A Secref PLACE

In Paris’s Place Venddme lies a covert archive where Chanel guards its most fabulous treasures.

- GORDON NG

There are places in the world that are synonymous with expertise. High technology is nearly interchangeable with Silicon Valley; while for high watchmaking, it’s hard to escape the hold of Switzerland. When it comes to high jewellery, the world’s hub is the Place Vendôme square in Paris. It’s a ritzy location that’s home to high jewellery savoir-faire—which is why it’s significant that the house of Chanel has a specialised space for its watches and fine jewellery division in a historic building at 18 Place Vendôme.

Chanel’s mansion sits among some heavy hitters of the sector. But it’s testament, perhaps, to how seriously this French haute couture house takes this category. To wit, 18 Place Vendôme is more than just a boutique. Sure, the first three floors—decorated with lacquer panels and a palette of predominantly black and gold—make up a fabulous flagship boutique for watches and jewellery. And upstairs are the creation studios and high jewellery workshop where pieces are designed and made.

But also upstairs and hidden from public view is where the house’s truest treasures reside. Enter the Chanel watches and jewellery Patrimoine, or archives. Here, the house has amassed and accumulated a trove of over 800 jewels, creations and objects that relate to Gabrielle Chanel’s love for jewellery and the creativity it’s spawned under successive creative directors—the present being Patrice Leguéreau.