apartment at 31 rue Cambon, with one of her omnipresent lion sculptures, 1957.