In-Depth Living With The Chanel J12

Despite the number of times we’ve looked at Chanel’s watchmaking, we have somehow managed to (mostly) miss the J12 – a strange omission when you consider the importance of the J12 in modern watch design and for Chanel. In 2020,  Chanel’s Nicolas Beau told The New York Times, that the J12 was ” … the vast part of our [watch] business, not far from two-thirds.” Writing about watchmaking at Chanel without ever actually trying on a J12 – and without ever actually wearing one for any length of time – is a bit like writing about Rolex without ever touching or wearing a Submariner; you can do it but there are excellent odds you are going to miss something. After wearing a J12 on and off, in my own daily rotation, for several months, I feel that there is much more to the watch than you might think, especially once you’ve worn it long enough for the invisible but omnipresent veneer of “fashion watch” to wear off.