The Chanel J12 Ceramic is not the type of watch you would expect from a fashion designer. There have been many unsuccessful attempts from fashion designers like Burberry, Prada and Versace to entering the prime luxury watch segment, but in 2003 Chanel, did just that with this almighty popular J12 Watch. The watch is beautiful as you would expect from Chanel and is quite unique being ceramic, but the real draw to it is unlike other fashion watches, it is a high quality Swiss made piece, that rivals movements like Tag Heuer and Rolex. It is a great looking unisex watch but how does it compare to other 5 figure watches?
Chanel did a great job with the J12 and the J12 Chrono, they are available in three sizes. The 33mm Quartz which is the one geared towards women, the 38MM Auto Unisex which can be customized with diamonds and is the hottest selling model of the line up and the man’s 41mm Auto. All three are similar looking but the thickness to width ratio of the 38mm makes it the ideal watch to put on your wrist. Despite being smaller for a man and larger for a woman, the white ceramic does a good job of getting attention by all.
The J12 line can be customized with three patterns of diamonds from Chanel, the numeral markers is the simplest and will raise the price about $1500 over the non diamond, making the 38mm retail around $7000. The next step up is the bezel which then puts the watch right in the 5 figure range and finally for close to $15,000 you can have a full dial done in diamonds.
For 2009, Chanel has released the chrono version of the 38mm auto and the 41mm auto J12. We would recommend the Chanel J12 38MM auto to all that are looking for a secondary piece. I personally do not think the watch is as daily wearable due to the white ceramic which might look awkward with the wrong outfit. It is a nice piece, feels heavy and is built with attention to detail and quality. The presentation of the watch and the box is mediocre and not worthy of a 5 figure watch.
Here at Secret Entourage, we have a large collection of timepieces available at reduced prices, and currently do have a Chanel J12 38mm in mint condition for sale. Should you be interested in saving over 50% from retail, contactus@secretentourage.com
