New York—Chanel is set to open the doors on its first store in the United States dedicated solely to fine jewelry and watches.
The store is located in the historic Crown Building at 730 Fifth Ave. in New York, alongside Bulgari, Chopard and Mikimoto, and directly across the street from “The Landmark,” Tiffany & Co.’s recently renovated flagship.
New York-based architect Peter Marino, whose jewelry store credits include the new Tiffany flagship store, designed the Chanel watch and jewelry boutique, drawing on two main sources of inspiration.
First is 18 Place Vendôme, the Paris address that is home to Chanel’s high jewelry workshop, creation studios, and its flagship jewelry and watch boutique.
Second, and most importantly according to Chanel, is brand founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and her love for art and decoration, her lucky number (No. 5, of course), and the interiors of her apartment at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris.
Framed by the Beaux-Arts architecture of the Crown Building, which was erected as the Heckscher Building in 1921, the exterior of Chanel’s U.S. jewelry and watch boutique features black granite and gold-colored bronze screens positioned behind a façade of iron and glass.
Inside, the boutique occupies two floors, a total of 3,300 square feet of retail space.
On the first floor are two fine jewelry showrooms with double-height ceilings, as well as a watch salon featuring a 13-panel gold leaf on linen canvas wall collage custom-made for Chanel by Iranian American painter Y.Z. Kami.
Among the works of art in the new store is Brazilian artist Vik Muniz’s 2004 portrait “Chanel, Pictures of Diamonds,” which was created using diamond dust.
The second floor houses two more fine jewelry salons, one of which is reserved for private clients, as well as a black painted wood wall piece by American sculptor Louise Nevelson, and a tempera, metal, and wood panel by Norwegian abstract expressionist painter Anna-Eva Bergman.
Also on display in the boutique is a commissioned 2004 work from Brazilian artist and photographer Vik Muniz that depicts Coco’s face covered in jewels; it is titled, “Chanel, Pictures of Diamonds.”
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Chanel said the boutique will house its “Coco Crush,” “Camélia,” “Comète,” and “No. 5” fine jewelry collections, as well as the “J12” watch collection.
Chanel will offer engraving for Coco Crush rings at the store, a service it said will be available only in New York.
To mark the opening of its first dedicated fine jewelry and watch store in the U.S., the brand said it will offer exclusive designs and pre-launches, including “Eternal No. 5,” a high jewelry collection made specifically for the store’s launch, and “Lion Solaire de Chanel,” a high jewelry collection inspired by Coco’s zodiac sign, Leo.
In addition, the necklace Chanel made in 2021 that mimics the shape of the Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle—which is centered on a 55.55-carat D flawless diamond—will be shipped from Paris for the store’s grand opening.
The Chanel watch and jewelry store is set to open Friday.
