The Monsieur de Chanel evolves in a refreshingly unapologetic direction

Luke Benedictus

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article first appeared in Issue 9 of the Time+Tide NOW Magazine. You can find Issue 9 in both physical and digital formats in the T+T Shop, and you’ll be treated with more industry insights, exciting interviews, and of course, the full Watch Buying Guide.

Eight years ago, at Baselworld 2016, Chanel did something unexpected. They introduced their first watch specifically designed for men, and just in case you weren’t aware who it was aimed at, they named it the “Monsieur de Chanel” to hammer home the point. The fact that Chanel explicitly championed this piece as a men’s watch was surprising. That’s because the Monsieur de Chanel wasn’t some hairy-chested brute of a watch delivered in oversized proportions. Instead, it felt like an artfully designed and slightly futuristic take on a dress watch. Encased in a reasonable 40mm x 10mm gold case, it was a jumping-hour timepiece with a pronounced hour display at 6 o’clock, and a retrograde minute hand that travelled in an unusually long 240-degree arc. Visually, in fact, the only thing that made it feel male-skewed was the austere tone of the linear numerals, coupled with the fact that, unlike many of Chanel’s watches, it didn’t incorporate any of the brand’s feminine pool of emblems.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the Monsieur was that, as Chanel’s first watch offering a complication, it delivered further proof that the brand was becoming really serious about its watchmaking. This possibility had been percolating since 1993 when Chanel snapped up the Swiss manufacturer G&F Châtelain. The acquisition gave the brand the technical scope to create their own timepieces from scratch and the Monsieur harnessed that potential by powering itself with the Calibre 1, Chanel’s first-ever movement to be made in-house. Developed with assistance from Romain Gauthier, the highly regarded independent Swiss watchmaker, it took more than five years to develop. But that time and effort was evident at a single glance. The architecture was simply beautiful with its double-barrel, hand-wound movement treated with a sleek anthracite finish. Here was a watch that once again confirmed that the pejorative term of “fashion watch” was totally redundant.

Things soon evolved into a sportier direction with the Superleggera Edition in 2021. “Superleggera” is Italian for “super light”, but it’s also the name of Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera, the automobile design company famous for giving the world the Aston Martin DB5 and Alfa Romeo 8C, among others. By choosing that name, Chanel sign-posted their motoring inspiration, a stance echoed by the speedometer-like look of the dial. Certain elements of the original Monsieur remained intact. Displayed through the transparent sapphire crystal, the hand-wound Calibre 1 still ticked away to deliver its 72-hour power reserve. The dial layout was also similar with the same jumping hour aperture, retrograde minute display and a small centered counter for the seconds. But the entire feel of this watch was strikingly different due to the matte-black ceramic and steel case, and black nickel guilloché dial with red accents. The glossy leather strap of the original was swapped out for a more utilitarian alternative in the form of a black nylon strap lined with red calfskin. Here was a high-octane advance on the elegant Monsieur.

The Monsieur Superleggera Intense Black Limited Edition continues in the same direction, explains Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of the Chanel Watchmaking Creation Studio. “With its case and bezel in highly resistant black ceramic, its guilloché dial in matte black, and its strap in black nylon lined and edged with black calfskin, this design of pared-back elegance is accentuated with a touch of gold,” he says. “All this underlines the powerful design of the only piece in the 2024 collection that, true to its history, is inspired by the world of automobiles.” Note that word “history”, because we’ll return to it shortly.

Like its predecessor, the 42mm watch is housed in a case that’s comprised of steel enveloped in black matte ceramic. The main development from the last Superleggera is that the design employs a higher proportion of black throughout. But moving further to the dark side changes things up more than expected. The black-on-black look brings out a greater sense of textural depth. It accentuates the concentric circles inside the small seconds counter and the dial’s clous de Paris hobnail pattern that’s echoed by the nylon strap. Also highlighted is the slightly open-worked nature of the dial that reveals a tantalising glimpse of that wondrous movement within.

Given the Monsieur de Chanel label, we probably do need to touch on the increasingly fraught subject of gender. Today, it’s fashionable for brands and commentators alike to play lip service to the idea that all watches are unisex. In 2022, for example, Zenith announced they were removing gender-based search functions from their website to group their watches by case size instead. In this fretful context, it’s interesting that the Chanel Monsieur line is going in the other direction.

Then again, Chanel as a brand has always set its own agenda on, well, gender. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel famously enjoyed huge success in appropriating masculine elements in her women’s designs. She popularised jersey fabrics (previously reserved strictly for men’s underwear), put chic women into the striped jumpers of Breton sailors, and turned gentlemen’s tweeds into feminine jackets. In other words, Chanel has always been happy to navigate gender in its own way.

It’s also perhaps worth thinking of the Monsieur de Chanel Superleggera Intense Black Edition as an evolution of the brand’s first watch to be happily embraced by men. In 2000, when the J12 came out, Jacques Helleu, Chanel’s late, long-term artistic director explained: “I first created the J12 for me. I wanted a timeless, glossy black, and indestructible watch that brings to mind certain classic automobiles.”

The new Superleggera Intense Black takes that brief and slams down the accelerator. It’s black (albeit matte rather than glossy), it’s tough due to that ceramic shell, and it wears its motoring connotations with delight. As the name suggests, it’s also unapologetically manly, but that’s hardly a problem. Masculinity shouldn’t have to come prefaced with the word “toxic”.