I have always loved Chanel’s J12 watch line from the moment it first launched. The instant classic style of the ceramic timepiece helped make it a best-selling piece amongst the jet-setting fashion crowd. Now Chanel is introducing its first official men’s diving watch spinoff, dubbed the J12 Marine, and tapping none other than surf legend Laird Hamilton to help promote it.
Hamilton, this being his first-ever watch endorsement deal, will join Diane Kruger and French actress Anna Mouglalis as Chanel personalities who will be on hand at select events and public appearances (more direct impact than simply lending their faces to an ad campaign I suppose).
The J12 Marine arrives in Chanel boutiques this month and is available in a series of sleek combinations: either a black band with a black or blue face, or a white band with a white face. It comes in two sizes, a 38 mm. retailing for $4,700 and a 42 mm. retailing for $4,900. Also of note: it’s waterproof to more than 300 meters, has glow-in-the-dark numbers and hands, a steel unidirectional rotating bezel, a self-winding Swiss movement and a rubberized strap with openings that allow water to flow through.
