Gabrielle Chanel was a creature of contrasts: there was Mademoiselle Chanel of the sumptuous baroque, of rococo mirrors and dazzling jewelry, a playful, unrestrained Coco; but there was also Gabrielle Chanel of the little black dress, of the severe cut, of rigour in black and white.

Out of this dialogue between ostentation and austerity, the fine jewelry that she created all her life was unparalleled in its insistence on luxury and refinement, drawing inspiration from tradition without ever being the slave of everyday formulas or market values.

Based on archival research and interviews with Chanel’s colleagues and witnesses to her life and career, this book is the first to set in relief her passion for fabulous jewels, for exceptional stones, for improbable marvels, that should be considered ‘with innocence, with naivety, like enjoying an apple tree in blossom along the road as we speed by in a car’.

She was a creature of contrasts: there was the Chanel of rococo mirrors and playful jewellery; but also the Chanel of the tailored suit, of the utmost restraint; of classicism à la française.
The jewellery that Chanel created presents one of the least-known aspects of her work: in complement to her ‘costume jewellery’, she invented jewellery that was unparalleled in luxury and refinement and unfettered in its imagination.

Using illustrations and documents, many of them previously unpublished, and based on archival research and interviews with Chanel’s colleagues and other witnesses of her life and career, this book presents her passion for fabulous jewels and improbable marvels.