At the centre of Chanel’s Coco Game chess set is an inspired surprise: beneath each of the two queen figures lies a working watch. The pieces portray Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel in black and white, transforming the familiar symbols of the game into a tribute to the maison’s founder and making the queens keepers of time.
Sculpted in white gold, the figures are adorned with diamonds arranged in the maison’s tweed-setting style, which evokes the woven texture of Chanel’s signature suits. Blackened gold and ceramic add contrast. The white queen is set with 842 brilliant cut diamonds weighing more than six carats; her counterpart combines white gold, black coating, ceramic and diamonds. Each conceals a 25mm dial with a diamond set face and a quartz movement indicating the hours and minutes. Water-resistant to 30 metres, the watches are made to function as well as impress.
The queens are part of a cast of figures drawn from Chanel’s world. A lion, a symbol associated with the founder’s Leo birth sign, takes the place of the king. The white-gold version is set with 764 brilliant-cut diamonds, weighing approximately 8.84 carats, using a snow-setting technique, and finished with black lacquer details. Couture-inspired busts become bishops; the rooks recall the Vendôme Column and its connection to Place Vendôme; and finely modelled horses serve as knights. Pawns combine black ceramic, white gold and diamonds.
The board is just as meticulously conceived. Measuring 37.9 centimetres across, it has 64 alternating squares of black and white high-resistance ceramic, each precisely cut to 3.4 centimetres. A frame of 516 brilliant-cut diamonds, totalling approximately 15.5 carats, surrounds the playing surface, while an obsidian base gives the composition visual weight.
Material and finish shift across the set, balancing polished gold, matte ceramic, lacquer and pavé-set stones. The black pieces are shaped from high-resistance ceramic, a material described as seven times harder than steel. Its strength presents a challenge for miniature sculpting, where details such as the lion’s mane, the folds of Chanel’s jacket and the grooves of the Vendôme Column require careful precision. The white-gold pieces are cast and finished by hand, with snow and tweed setting techniques lending their diamond surfaces texture and depth. In total, the chess set incorporates more than 9,236 diamonds, weighing close to 111 carats.
Coco Game is designed to be experienced beyond the chessboard. Both queens can be removed and worn as necklaces. Their chain is made of white gold and set with 268 brilliant-cut diamonds, a central 0.70-carat diamond, 40 onyx beads and two onyx cylinders. The concealed watches become personal objects to wear, extending the set’s interplay of discovery and display.
The craftsmanship continues through the smallest details: the clean finish of the ceramic edges, the careful alignment of thousands of stones, the lacquered accents and the discreet integration of the watch mechanisms. Engravings reading “Piece Unique” and “Fabriquée en Suisse à la Manufacture Horlogère de Chanel” underscore the set’s singular status.
More than a game, Coco Game brings together jewellery, watchmaking and sculpture in an object made to be handled, admired and played. Its hidden dials offer a final reminder of the idea behind the piece: time can be measured, but it can also be staged as an experience.
