Curations: Chanel spins 90s electronic music culture into vivid designs for its Electro watch collection

For its new capsule collection of timepieces, Chanel reimagined four of its signature watch models with the vibrant aesthetics and energy of the 1990s electronic music scene.

Arnaud Chastaingt, director of the maison’s Watchmaking Creation Studio, tapped into the pulsating sounds and graphic visuals of this nightlife culture to create the Chanel Electro line, which was unveiled at this spring’s Watches and Wonders fair.

“I conceived this capsule collection like a performance programme, inviting our classics – the Première, J12, Boy.Friend and Code Coco – to perform side by side on this stage, drawing their inspiration from the codes of this world,” Chastaingt says.

Here’s how the world of electronic music plays out in each design, from pops of neon colours to a diamond-studded robot motif.

Première Electro

The Première was Chanel’s very first watch, which debuted in 1987. The design features an octagonal case shape that resembles a bird’s-eye view of the Place Vendôme, the famous square in the heart of Paris, as well as the stopper in a bottle of the maison’s iconic N°5 perfume.

Now, Chastaingt has reinvented the look of the watch to evoke the atmosphere inside a dance club, where coloured lights pierce through the dark.

The Première Electro has a chain bracelet made of blackened steel, which is interwoven with a multicoloured leather strap to make for a striking contrast. The watch runs on a high-precision quartz movement and is limited to just 555 pieces.

J12 Electro