“I didn’t want this N ° 5 Haute Joaillerie collection to be just a tribute,” said Patrice Leguéreau, director of the Atelier de Création de Haute Joaillerie Chanel, du Parisien Housethe first jewelry from designed with its iconic scent in mind. “I conceived it as an immersive experience,” he says, “a journey into what constitutes the soul and the secrets of perfume N ° 5. A fashion pioneer, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel created the perfume in 1921 to offer a perfume for the modern woman. It was the first of its kind by a fashion house. It has remained a staple in women’s beauty practices around the world a century after its debut.

To capture the essence of perfume at its literal roots, Leguéreau visited fields of flowers and plants in Grasse, home to Chanel’s perfume headquarters, with the brand’s in-house perfumer, Olivier Polge. These scent notes, along with key design elements such as the bottle, cap and number, have become benchmarks for the new line of ornate jewelry.

Some of these references in the 123-piece collection are quite straightforward, such as a 55.5-karat diamond necklace fashioned with the iconic bottle as the centerpiece and a pair of diamond chandelier earrings, one of which drops from ‘a number five. Others offer a more nuanced approach. The Bubbly Stopper bracelet in white and yellow gold, seen here, is set with a 47.06 carat emerald-cut imperial topaz, a color that evokes the amber notes of the perfume, punctuated with cultured pearls that mimic tiny droplets of liquid.

Chanel jewelry has more than a few visual cues to play with; pearls, quilted bags, double C and tweed have become synonymous with the elegant and cultured style of founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel. But this year, on the occasion of the centenary of Chanel n ° 5, taking inspiration from the brand’s signature perfume for inspiration was, shall we say, right on the nose.