J12 PARADOX
Black.
White.
Ceramics.
In 2000, in its black ceramic dress, white in 2003, the J12 watch revolutionized the world of watchmaking. It was crowned the first watchmaking icon of the 21st century.
From the moment it was born, the J12 has been shaking things up.
Twenty years later, it has lost none of its impertinence.
Black? White? In 2020, the J12 no longer wants to choose.
For the first time, black and white meet and merge.
Without mixing. To create a line, a paradox.
A silhouette. A look.
The J12 Paradox combines light with mystery. Day and night.
With its secret sleeve effect, it reveals itself beneath the seam of a jacket, the fold of a blouse, the line of a wrist.
Its unique aesthetic is a real technical challenge, based on the cutting and combination of two different-sized ceramic squares, one white, the other black, joined to form a single case.
Scratchproof, ceramic is not effortless to cut. It’s an unexpectedly complex operation. Ensuring a perfect cut – without breaking the material – requires special expertise, fully mastered by the Manufacture de CHANEL in Switzerland.
These two parts are then assembled on a metal support into which the back crystal is chased. A meticulous task imagined for the J12 Paradoxe, the manufacture of which also requires the shaping of specific two-tone elements: the dial and the bezel.
The pad-printed dial is covered entirely in white, then in black on the right-hand side.
The bezel ring is pad-printed first in black, then in white for a two-tone effect. Yet the black has to be restrained, fading away to create the perfect alignment with the white ceramic bracelet’s vanishing line.
The two-tone identity of the J12 Paradoxe stands out completely when the watch is viewed from the front. By anamorphosis, the demarcation between black and white is perfect.
Black and white within the same creation.
Black against white. White against black.
J12 Paradoxe Diamants
Case, bezel and dial in high-resistance black ceramic and 18-carat white gold.
Box set with 40 baguette-cut diamonds (~2.22 carats).
Bezel set with 26 baguette-cut diamonds (~1.74 carat).
18-carat white gold crown set with a brilliant-cut diamond (~ 0.14 carat).
Dial set with 21 baguette-cut diamonds (~0.44 carat).
18-carat white gold hands.
High-resistance black ceramic bracelet with 18-carat white gold triple folding clasp.
Calibre 12.1: self-winding Manufacture movement, chronometer-certified by the COSC*.
*Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute
Power reserve of approx. 70 hours.
Water resistance: 50 meters.
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds.
Diameter: 38 mm.
Diamonds: 87 baguette-cut diamonds (~4.4 carats) and 1 brilliant-cut diamond (~0.14 carat).
J12 X-RAY
In the year 2000, the J12 watch stunned the watchmaking world.
Dressed in black ceramic, then white in 2003, it transforms this high-resistance material into a precious commodity, making black and white a permanent part of the watchmaking code. The first watch icon of the 21st century was an immediate success.
In 2020, the J12 watch is twenty years old, and no one is going to say it’s not the best age of all. Without denying its past, it’s freeing itself from the color codes that made it such a triumph. It undergoes an X-ray.
It abolishes black, transcends white and surpasses color by choosing transparency. The new J12 X-RAY watch displays its horological clarity in a novel sapphire case that lets you admire the purity of its forms.
Equipped with a new movement designed and assembled by Manufacture CHANEL – Calibre 3.1 – the J12 X-RAY relies on transparency. The plate, minute track bridge and gear bridge are made of sapphire. They fade away to let the light through, revealing an embroidered lacework of cogs. Each of these components measures between 0.5 and 1mm thick. Assembling the movement requires the delicacy, patience and expertise of master watchmakers. An operation that lasts a full week.
The dial is also sapphire, set with baguette-cut diamond hour markers. Twelve diamonds that seem to be in suspension.
For the first time in history, a watch also comes with a bracelet whose links have all been cut from raw sapphire.
A technical feat.
A world first.
The luminous bezel is paved with baguette-cut diamonds totaling 5.46 carats. The dazzling crown is topped with a diamond cabochon. Noble, the hands and set buckle are, as they should be, in white gold.
In a limited edition of just 12 pieces, the J12 X-RAY watch ushers in a new era in the history of color.
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