Watches and Wonders
Deep Impact: Chanel Debuts the J12 Bleu X-Ray and the J12 Bleu Sapphires at Watches and Wonders
The J12 Bleu didn’t come to Geneva to be a wallflower or an afterthought. On the contrary, it came to stand out – to make an impact. Enter: The J12 Bleu X-Ray Watch and the J12 Bleu Sapphires.
By Barbara Palumbo
Contributor
For those who dig Chanel’s classic J12 but want something “extra” in terms of color, the new J12 Bleu in either 33mm or 38mm will feel like a godsend.
However, for those who actually are “extra” already, there are also a few options: the previously discussed J12 Bleu Diamond Tourbillon or the J12 Bleu X-Ray Watch and the J12 Bleu Sapphires.
The J12 Bleu X-Ray
Standing out is no problem with the J12 Bleu X-Ray Watch because, unlike every other novelty in the new J12 Bleu collection, the Bleu X-Ray isn’t crafted from ceramic. Instead, the case and bracelet for this model were sculpted from a single block of synthetic blue sapphire crystal and accentuated with blackened 18K white gold.
The 12-piece limited edition also features a blue sapphire crystal caseback, a fixed bezel set with forty-six baguette-cut blue sapphires, a sapphire crystal dial set with twelve baguette-cut blue sapphires, and one-hundred-thirty-eight baguette-cut blue sapphires on the sapphire and blackened white gold bracelet. Its beauty is accentuated by a floating bridge in colorless sapphire, embellished with twelve baguette-cut bright blue natural sapphires as indicators.
The skeletonized 38mm watch is equipped with the caliber 3.1 Chanel manufacture manual-winding mechanical movement that boasts a 55-hour power reserve.
The J12 Bleu Sapphires
Finally, for the last watches of the J12 Bleu series debuting at the 2025 edition of Watches and Wonders, Chanel introduced the J12 Bleu 42mm Sapphires watch and the J12 Bleu 28mm Sapphires watch.
Each of these two timepieces has been crafted in the same deep matte blue ceramic as the J12 Bleu classic editions, only this time comes with a little extra: the bezel and bracelet also contain baguette-cut blue sapphires (and a whole hell of a lot of them).
The contrast between the light-reflecting bright blue sapphires and the scratch-resistant dark matte material that primarily makes up the case and bracelet is attractive yet not overpowering. It’s a yin/yang situation that works brilliantly from an aesthetics standpoint without compromising its ability to keep great time.
The larger of the two editions clocks in (pun intended) at 42mm in diameter (hence its official name) and contains the Swiss Kenissi Manufacture 12.1 movement, which is COSC-certified and has a 70-hour power reserve. The smaller version of this model is 28mm in diameter and contains a high-precision quartz movement (not unlike other J12 editions in the smaller sizes).
Both are limited to twelve pieces and contain a single white round brilliant diamond on the crown. For more information, including pricing, check out Chanel’s website.