The wonder workshop is set off to the sound of Bing Crosby's My Woman

How many are the subtleties of the Musical Clock Couture Workshop, one of the most striking masterpieces of the Couture O'Clock Capsule Collection presented by Chanel this year. A one-of-a-kind table model housing five couture mannequins, reproduced in miniature in aluminium and ceramic with black leather ribbon trim, each embellished with a yellow gold brooch set with 6 diamonds (0.40 carat). The busts, placed on a blackened steel tripod with a yellow gold handle, are reminiscent of those in the maison's atelier on Rue Cambon in Paris. And the show goes on, as they move up and down and rotate on themselves to the rhythm of the notes (played by a music box) of My Woman, a 1932 song written by the legendary Bing Crosby and performed by the British-South African musician Al Bowly, a favourite of Mademoiselle Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.

In una cupola di vetro, alta 27,5 cm inserita su una base di 6,7 cm ricoperta da un intarsio formato da 245 pezzi di onice, ci sono cinque busti couture in alluminio rifiniti con nastri di pelle nera e impreziositi da una spilla in oro giallo con 6 diamanti ciascuno. Sopra i busti ecco un lampadario in oro giallo annerito con candelieri in oro giallo e nappe che qui sono dei diamanti.

The Musical Clock Couture Workshop, therefore, is not only a watch but also an automaton and a music box. These last two functions have been realised in collaboration with Reuge, a historic Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1865 and based in Sainte-Croix, a region that has been elected by Unesco as an intangible cultural heritage of mankind for the quality of its craftsmanship specialising precisely in the creation of automata and carillons. Animating this precious object is a hand-wound mechanical movement with a seven-day power reserve. And where does the time read? At the foot of the busts is a fixed diamond with a pearl: it marks the time thanks to the rotation of the reproduction of a tailor's tape measure, which on its surface shows the 24 hours and minutes printed by hand. In addition, above the busts there is a blackened yellow gold chandelier with candlesticks, also in yellow gold, and tassels that, instead of being crystal, here are diamonds totalling 6.24 carats: a reference to the chandelier in Mademoiselle's flat. The choreography unfolds inside a 27.5 cm high glass dome, set on a 6.7 cm base covered with an inlay made of 245 pieces of onyx (it took eight hours of work to create it) and decorated with a yellow gold hoop set with 160 brilliant-cut diamonds. A masterpiece to look at and listen to.