Creating something of lasting value can only emerge from a place of complete creative freedom, where imagination exists untouched by limitation. It is within that space that Gabrielle Chanel envisioned CHANEL High Jewelry, approaching each creation not simply as an ornament, but as an expression of an idea. “My jewelry represents an idea,” she famously declared, a philosophy that continues to define the House’s vision today. Refusing to submit to convention or fleeting trends, Chanel transformed deeply personal symbols, artistic intuition, and bold contrasts into a visual language that has remained unmistakably her own.

That language continues with ‘Signes & Symboles,’ CHANEL High Jewelry’s newest collection, which revisits four of the House’s most enduring emblems: the Camellia, the Star, the Sun, and the Lion. Drawn from Gabrielle Chanel’s own universe, each motif carries its own symbolic resonance while together forming a dialogue between the House’s heritage and its ever-evolving creative vision.

Presented across four distinct chapters, the collection reimagines these signatures as sculptural talismans and precious adornments, where exceptional craftsmanship elevates symbolism into extraordinary form. Brilliant sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds illuminate each creation, allowing every emblem to embody its own expression of strength, light, protection, and beauty.

More than a celebration of the House’s iconography, ‘Signes & Symboles’ reaffirms the enduring philosophy that has guided CHANEL High Jewelry from the very beginning: jewelry should communicate something beyond beauty alone. Through creations that honor the past while embracing boundless invention, the collection transforms Gabrielle Chanel’s most enduring symbols into timeless works of artistry, where heritage and creative freedom remain forever intertwined.

This story appears in the pages of V161: now available for purchase!

Photography Mathieu Rainaud

Fashion Laetitia Paul

Model Valerie Scherzinger (Supreme)

Makeup Sayuri Yamashita (Interlude Project)

Hair Ryo Narushima (Total World) using Bumble and Bumble

Manicure Anaïs Cordevant (Agence Saint Germain)

Casting Nicholas Bianciotto (IKKI Casting)

Editor Kev Ponce

Fashion Market Editor Copelyn Bengel

Photo Assistant Chloé May

Styling Assistant Caroline Martin

Production Sara Murru (Interlude Project)

Cinematography Mathieu Rainaud

Location Daguerre Studio