Chanel's latest jewellery launch is Camélia, which focuses on Mademoiselle Chanel's favourite flower, which has become a recurring motif in the maison's creations from couture to handbags, from shoes to jewels, from packaging to makeup.
The Origins of an Obsession
But where did Gabrielle Chanel's fascination with the camellia flower originate? Firstly, it is important to understand that Coco, as she was known to her friends, was highly superstitious. Her precarious start to life, brought up by nuns in an orphanage is a tale of rags to riches. Coco, who gained the nickname during her early career as a cabaret performer, changed her fate thanks to her charm, quick wit and mercurial talent for design. In her mind, success was bound to luck, so she held on to talismans, symbols and any item that held a special meaning for her.
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In her Rue Cambon apartment in Paris, bronze statues of lions (she was a Leo), big and small, were strategically placed on coffee tables, shelves and in nooks. Her lucky number 5 became her best selling perfume, and stars and comets adorned buttons and brooches. The camellia, originally from China, gained popularity during Europe's fascination with all things oriental, as witnessed by Gabrielle's love of Chinese coromandel lacquer screens and the camellia flower.
The flower first entered her life when at the age of 13, she watched Sarah Bernhardt perform in Alexander Dumas' play The Lady of the Camellias. Bernhardt's character, the courtesan Marguerite, wore white camellias that were a symbol of love and purity, a detail not lost on Gabrielle Chanel, who was forging an identity for herself amongst the elite of France.
Gabrielle Chanel made the camellia her own and from 1913 onwards was seen wearing silk versions on her belt, as a brooch or on her lapel. Her fascination with the flower was reinforced by a gift of the exotic flowers from her English lover Arthur 'Boy' Capel, who tragically died in a car crash. What's more, the camellia has no thorns and is scentless, preventing it from interfering with the fragrance of her famous No. 5 perfume that filled the air of her apartment and boutique.
Camélia: A Contemporary Expression
The heirs to Chanel's design legacy are faithful to her predilection for the elegant symmetry of the white camellia. The soft round silhouette of the petals and its pleasing geometry are crystallised in three new designs: Camélia Bloom, Bouton de Camélia and Extrait de Camélia.
Camélia Bloom
Camélia Bloom is a plastron or bib-style necklace (main image) made up of four tiers of gold chains, punctuated by diamonds and cinched by a diamond-paved camellia flower. Available in white or yellow gold, it is the most striking of the three designs.
Bouton de Camélia
This line combines the warmth of rose gold with diamond settings in delicate and highly feminine designs that include a choker, bracelet, pendant, earrings (above), and rings (top) of a single camellia bloom.
Extrait de Camélia
Available in yellow or rose gold, these dainty bracelets (above) set with a single diamond, are ideal for wearing daily, on their own, or in a stack.
The new Camélia jewels are unmistakably Chanel, an accomplished modern interpretation of a symbol, freighted with meaning for Gabrielle Chanel, that has endured for over a century.
