Coco Chanel’s beloved tweed finds its way to high jewellery

Chanel’s Tweed Couture necklace made in pink gold, platinum and set with sapphires, spinels and pearls

The oh-so quintessentially Chanel tweed has crossed over to the French house’s high jewellery designs and it is exquisite. The Tweed de Chanel collection, which was launched earlier in the year, made a stop in Hong Kong and we were fortunate to get a glimpse.

Chanel is known to draw jewellery inspirations from facets of its history – the Coromandel, Camelia, Sous le Signe du Lion and Plume, among others, come to mind – and it was just a matter of time before the maison looked to Gabrielle Coco Chanel’s much-loved tweed. Chances are, it didn’t happen sooner because it was no easy feat. Chanel’s craftsmen had to find a way to mould precious metals and stones into jewels that had the suppleness of handwoven Scottish woollen cloth, and they accomplish this through developing special articulation techniques that allowed movement in the pieces.

Credit: Chanel

And much like the rich textures of tweed, we see diamonds, pearls and sapphires layered and intertwined on several plains, fitted stunningly in necklaces, rings and bracelets. The collection is comprised of 45 jewels, each conceived to highlight the unique characteristics of tweed – its dimensionality and stunning geometry. Chanel’s craftsmen also painstakingly pared back settings to the absolute minimum to accomplish the litheness of the fabric. Definitely no stone was left unturned in creating this masterful collection.

Here are some of the pieces from Tweed de Chanel collection: