Watches & Wonders Edit: Chanel’s Interstellar collection reimagines the Parisian maison’s classic timepieces with futuristic forms, from the Mademoiselle J12 Cosmic to the rare Lion Astroclock

Apr 11 , 2023

Chanel Lion Astroclock, part of the Interstellar collection. Photos: Chanel

Chanel is looking to the stars once again for its unisex Interstellar collection, drawing inspiration from robotics and circuit boards, to the shapes of heavenly bodies

The J12 Cybernetic has a striking pixelated motif and the Mademoiselle J12 Cosmic boasts a starry night effect, while the limited-edition Lion Astroclock is inspired by Coco Chanel’s star sign

Chanel has set out on a journey to the stars. The storied Parisian maison has taken the world of space travel as a source of inspiration in the past – see its dazzling rocket ship-fuelled autumn/winter 2017 show, for example – but it’s really excelled for 2023 with the Interstellar collection, which draws on everything from robotics to circuit boards to the shapes of heavenly bodies to reimagine a series of classic Chanel timepieces in stunning new space age forms.

Prominent in the collection are numerous new interpretations of the J12, the gender-neutral, ceramic line that helped to cement Chanel’s horological reputation when it was first released at the turn of the millennium. The J12 X-Ray line, for example, gets sprinkled with some space dust with the X-Ray Star, which features a total of 197 diamonds and comes in a limited edition of 12.

Mademoiselle J12 Cosmic timepiece from the Interstellar collection.

The Mademoiselle J12 Cosmic boasts a feminine silhouette in a black evening dress on its dial, which is animated by the Calibre 12.1. The dial comes to life at night, recreating the effect of a starry night, emphasised by the 18k white gold fixed bezel set with 46 baguette-cut diamonds that total around 5.46 carats.

The Monsieur de Chanel Tourbillon Meteorite, meanwhile, features the maison’s emblematic lion set within the tourbillon cage, and demonstrates the Monsieur watch’s first flying tourbillon movement with the in-house Calibre 5.1.

Even more visually striking, the J12 Cybernetic and Hyper Cybernetic come with a futuristic pixelated motif on the right side of the dial, in diamonds on the latter. The Hyper Cybernetic’s matte black ceramic and 18k white gold case is set with 116 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling around 0.55 carats.

The Lucky Star and Hyper Lucky Star renditions of the much-loved Première collection come with a star-shaped charm attached; while the Première Camélia X-ray recreates the most iconic of Chanel motifs with its movement; and the Première X-ray boasts alternating links of sapphire and white gold set with diamonds in a delicate snow-setting. The 18k white gold caseback iteration is limited to just 10 pieces.

In keeping with the maison’s long-standing astrological inspiration, the Lion Astroclock pays tribute to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s star sign, Leo. A brass lion sculpture is topped by a glass sphere, with the clock’s hour hands shaped like comets and set with 11 diamonds. There are just five of these clocks in existence, and each one is numbered.