Chanel

Gabrielle Chanel opened her first shop in 1910 and spent the following decades removing things from women's clothing — corsetry, ornament, the assumption that formality required discomfort. The jersey suit, the little black dress and No. 5 came from that.

The watches are made in-house, not licensed. Chanel opened its own watch manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1993 and has since taken stakes in the movement maker Kenissi, giving it access to genuinely serious mechanics.

Two designs define the output. The Première of 1987 took its octagonal case from the stopper of the No. 5 bottle and its chain-and-leather bracelet from the quilted handbag. The J12 of 2000 was made almost entirely from high-tech ceramic at a time when almost nobody was doing it, and it changed what a fashion house's watch could be taken seriously as.

More recently the Monsieur and the Code Coco have carried in-house calibres, including a jumping-hour movement developed by Chanel itself.

The company remains privately owned by the Wertheimer family.

Chanel holds 47 models, from £3,365 to £16,600. Half cost less than £6,500, and a quarter less than £5,025. 20 of 47 are automatic. 43 are stocked by more than one retailer, giving 96 offers in total. Prices are checked nightly against the retailers’ own feeds.

1910

Gabrielle Chanel opens her first shop in Paris.

1987

The Première introduces the octagonal No. 5 case.

1993

Opens its own watch manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

2000

The J12 arrives in high-tech ceramic.

2016

The Monsieur brings a Chanel in-house calibre.