Spreading out the wheels on the same plane optimizes the volume of the movement while enabling more room for more important elements: the barrel and the tourbillon. The effect of this arrangement is a thinner watch the movement clocks in at just 6.25mm in height. However, in the Calibre 5, the gear train is instead arranged at the edge of the movement in order to preserve its circular layout. This construction results in additional height due to the thickness of the overlapping components and their necessary running clearances.
Typically, in most tourbillon watches with such a configuration, the gear train traverses the central axis of the movement with the second wheel located right in the center - as it turns once per hour - to drive the minute hand directly. The J12 Diamond Tourbillon features a classic layout with the mainspring barrel located at 12 o’clock, while the tourbillon regulator is displayed in an aperture at six o’clock. As you’ll come to find, every aspect of the movement has been meticulously considered in the pursuit of finer aesthetics and thinness. Often framed as a virtue in modern design is the principle of form following, rather than determining, function, but there is much to be appreciated when engineering is critically rethought and furthermore optimized to achieve aesthetic goals.Īs with the Calibre 1, the exemplary architecture of the Calibre 5 is easy to appreciate, but what’s perhaps less obvious is the minute but significant steps taken to arrive at its beauty. The Calibre 3 even spawned a 3.1 version in the J.12 X-ray wherein the movement plate and bridges were made entirely from sapphire. They were a pair of skeletonized time-only form movements with equally considered and distinctive constructions characterized by circularity. Proving it is far more than a one-trick pony, Chanel soon unveiled the Calibres 2 and 3 in the Premiere Camelia Skeleton and the Boy.friend Skeleton respectively. The iconic codes of the French fashion house were skilfully woven into all aspects of the watch, from the details of the dial to the framework of the movement, creating an admirably cohesive timepiece few watchmakers can even approach.
Equally impressive was its conceptual approach to design. When Chanel unveiled the Calibre 1 in the Monsieur de Chanel in 2016, it took many by surprise, not merely because it was Chanel’s first in-house movement, but because it was constructed with an exceptional level of refinement both in terms of its fundamental architecture and complication.
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