Traditional Japanese art is used for the first time in the manufacture of Chanel jewelry. Prior to this, maki-e masters worked on the dials of Mademoiselle Privé watches, imitating black lacquer screens in the great Mademoiselle's apartment.
The name of the maki-e technique, which has been known for over 1000 years, literally translates as “sprinkled drawing”. The method consists in applying gold or silver powder to the still wet layer of Japanese urushi lacquer (it is extracted from lacquer wood), and then working out the pattern with a special brush.
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This delicate and painstaking work was commissioned by the Chanel atelier, located on the Place Vendome, to the master Yuji Okada. He studied the art of Japanese lacquer in Kyoto, a center for traditional Japanese crafts, and his work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In the Artistic Feather brooches, earrings and necklace, Okada used the finest particles of platinum (hira-maki-e technique) and fragments of mother-of-pearl (raden technique) to depict a miniature with light, shining feathers against a deep black lacquer background. Precious feathers made of gold and diamonds, as well as individual pear-cut diamonds are fixed above the inlaid surface.
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In addition to the "artistic" Japanese feathers, the updated Plume de Chanel collection includes ten more unique pieces that make up the Stylized and Curved sets. Rings, earrings, open necklaces and bracelets are made of white gold and diamonds.>
