Chanel’s new chain-belt watch links the past to the present
Like the house’s storied tweed suits, quilted handbags and two-tone slingbacks, a decorative chain belt is one of Chanel’s signatures. The first models were created by founder Coco Chanel in the 1930s, but it wasn’t until Karl Lagerfeld sent his swaggy versions down the runway in the ’90s that they entered fashion’s hall of fame — and popular culture.
Supermodels like Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer paraded gleaming waist jewelry on the catwalk, draped over everything from evening gowns and bodysuits to shorts.
Reenvisioned every season, the accessory never goes out of style: Rihanna rocked a multichain iteration in her 2012 video for her hit song “Pour It Up,” and more recently wore a vintage variation with ripped blue jeans for her pregnancy-reveal photos in 2022.
Like clockwork, the maison has released a collectable new design this season. Chanel’s limited-edition sautoir belt in yellow-gold-coated steel features a working Première watch, the company’s first timepiece.
The octagonal case with a sleek black-lacquer dial is beveled and shaped like a N°5 perfume bottle — one of the most iconic silhouettes in the fragrance world — while the slender chain is interlaced with leather. Chanel is always ahead of its time.
