Lucky charms: Chanel’s most iconic symbols take on a new life

There’s a heatwave in Paris but even scorching temperatures cannot foil Chanel mania. As I walk past the buzzing boutiques on Rue Cambon, the Monday before the Fall/ Winter Haute Couture 2026 show, it’s clear that the House’s new direction is finding deep resonance. My destination, this warm, summer morning, is 18 Place Vendôme, the home of Chanel’s fine jewellery and watches, for the unveiling of the 2026 Signes & Symbols High Jewelry Collection.

“My jewellery represents an idea,” Gabrielle Chanel was known to say and just as she preferred to cut her dresses directly on the fabric, with her jewellery too, she turned convention on its heads, experimenting with high contrasts, mixing styles, influences, elements, stones, and proportions with a spontaneous ease. For her, jewellery was talismanic, deeply personal, steeped in memory and mythology.

In the century since Chanel was founded, its House codes have remained firmly imprinted in cultural memory. The camellia, monochrome palette, interlocking CC, and tweed are the most recognisable and presented every season in expanded ways, pushing boundaries and resisting stasis. Similarly, this 85-piece new high jewellery collection, conceived as a dialogue between the quintessential symbols of her universe, reinterprets and reinvents iconic motifs in a new direction.

In true Chanel tradition, the collection breaks away from the rules of classical jewellery with an alchemy that simply cannot be replicated. It takes from a lexicon of symbols and motifs that honour Gabrielle’s legacy by tapping into her inimitable spirit. 2026 Signes & Symbols has four distinctive lines with the Star, Comet, Camellia, and Chanel’s astrological guardian—the Lion—at its core, all rendered with unexpected modernity.

All four motifs have deep meaning—the Comets she spotted over the streaked Aubazine night sky in her formative childhood years have appeared over collections as have Stars like the ones that adorned the abbey’s cobblestones; the Camellia is Chanel’s signature flower, and the Lion is a fierce symbol of her resilience and acumen, as well as her astrological sign.

The cutting-edge designs and motifs are further highlighted by the ‘Precious Four’ stones—the octagonal-cut 20.66 carats sapphire (Imprimé Lion necklace), the octagonal-cut 10.44 carats emerald (Imprimé Emeraude ring), the oval-cut 9.41 carats ruby (Lion Millénaire ring) or the oval-cut 10.32 carats 

diamond (Symbole Camélia Rose ring)—all exceptional gems hand-picked from across the globe for their clarity, composition, and quality. The collection features over 10,000 stones, assembled over three years and is considered by many to be the most colour-forward collection in the history of the House’s high jewellery.

As I walked through the showcase, this single truth stood out—the strongest House codes aren’t just created out of repetition but rather those that unveil something surprising and new, on each revisit.

Here are the pieces that will make your jaw drop (as they did mine!):

IMPRIMÉ LION NECKLACE

The first chapter, titled Les Imprimés, sets the tone for the collection’s strong graphic elements. In this chapter, recurring patterns, the Camellia, the Star, and the Sun are arranged in lines accented with faceted stones, a treatment that is almost fabric-esque, not dissimilar to bolts of cloth in the atelier. The suppleness allows for design malleability especially in the plastron and bandeau necklaces.

The Imprimé Lion necklace, the centrepiece of the collection, is where the Lion joins the other three symbols—it’s the only piece where all four emblems appear together. Brilliant-cut, emerald-cut, and made- to-measure diamonds are set on delicate pink and white gold threads and held by discreet prongs, creating a vertical cascade of sparkle. This waterfall of diamonds is further enhanced by an octagonal-cut, unheated, Sri Lankan sapphire which is a whopping 20.66 carats.

 

IMPRIMÉ ÉMERAUDE RING

The free-flowing, supple form of the Imprimé Lion necklace is sharply contrasted by the architectural sensibility of the Imprimé Émeraude ring. It makes a strong statement, with an octagonal 10.44 carat emerald as its focus. The Colombian emerald is rare and untreated, classified as ‘no oil’ meaning it has not undergone the oil treatment that is commonly used to improve the appearance of emeralds.

The beauty of the design is further highlighted in its setting—an oval pedestal with pink gold with the surrounding made-to-measure diamonds creating an almost halo effect. Look closer and you’ll see the real technical prowess, two camellia motifs, set with oval and brilliant-cut diamonds are placed on either side; details only a truly discerning eye will appreciate.

 

THE LION MILLÉNAIRE NECKLACE

The feline motif was unveiled for the first time in 2012 and has since become a prominent symbol in the house language. Chanel, a Leo by birth, was known to be superstitious. Given her fascination with all things celestial (her first and only high jewellery line in 1932, the Bijoux des Diamants was a constellation of diamond-encrusted starbursts and comets) and her belief in talismans, it’s no surprise then that she closely followed astrology. The Lion has since appeared in multiple high jewellery and fashion collections, with many believing it is the house’s most personal motif.

In true Chanel tradition, the collection breaks away from the rules of classical jewellery with an alchemy that simply cannot be replicated.

The graphic detailing of this necklace (a part of the Le Lion Emblematique chapter) is striking. In the house’s signature black and white palette (with a hint of red), it exemplifies Chanel’s idea of mixing influences and details. In this particular piece, the lion is stretched out in profile, as a diamond bas-relief applied to onyx. What struck me was the sculptural nature of this design: the motif appears on both sides of an octagonal- cut 6.12 carats ruby, surrounded by diamonds.

 

LION MAGISTRAL NECKLACE

The centrepiece of the Le Lion Emblematique chapter continues the lion motif. The feline, like in the Millénaire, is again at repose, highlighting the animal’s majestic nature. It’s the design and the flexibility of this piece that is as commanding as the central gemstone showcasing both the house’s technical prowess as well as being a nod to the Chanel woman, who seeks pieces that adapt to the rhythm of her lives.

This 85-piece new high jewellery collection reinterprets and reinvents iconic motifs in a new direction.

Designed in shimmering warm tones of rose gold, platinum, yellow gold with diamonds and emeralds, the beauty of this piece lies in its transformation—worn longer like a scarf or closer to the neck. In the shorter version, the detached elements can be worn as two bracelets. At the heart of the necklace is a single cushion-cut emerald of 6.21 carats, and further expands into a suite with a statement ring featuring a lion at rest.

SYMBOLE SAPHIR NECKLACE

While, traditionally, Chanel high jewellery has focused on a signature black and white palette, this showcase features a highly varied spectrum of colours and stones, including, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, turquoise, chrysoprase, carnelian, imperial topaz, and yellow beryl explore rich tonality and contrast. The fourth chapter of this collection, Les Symboles, includes Chanel’s favourite flower, the Camellia. Though the lore behind her fascination with the camellia varies (it’s shrouded in mystery just like the woman herself), many believe it’s the geometric perfection, symmetry and purity of its shape that appealed to her.

Like the Lion Magistral, the Symbole Saphir necklace’s beauty also lies in its ability to transform. Designed in brilliant white gold, diamonds, sapphires, turquoise, onyx and black lacquer with a single, vivid, cabochon-cut sapphire of 16.42 carats, the necklace can be worn long or short, with or without the flower. The camellia can then be worn separately as a brooch or as a pendant on a chain.

 

Any fashion insider will tell you that they blindly follow Chanel’s most famous axiom when it comes to their sartorial choices. She was famously quoted as saying, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”

With this high jewellery collection, she’d be hard pressed to decide which one.

This article originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar India's August-September 2026 print issue.

Image credits: courtesy the brands

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