Chanel’s president of watches and fine jewellery, Frédéric Grangié, on the timely partnership with the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race
Over the years, Chanel has ventured far beyond fashion and fragrance into unexpected but always enticing waters. And with its partnership with the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, it’s making a new kind of splash.
The Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race has been a key fixture on the UK sporting calendar since 1829. The event, which takes place on the Thames every spring, is always a spectacle. Chanel J12 became the race’s first official timekeeping partner and its title sponsor last year, in a pairing that celebrates Gabrielle Chanel’s love of sport and the heritage of the ceramic J12 watch, which takes its name from the US racing-class yachts beloved by its designer, Jacques Helleu.
Monocle spoke to Chanel’s president of watches and fine jewellery, Frédéric Grangié, about his passion for the river, Chanel’s approach to time and his long-term plans for the brand’s watchmaking division.
This is the second year of Chanel J12’s long-term partnership with the Boat Race. It’s a great collaboration, especially because the J12 takes its name from racing yachts, so there’s the connection to the water. How did it begin?
I love the fact that it happened in such an organic way. We had never done sports sponsorship in the history of the brand and the Boat Race was looking for a new partner. We met at the right time and thought, “Let’s do this.” I really believe in this project. We were delighted to sign a strategic partnership with the Boat Race, with which we share the values of collective endeavour and the pursuit of excellence.
Tell us about the striking creative assets that you designed with Peter Saville to accompany the race.
I thought that we needed to do something special to amplify the project so I set a challenge for Peter: I told him that this is a partnership between two of the greatest institutions in the world. So he developed a first edition, which could be seen all over London from February 2026. If there’s one person who can create the most amazing, desirable posters in the world, it’s him. I said, “Peter, for the 100th anniversary of the women’s competition in 2027, I want the greatest poster that you have ever done. You need to outdo yourself.”
What does time mean to Chanel? It feels like something that’s not completely functional – there’s something poetic about it.
What’s interesting, in an industry where the great houses are a century or two centuries old, is that we launched our first watch [the Première] in 1987. Chanel Watches isn’t even 40 years old. It became a combination of different aspects of the house: leather from fashion, [high jewellery] at Place Vendôme and then also the stopper from the No5 fragrance. And, crucially, it had no indices at all. Our sense of time comes from the fact that Chanel is a family-owned business; we’re independent and have a very long-term view. Look at No5 – a bestselling fragrance for 105 years.
As a fashion brand, what challenges did you face when you entered the world of high horology?
When Jacques Helleu designed the Première watch, there was no capability to make it, so it was subcontracted. The most important decision was made [in the 1990s] to master all aspects of this business, just like any other category at Chanel. Therefore, we needed to find and buy a manufacturer [G&F Châtelain], and revamp it. Along the way we put together a group of partners that would grow with us organically. We serve a lot of brands. We are a supplier to many maisons and it’s an incredible source of pride for us because it means that things like the new [blue] ceramic watches, patented by Chanel, will be available for other houses. We have the best in the world – our clasps are the best in the market, for instance – and I’m very proud of that. We know fashion, we know fragrance and now we know watches.
What’s the relevance of high horology and mechanical watches in this digital world?
It’s about knowing that artisans have spent hundreds of hours on the mechanism. It’s tangible. I see more and more young people moving towards mechanical watches. Some people asked many years ago if the connected watch was going to be a threat. The real threat is that you think you are going to be Apple. Apple is the best at what it does. But people want to be closer to something made by hand. We see the same approach in other fields at Chanel.
You have spent time living and working in New York and Japan. How did those experiences shape your perceptions and your approach to luxury?
Living in New York for 10 years taught me about retail: what good visual merchandising is, marketing. Maybe it’s Chanel, maybe it’s Whole Foods but good retail is good retail. When I moved to Japan, I had to unlearn a lot. I realised the importance of details, of excellence. Japan prepared me for Chanel because there’s that sense of the past that you must respect. It’s a family-owned company and what you are doing here will matter in the future.
