Watch

Chanel Premi??re Tourbillon Volant Watch Hands-On

Limited to just 20 pieces, this can be a Chanel Unisex Watch timepiece you are likely to never actually see in person. I did though, and I am happy to share some views of this award winning high-end watch for women. Even though it wasn’t made for my wrist, I still find it to be a very pretty timepiece.

Produced being an homage to the original Chanel Première watch collection from Twenty five years ago, the Première Tourbillon Volant is a beautifully-designed rectangular-shaped watch with a case that's made to look a bit like a baguette-cut stone. The situation shape is adapted in the original Première collection, but made a bit larger of course. Inside the watch is a special flying tourbillon movement which was produced by Renaud & Papi, continuing Chanel’s relationship with the mostly Audemars Piguet owned specialty movement maker and designer.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQVBbaXEkYM]

The caseback shows this also:

The Chanel Première Tourbillon Volant made [watch] news again recently because it was voted the best ladies watch of 2012 in the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve (GPHG), which is like the Oscar’s of the watch industry. Because of the piece’s extreme price and exclusivity, I don’t think so many people are going to run out and buy one. It will however give Chanel some bragging rights – as its more mainstream J12 watches (typically for women) would not likely ever be identified by the mostly super high-end award show. With that said, Chanel hasn’t traditionally had many problems selling J12 watches.

The Première Tourbillon Volant comes in an 18k white gold case that is 37mm tall by 28.5mm wide. It has a load of diamonds all over it. The bezel has 3.9 carats of diamonds on it comprised of 38 baguette-cut stones and 52 brilliant-cut ones. The rest of the case has an additional 3 carats of 47 baguette-cut diamonds. More diamonds exist around the 18k white gold clasp, the crown, as well as on the tip of the flower-style flying tourbillon cage. Oh, and don’t your investment diamonds on the actual hands – you don’t see that very often.

In honor of what made Chanel watches so popular, the dial of the Première Tourbillon Volant is performed with a piece of polished black ceramic. Note how the sapphire crystal over the dial has beveled edges. Things i like about the watch is that despite the fact it is heavily about being covered in diamonds, it does not appear that way at first glance. The mostly minimalist dial is stark and attractive, focusing on the hands and tourbillon. While they do have diamonds, it is not intended to be a blindingly shiny timepiece. Once you look at the case from other angles, then you definitely start to see the delicate stone work.

The tourbillon “flower” should be a camellia, which apparently was Coco’s favorite flower. It is quite nice looking and is a solid effort at “feminizing” the tourbillon. The Chanel Watches Black Ceramic Première Tourbillon Volant is not what I would call a girl’s watch. It's a handsome ladies watch with a lot of elegance and sense of high-stature. Precisely the type of thing the luxury industry likes. Contemplate it a watch for a mature, successful woman that has already left her footprints on this planet. Now she just has to obtain the hang of reading the time about this watch. More details from Chanel here.