A Chanel Icon Returns to Its Nautical Roots with Gisele Bündchen

When it launched in 2000, the J12 watch marked Chanel’s entry into high-end watchmaking. The unisex sport watch line, which takes its name from J-class racing yachts, uses ceramic for its case and bracelet. This innovative material is lightweight, scratch-resistant and seven times harder than steel. Rendered in black or white, the watch is made extra-special thanks to the silky softness of the material as well as its durability. “So much more than an icon, J12 is a manifesto of emancipation and audacity: it’s resistant to everything, especially trends,” says Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of Chanel’s Watchmaking Creation Studio.

Chastaingt joined Chanel in 2013 following a 10-year tenure at Cartier. Since then, he’s created several iconic watches for the house: The Boy-Friend, Code Coco and Monsieur, as well as annual capsule collections and new interpretations of the J12, which he says “challenges the traditional codes of watchmaking.”

The beating heart of the J12 is its Caliber 12.1 automatic movement, which boasts a 70-hour power reserve and enables the metronomic precision of the dial’s hands. The watch’s sapphire crystal caseback reveals the beauty of the movement, the diamond-polished bevels and an openwork oscillating weight.

The 2026 J12 campaign sees a return to the watch’s aquatic roots and stars Gisele Bündchen and French model Clément Chabernaud. Bündchen sits on the edge of a sailboat, the face of her watch catching the coastal light.

Twenty-six years after its launch, the J12 has gone from bold newcomer to an established icon—with a campaign to match.