Chanel has given its signature J12 a facelift with a larger case, guilloche dial and sub-seconds. And the J12-365 also marks the first time Chanel is using its newly developed yellow gold alloy known as beige gold.

Since its introduction 14 years ago, the Chanel J12 has become a best seller on a massive scale. Though Chanel was not the first to popularise ceramic watches (Rado has that distinction), it made ceramic fashionable. And Chanel also introduced white ceramic into watchmaking with the white J12 in 2003. Though the J12 has no pretensions at being a technical timepiece, it certainly is one of the most important timepieces of this era. And so it is notable that the new Chanel J12-365 – this is intended to be on a lady’s wrist all days of the year – is available with a new yellow gold alloy. Named beige gold, after Gabrielle Chanel’s favourite colour, the new alloy has a hue in between the redness of rose gold and the pale colour of yellow gold. Rose gold has long been the dominant colour of gold in timepieces, particularly for high-end ladies watches; witness the remarkable popularity of the Rolex Daytona in Everose gold amongst ladies. That colour, however, has become commonplace, with multitudes of low-end timepieces sporting rose gold plating.  The revival of interest in yellow gold has long been predicted, but it has yet to materialise. Chanel offers its new J12-365 only in steel or beige gold, perhaps pointing towards yellow gold finally have its day in the sun again?

Exclusive to Chanel, the alloy takes after the favourite colour of Gabrielle Chanel and is an 18k gold alloy, meaning it is 75% pure gold in content. The new alloy goes along with a facelift for the J12. The most obvious changes are the case size – the J12-365 is slightly larger at 36.5 mm in diameter – and the new guilloche dial. Additionally, the J12-365 has a sub-seconds at six.

It is powered by the ETA 2895, an automatic calibre based on the ETA 2892 with a 42 hour power reserve. The J12-365 is available in white or black ceramic, with steel or beige gold accents. Each version is also available with diamonds set on the inner flange of the bezel.

Prices start at 8200 Singapore dollars (~US$6530) for the ceramic and steel models, climbing to 14,850 Singapore dollars (~US$11,800) for the ceramic and beige gold pieces. The steel models with diamonds are 20,950 Singapore dollars (~US$16,700), while the beige gold and diamonds watches are 27,320 Singapore dollars (~US$21,800).