Chanel Watches & Fine Jewellery president Frédéric Grangié delves into the Reach for the Stars high jewellery collection

The wing motif can also be traced back to one of Gabrielle Chanel’s lesser‑known creative episodes: her brief but formative time as a costume designer in Hollywood in the late 1920s to early ’30s. Invited by film industry mogul Samuel Goldwyn to design for the silver screen, she was responsible for costumes in films such as Tonight or Never. “Patrice was very intrigued and influenced by the way she designed dresses for the big screen because she had a Parisian couture take on Hollywood glamour,” said Grangié.

“She wanted winged silhouettes. The dresses were very, very light—silk, muslin. The sleeves, when you walked and with movement, became almost like wings, and the focus was on the naked back. It was very different from what anybody was doing in Hollywood,” Grangié explained, adding that she was also struck by how jewellery was treated on screen—rivers of diamonds designed to catch the light. It left an impression that would inform her own jewellery creations, most notably her first high jewellery collection, Bijoux de Diamants, launched in 1932. “Patrice felt there was a connection between that short time in Hollywood and the way she approached high jewellery,” said Grangié. “Bijoux de Diamants was revolutionary and when you think about it, it has a movie quality to it.”

This couture influence and cinematic spirit course through Reach for the Stars. “From the very beginning, this collection was about high jewellery as a dress code,” Grangié added. “Some of the Y‑shaped necklaces, when you look at them, they’re almost like one‑shoulder dresses. It’s very couture and one of our greatest collections ever.”

With the introduction of the wing as a new house code in high jewellery, Leguéreau not only honoured Gabrielle Chanel’s vision, but also took it to new heights. The motif anchors The Elegance of Wings theme and takes flight spectacularly in the Wings of Chanel necklace, a star creation of the collection. Crafted in platinum and white gold, the necklace features diamond‑set wings that unfurl gracefully around the neck, culminating in an exceptional 19.55‑carat cushion‑cut Padparadscha sapphire—its ethereal hue a delicate balance of pink and orange.

“Actually, the sunset in Kyoto last night was exactly these colours,” Grangié mused. “This is also something that Patrice had in mind. There’s an element of glamour in the sunrise and sunset—that specific time when light changes. It’s very ephemeral and perfect, and we wanted to express that with this collection. So this incredible gem is very important.” From this centre stone extends a long, detachable pendant that can also be worn as a bracelet, offering the wearer versatility and transformation in true Chanel fashion.

The motif finds exquisite expression too in the set of Five Wings brooches, created in collaboration with renowned Kyoto‑based maki‑e lacquer artisan Yoshio Okada. Each of the five brooches reimagines a wing through a unique lens, rendered in shimmering layers of lacquer and paired with vivid gemstones such as garnets, spinels and sapphires.

“Each brooch is a testament to the incredible savoir faire in Kyoto and the artistry of the Okada family, with whom we’ve been working for 10 years—first the father, now the son,” said Grangié. “They each truly encapsulate the quality of Kyoto’s craftsmanship and its imperial heritage, which has been part of the city’s history for hundreds of years.”

Among the five, Grangié revealed a personal favourite. “Patrice and I, we love cars,” he said with a smile. “And there’s one brooch I really love—the red one—because the feathers on it look almost like flames. When I see it, I think of custom sports cars, those Dr Dre‑style, highly tuned, low‑slung machines you see in Japan or Los Angeles.” Ablaze in crimson lacquer, and set with yellow sapphires and spessartite garnets, the brooch radiates a bold, dynamic energy. “It reminds me of that whole culture,” he added, “especially between here and Osaka, which is a major epicentre for tuning and drifting in Japan.”

While The Elegance of Wings captures the spirit of flight, The Comet’s Freedom to Shine explores the boundless wonder of the cosmos—Gabrielle Chanel’s enduring muse. This theme pays homage to the maison’s celestial codes through creations that glimmer like constellations.

One of its most captivating pieces is the Dreams Come True necklace, inspired by the long, sensual fall of a haute couture gown. Its graceful lines and sweeping silhouette evoke the elegance of a woman in motion, while black‑coated gold chains interlace with lace‑like streams of natural polished diamonds, creating a striking contrast that feels both timeless and modern. A diamond‑set comet motif at the heart of the necklace functions as a clasp, from which pendants, which can be removed if one wishes to wear the necklace in a shorter style, suspend.

For Grangié, it is a masterpiece that exemplifies what he calls the “golden triangle” at the heart of Chanel high jewellery. “To achieve high jewellery in its purest form, you must have a perfect balance of three things: a design that could only come from Chanel, the exceptional savoir faire of our atelier at 18 Place Vendôme and the rarest, most extraordinary gemstones. We never compromise on any of them,” he said. “This is a creation that can only be Chanel—black and white, this silhouette, with the comet motif—with D‑flawless diamonds, and 1,600 hours of work. That’s what we do.”

In the third and final theme of the collection, The Audacity of the Lion, cosmic wonder gives way to grounded strength. Here, Gabrielle Chanel’s astrological sign, Leo, becomes a powerful emblem of pride, protection and inner resolve. But true to the spirit of the house, the lion is not portrayed with overt ferocity, but with a graceful, almost regal restraint.

This inner strength finds majestic form in the Embrace Your Destiny necklace. With sculptural symmetry and a luminous presence, it features two facing profiles of winged lions with elongated silhouettes from which cascading lines of brilliant diamonds fall. At its centre, seemingly in the protective embrace of the felines, sits a pair of D‑flawless pear‑shaped diamonds. Again, true to Chanel’s spirit of transformation, the open necklace can be worn long as it is, or shorter simply by detaching the lines of diamonds for a more understated look.

For Chanel, Reach for the Stars is as much a tribute as it is a bold step forward. “To me, what we have here is an extraordinarily strong legacy,” said Grangié. “We’ll continue to build, always, but on these same foundations.” He shared that already, Chanel’s high jewellery division is planning years ahead, with themes mapped out through to 2032—the centenary of Gabrielle Chanel’s first high jewellery collection. “It’s not just a business; it’s a living patrimony,” Grangié explained. “Everything we show today has to still make sense 20, even 50 years from now.”

He added: “Over the life of a collection like this, only a few hundred people may see it up close, but tens of millions will encounter it through storytelling, photography and more. Jewellery speaks to something deep within us—it elevates everything.”

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