chanel
Chanel’s vintage jewellery exudes the fashion house’s signature elegance, wit, and timelessness. Its iconic founder, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, first introduced jewellery to her fashion collections in the late 1920s, in collaboration with Fulco di Verdura, whose name later became known for his own jewellery house, Verdura. Together, they created now instantly recognisable designs such as the Maltese Cross Cuffs, which in their original incarnation were designed as chunky, white enamel and silver alloy cuffs adorned with clusters of semi-precious stones in an ornate cross shape.
Background story
About the Vintage House
Just as Chanel had shaken up fashion with her effortless, gamine aesthetic, her attitude to jewellery was boundary-breaking, too. She would accessorize with both real and faux pearls, and said of her jewellery tastes: “I only like fake jewellery… because it’s provocative.”
How we curate
Vintage houses
While creating sustainable jewellery for a greener future is vital to our vision, we’re also passionate about repurposing the exquisite pieces already available to us. That’s where The Vintage Collection comes in, combining a contemporary desire for rarity with the classic luxury of an age gone by
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STORY
- Every piece of jewellery in the vintage collection has a story to tell, passed down through generations before arriving on your doorstep – ready for a brand new chapter
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AUTHENTICITY
- Through a rigorous process of authentication carried out by our knowledgeable team and advisors, each piece is fully certified and approved by Auverture’s Stamp of Truth
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EXCLUSIVITY
- Our in-house experts are dedicated to sourcing only the most exclusive vintage fine jewellery from across the globe, working with specialist partners to discover only the best
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SUSTAINABILITY
- By repurposing pieces from the past and curating them for the contemporary world, we can minimise production and honour the power of vintage versatility
The story behind the brand
After World War II, Chanel chose jeweller Robert Goossens to collaborate on her collections, crafting pieces that the Goossens house today calls “antique and byzantine jewels” fashioned from glass paste and rock crystal. Goossens is now part of the Chanel Paraffection division, which preserves the craft of the artisans with whom the house works, with Goossens continuing to design pieces for the house today. Maison Gripoix was another notable jeweller that crafted costume jewellery pieces for Chanel. For 14 years during the 80’s and 90’s, during the late Karl Lagerfeld’s time at the house, Victoire de Castellane, who now serves as artistic director of Dior Fine Jewellery, turned out exuberant Chanel jewellery designs that drew on the house’s rich heritage and iconography. Among De Castellane’s standout pieces for Chanel are bold CC logo necklaces, to drop earrings set with faux pearls, and brooches that gleam with colourful glass cabochon stones.