What does it take to achieve true harmony between light, stone and metal—and to infuse that harmony with history, too? The story of the Chanel 55.55 necklace started over 100 years ago, with a fragrance that changed how women presented themselves to the world. Step into the newest chapter of that story.
%20(Custom).avif)
This is more than the story of a necklace—it’s the story of a lucky number, a legendary fragrance, and the diamond that turned inspiration into glittering reality
In 1921, on the fifth day of the fifth month, Chanel’s very first fragrance was launched. Chanel N°5 was a revolution—mysterious, modern and utterly compelling from the first spritz. It was a fragrance that refuted easy categorisation, made for women who refused to be typecast. It would define generations of glamour to come. Fast-forward 100 years, and Chanel faced a singular question: How to celebrate a fragrance that has shaped culture, seduction and self-expression for a century?
The answer: A single, extraordinary necklace. To mark the centenary of Chanel N°5, Patrice Leguéreau, director of the Fine Jewellery Creation Studio, first conceived Collection N°5, an extraordinary suite of 123 creations. At its heart lay a singular masterpiece: a necklace of rare precision and beauty, crafted to translate the allure of the legendary scent into light and stone.
This is the 55.55.
This is the first time the century-long legend of Chanel N°5 has been reimagined through the artistry of the Fine Jewellery Creation Studio. Here, the fragrance’s most enduring emblems—the bottle, the stopper, the number, the flowers and the elusive fragrance trail—are distilled into an extraordinary collection, crowned by a necklace whose architecture echoes the iconic N°5 flacon.
The 55.55 necklace is crafted around the gem that gives it its name: a flawless 55.55-carat emerald-cut diamond. Its deliberate weight—neither arbitrary nor incidental—is an homage to Gabrielle Chanel’s famous lucky number, and a nod to the shape of the perfume bottle’s stopper, itself inspired by the famed Place Vendôme, where Gabrielle Chanel once lived at the Ritz.
The number five was a constant in Gabrielle Chanel’s life. It was there at the moment of her birth in her astrological sign Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac. Chanel N°5 came to life from the fifth sample from perfumer Ernest Beaux, and was launched on the fifth day of May. In numerology, five points to life, movement and independence. Five represents wholeness and harmony: the five fingers on a hand, the five senses.
To the house of Chanel, five is much more than just a lucky number.
“Gabrielle Chanel approached these two universes (fragrance and jewellery) with the same visionary values, focusing on audacity and the quest for excellence. I wanted to rediscover that creative gesture with this collection, which has been conceived like a journey through the meanderings of the N°5 perfume’s soul.”
— Patrice Leguéreau.
To create a jewel with presence equal to the fragrance’s immeasurable influence, Leguéreau envisioned an impeccable centerpiece: a flawless Type IIa custom-cut diamond of exactly 55.55 carats.
The 55.55 diamond is impressive but never heavy—cut so beautifully that it appears almost weightless, suspended within air and light. The 55.55 diamond forms the silhouette of the bottle, surrounded by over 700 round, baguette, and pear-shaped diamonds that create the stopper, the fastener, and an evocative, sparkling spray of scent. The necklace is more than just a literal interpretation of the scent; its movement and light convey the spirit of the N°5 perfume, interweaving the stories of Chanel’s exceptional jewellery making and its history-making perfume.
55.55 is an homage to Gabrielle Chanel’s famous lucky number, and a nod to the shape of the perfume bottle’s stopper—itself inspired by the famed Place Vendôme, where Gabrielle Chanel once lived at the Ritz. There can be no underestimating the significance of the number five; even the fragrance took form from perfumer Ernest Beaux’s fifth sample.
.jpg)
“This is an unprecedented approach. We started with a rough diamond that we had cut, not to make the biggest stone possible, but to obtain a perfect octagonal diamond weighing 55.55 carats.” — Patrice Leguéreau
The unmistakable silhouette of the Chanel N°5 bottle has long been an emblem of modern design, with its pared-back geometry, crystal-clear flacon and precise, architectural lines. It was this iconic profile that captivated Patrice Leguéreau, inspiring him to translate the perfume into an extraordinary necklace echoing the bottle’s proportions.
The necklace is a translation of scent into light. Here, N°5’s daring composition of aldehydes and luminous florals becomes a visual symphony. The bottle-shaped motif unfolds in tailor-cut diamonds of varied silhouettes, each chosen to suggest an olfactory note within the perfume’s elusive bouquet. From its heart, a cascade of pear-shaped diamonds spills like perfumed drops caught mid-air.
Central to both fragrance and jewel is the idea of fragrance trail, the lingering presence that remains long after its wearer has passed. Just as Chanel N°5 leaves an unmistakable wake, the 55.55 necklace was created to hold its own kind of radiance: a light that shimmers and drifts, impossible to ignore.
At the Rue Cambon boutique, Gabrielle Chanel unveils Chanel N°5 to the world. Created in collaboration with perfumer Ernest Beaux, the fragrance was immediately groundbreaking for its unique composition and its minimalist, modern bottle.
.avif)
Chanel presents the maison’s very first high jewellery collection: Bijoux de Diamants. More than 45 exquisite creations in platinum and diamonds are presented at Gabrielle Chanel’s mansion at 29 Rue de Faubourg-Honoré. The jewels were a blaze of light in a dark time, a new chapter in Chanel’s celebration of women.
Patrice Leguéreau unites Chanel N°5 and fine jewellery in Collection N°5, highlighted by the 55.55 necklace with its showstopping 55.55-carat diamond. The collection is inspired by the iconography of N°5, bringing the scent to shimmering life.
From start to finish, every detail marks the 55.55 as a feat of technical mastery. First there is the diamond itself: the harmonious emerald cut, the emblematic weight of 55.55 carats, D Flawless quality and an 18-carat white gold bezel meticulously set with 104 round and 42 baguette diamonds.
Then the form: the distinctive profile of the stopper, the sleek silhouette of the bottle, the fastener formed in homage to Chanel’s fabled number five, and the cascade of individually cut pear-shaped diamonds. Every gem and design detail contributes to a choreography of brilliance that feels at once structured and fluid.
Heritage can turn quickly from inspiration into burden, especially when it’s had a whole century to build lore, significance and cultural impact. In the expert hands of Patrice Leguéreau, though, the legacy of Chanel N°5 has been transmuted into a formidable work of art.
The story of N°5 is far from over. The 55.55 necklace has taken its place in the Chanel legacy as part of the maison’s Patrimoine, where it will continue to be admired for centuries to come.