The New Matte Blue Ceramic Chanel J12 Bleu Collection

Twenty-five years ago, Chanel launched the J12 in black ceramic. Although brands like Rado and IWC had already produced ceramic watches, Chanel’s watch transformed ceramic into a precious material. An immediate hit, another unique facet of the watch was its unisex appeal. Designed by Chanel’s former artistic director Jacques Hélleu, the sleek, dark, sporty J12 was followed up with an all-white ceramic J12 in 2003. Following Chanel’s acquisition of a stake in the Swiss Kenissi manufacture, the French fashion house powers its time-only J12s with its proprietary automatic COSC-certified calibre 12.1. Often considered the most influential fashion watch, the J12 celebrates its quarter-century of life as the new J12 Bleu hits the catwalk with a matte blue ceramic ensemble.

High-tech ceramic offers wearers many advantages thanks to its scratch-resistant, lightweight, silky smooth, and hypoallergenic properties, but it isn’t easy to produce and confect in homogenous colours. It took five years of research to develop the unique blue hue Chanel selected for its J12 collection. Described by Chanel’s director of watchmaking, Arnaud Chastaingt, as a “blue that is nearly black or a black that is nearly blue”, the enigmatic colour is featured on the new 38mm edition of the J12.

Two limited editions of the 38mm J12 Bleu are being presented. Both share the same case and bracelet build, which is composed of matte, black-coated steel elements with matte blue ceramic. The fixed, notched black-coated steel bezels have a matte blue ceramic insert with wedges emulating baguette-cut stones. Retaining its sporty credentials, the steel screw-down crown with its blue ceramic cabochon and discreet crown guards ensures a 200m water-resistance.

Other shared features include the proprietary COSC chronometer-certified automatic calibre 12.1 with an openworked rotor with a circle and a robust 70-hour power reserve.

Where the two limited edition models differ can be appreciated in the dial and movement. The first features a blue varnished dial with 12 blue baguette-cut sapphire indices and does not have a date window. The second also has a blue-varnished dial but glossy black varnished Arabic numerals and a date window at 4:30. Both share black baton hour and minute hands with luminescent inserts, small luminous plots above the hours and a central seconds hand with a lumed arrow-shaped tip. Slightly recessed, the central area of the dial has a black railway-style track and a crosshair.

The openworked rotor on the model with blue sapphire indices is coated in dark material, while the rotor of the J12 with Arabic numerals is not. We await confirmation regarding the number of watches in each limited edition and the price. More information at chanel.com.