Tweed de Chanel 2023 – fabric that becomes a jewel

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For this new High Jewellery collection dedicated to Tweed, I wanted to go further in the interpretation by creating a real fabric of precious stones, light and elastic.

Patrice Leguéreau, Chanel Fine Jewelry Creation Studio Director

A landscape, its roughness and a love story. Mademoiselle Chanel discovered the wilderness of Scotland in the 1920s during her liaison with the Duke of Westminster.

Mademoiselle borrowed the Duke’s tweed jackets and reinterpreted them in her collections. Named after the River Tweed on the Scottish Border, this warm and comfortable fabric is woven in countless variations by the Scots. It is the softest protection to face the lashing harshness of the Scottish climate. Thus was born one of the most essential and characterizing elements of the vocabulary of the CHANEL style.

In 2020, the tweed entered the world of CHANEL high jewellery with a collection of 45 unique pieces for the first time entirely dedicated to this fabric.

With “TWEED DE CHANEL“, inspired by the richness of tweed textures and transforming it into a precious fabric, Patrice Leguéreau, Director of the Chanel Fine Jewelry Creation Studio, opened a new chapter in CHANEL High Jewelry: “I wanted to present the fabric that was so central to the Chanel universe, and which became the inspiration for a jewellery collection for the first time. […] Being the starting point for a jewellery collection is exceptional for a fabric.” 

In 2023, Patrice Leguéreau returns to the magic of tweed for the second time with the daring collection of 63 new High Jewellery pieces: “My dream was to create a tweed set with precious stones. […] I wanted to go further with the concept to give a precise place to this exceptional fabric within the High Jewellery Heritage. The idea was to go deeper into the material, to go into detail.”

This collection unveils five new weaves of tweed jewellery in five different themed colours and is adorned with five icons dear to Gabrielle Chanel. 

The White Ribbon celebrates lightness, flexibility, movement and curves, using pearls, diamonds and white gold. The Pink Camellia opens into a joyful world of sapphires and joints. The Star explores blue in its shades, from onyx to sapphire to lapis lazuli, with tiny stars scattered across the tweed, like embroidery. The Sun is shining, with more opulent and daring jewels in gold and a multitude of yellow gems. Finally, Leo shows off its undisputed power in a world where the dominant energy of red creates a rich and flamboyant tweed. 

The savoir-faire of the Maison’s master goldsmiths showcases the materials of the new “TWEED DE CHANEL” collection in frames that have been reinvented to highlight all the beauty of the stones, using tiny hinges, rings and joints in gold and platinum threads that give softness and comfort to each creation. Thus, the weave of the tweed remains frayed and lightened.

Graphic and symmetrical, the collection is designed and studied to give life to real fabric jewels – the interweaving of gold, pearls and precious stones, the variety of sizes of gems and the play of textures recreate the soft and structured thickness of tweed. 

Diamonds and precious stones of exceptional quality, the craftsmanship and savoir-faire of the Chanel Fine Jewelry Creation Studio, and a design that transcends fashion give a creative freedom beyond all limits. A freedom that, expressed in two High Jewellery collections, allows CHANEL to compose a true celebration of its iconic fabric: the tweed. 

THE FIVE CHAPTERS OF THE “TWEED DE CHANEL” COLLECTION 

TWEED RUBAN

Present in CHANEL’s Haute Couture collections from the beginning, both as a closure and as an embellishment, the ribbon is a feature of the “TWEED DE CHANEL” collection. Adding softness to the texture, it highlights its weave and creates a monochromatic, ultra-soft, openwork tweed sparkling with cultured pearls and diamonds set in white gold.

TWEED PASTEL

Rows of diamonds create a precious weave evoking the criss-cross weave of the fabric, highlighted by the brilliance of the oval-cut diamonds of the necklace, bracelet and ring.

TWEED RUBAN

In a graphic evocation of tweed, the motif of this set focuses on the woolly texture and lightness of the fabric. Delicate and sober, the weave here combines the purity of white gold with that of diamonds.

TWEED PERLÉ

In this set, a flowing woven tweed ribbon with loops and pearls can be worn as a brooch or a pendant on a chain. In a more stylized version, it adorns earrings and a necklace that can be worn long or short or as a bracelet.

TWEED MADEMOISELLE

While the texture of tweed is visible, its texture is evoked by central stones of different shapes and sizes emerging between alternating rows of diamonds.

TWEED CAMÉLIA

An icon of Gabrielle Chanel’s style for the emancipated woman, the camellia is also a symbol of delicacy and distinction. For the “TWEED DE CHANEL” collection, the geometric perfection of the camellia flower is engraved in rose gold embroidery set with powder pink and fuchsia sapphires on a structured texture. Playing with transparencies and contrasts, this fabric does not compromise on its elegance.

TWEED PETALE

At the beginning regular, the weave of the tweed opens, following a skilful rhythm, to adorn the plastron of the necklace in pink sapphires and diamonds, while the earrings and ring offer a more sober and contrasting interpretation.

TWEED CAMÉLIA

The camellia appears in a remarkable play of contrasts: a regular weave in rose gold enriched with shaped stones and camellias is edged by a cascade of pink sapphires on which a camellia blooms in a diamond lace for a unique necklace.

TWEED POUDRÉ

Hinted at on the necklace, ring and earrings, the precious stone tweed appears in all its finesse on the brooch: an openwork camellia in a game of weaves, which can also be worn as a pendant on a chain.

TWEED DENTELLE

Set that loves contrasts. One of the rings is classic and plays on symmetry, while the other is double and has a more modern design.

TWEED ÉTOILE

Emblem of “Bijoux de Diamants”, the first and only High Jewellery collection created by Gabrielle Chanel in 1932, the comet motif is eternally modern, endowed with a powerful and mysterious aesthetic power. The “TWEED DE CHANEL” Collection interprets the depths of the starry sky through a great density of precious stones in bold shades: the black and blue weave is embellished with yellow diamonds and sapphires, like a night sky studded with tiny stars.

TWEED ASTRAL

A tweed of sapphires and diamonds where the central stones evoke the stars. A stunning emerald-cut yellow diamond illuminates the necklace, while the ring is embellished with an intense oval-cut blue sapphire.

TWEED ÉTOILÉ

Small stars shine on the tweed as a background in this set, as on the long necklace, around a central stone that illuminates the blue and black weave. 

TWEED CÉLESTE

The midnight blue of the sapphires and the depths of onyx emphasize the sparkle of the intertwined diamonds, while a pear-cut diamond adds the finishing touch to this ethereal necklace. 

TWEED SOLEIL

From her apartment on rue Cambon to her Haute Couture collections, Gabrielle Chanel’s world is punctuated by images of the sun, inextricably linked to Leo, her zodiac sign. In the “TWEED DE CHANEL” collection, the sun shines in a shimmering tweed that alternates large volumes with transparencies. The precious stones in the yellow gold weave form a dazzling evocation of Byzantine and Venetian magnificence.

TWEED CAMBON

The combination of yellow gold, platinum, diamonds and rock crystal – like the pendants that recall the chandeliers of the apartment on rue Cambon – creates a tweed of sparkling crystalline purity. The sun motif can be detached from the plastron necklace worn as a brooch, on a  thin chain or a ring.

TWEED BYZANCE

The brooch’s sun motif, which combines yellow beryls and white diamonds, creates a subtle play of light. On the bracelet, the precious stones are set like embroidery, composing geometric patterns of Byzantine inspiration.

TWEED SOLAIRE

The sun symbol allows for interpretations in dazzling colour palettes and resplendent designs. On the ring, yellow beryls add volume and transparency by wrapping around an imperial topaz in the centre.

TWEED LION

Majestic, fearless and instinctive, the lion, Gabrielle Chanel’s zodiac sign, becomes her symbol. Later, it would also become the emblem of CHANEL High Jewelry. For the “TWEED DE CHANEL” collection, the gemstone tweed is inspired by the lion to adorn itself with vibrant shades of red, orange and sunny yellows, creating intense textures intertwined with chains and embellished with roaring motifs as precious as they are sensorial.

TWEED GABRIELLE

This set is inspired by the lion so dear to Gabrielle Chanel. On the necklace and bracelet, an important spessartite garnet is set in the centre of a tweed in shades of red and orange, intertwined with yellow gold and platinum, yellow sapphires and garnets.

TWEED LION

The lion is associated with fiery hues that express its ferocity and power. Created in a white and yellow gold tweed with rubies, spessartites, yellow sapphires, spinels and diamonds, the lion’s head motif can be worn as a brooch or necklace. The earrings and ring take up the same motif in a version embellished with marquise-cut rubies.

TWEED ROYAL

This set is the masterpiece of the “TWEED DE CHANEL” collection. The bracelet can be divided into two, one in a tweed of precious stones, the other in ruby grains embellished with the lion motif, to be worn together or separately, just like the open ring, whose two motifs can also be worn together or separately. Finely crafted and finished with a chain, the yellow-gold texture of the plastron necklace is set with diamonds and rubies. The lion’s head in the centre can be detached from the necklace to be worn as a brooch, while the magnificent pear-cut diamond that adorns it can be removed to be worn as a ring.