Hands-On: The Chanel J12 Paradoxe (2024)

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Chanel's J12 watch debuted in 2000. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the collection, and the J12 Paradoxe was released for this season. We were able to get our hands on one and spend some time with the watch. Let's start by covering the basics.

As you can see, the J12 Paradoxe features a bicolor look, combining white and black. The remarkable thing here is that, although the clean-cut borderline may suggest the two-tone color scheme is just a paint job, the watch is actually constructed with two colored ceramic case components.

The production process of the case is truly unique. Two single-colored complete cases are cut, then combined to make the final case. You'd think they could get away with making two different pre-shaped case components in white and black to assemble, but ceramic shrinks with heat (and the material hardens as it shrinks), so that's a no-go. I believe this was the reason why the "make two cases, then cut and combine" method was chosen, but you'd have to cut them without losing the material on the cutting plane by using an extremely thin blade in order to create the final case with fixed dimensions. And we are talking about super hard ceramic here, so I think you can easily imagine how difficult it can be to execute the cutting procedure without damaging the material.

As you can see in the picture above, the watch is made of two pieces of ceramic case components, and a sapphire crystal display caseback is secured to them with screws. Due to this special construction, I can safely assume it was a little too hard to achieve the same level of water resistance as the regular J12s. As a result, this watch is water-resistant to 50m where other J12 models are rated for 200m.

On the other hand, the J12 Paradoxe shares the same Cal. 12.1 movement with the rest of J12 models. There has been coverage of this attractive movement already, but let's dig into it a little just in case you are not familiar with the caliber.

The Cal. 12.1 automatic movement debuted in conjunction with the J12 refresh back in 2019, and it is produced by Kenissi. Kenissi is a movement manufacturer founded by Rolex's sister company Tudor and other investors, including Chanel. Kenissi movements are now taking the watch industry by storm. In addition to Chanel and Tudor, other brands, like Breitling and Norqain, are now using the Kenissi movements, and their specs rival the top-tier calibers out there. The standard three-hand automatic movement is Kenissi's bread-and-butter offering. It features a 70-hour power reserve and a high-precision yet robust design with a free-sprung balance and full-balance bridge. Chanel's Cal. 12.1 shares the feature-set.

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The asymmetric style of the J12 Paradoxe features black only on the right side of the case. That is, of course, quite visible from the front, but the side view of the watch is even more interesting. When you see the case from the three o'clock side and nine o'clock side, you are basically looking at conventional black and white J12 models, respectively. A paradox is a statement contrary to common belief, something that seems hard to comprehend or absurd, but is actually well-founded and not contradictory. This watch is a black J12 and also a white J12 at the same time — a paradox indeed.

Now, one thing that really surprised me was how natural this bi-color setup looked. Since the watch is made of two ceramic cases that are cut and combined, I thought I'd see the joint rather clearly. But in reality, as far as I could see from the dial side, the watch totally looked as if it was a seamless single-piece unit constructed with a two-tone color scheme, and there was a reason for that. In fact, the cut-and-combined construction is only for the case, and the bezel and dial are each made as a single piece, and the bi-color design is achieved by applying white color on black for the bezel and black on white for the dial.

Other than this unconventional styling, the fundamentals of the watch aren't much different from the regular J12.

I must confess, I didn't have a lot of personal interest in Chanel, considering them a feminine brand. Now I can say I was dead wrong. I am, in fact, currently wearing a black J12, which is actually my wife's watch that I've been borrowing for a couple of months.

The first thing that impressed me was the trifold buckle, which is patented by Chanel. This one is really well thought out. When you look at robust sporty watches, you often find the buckles too hard and tight to operate. That is not the case here with the J12. The simple folding buckle is spring-loaded, and you can just pinch and pull the bracelet link to operate the buckle, while the spring itself is somewhat on the stiff side. This makes handling a breeze even for female wearers with long nails. This kind of attention to detail reminds you that Chanel is a serious jeweler.

Although there is a certain heft to it, being a ceramic watch, the case measures a relatively compact 38mm across and 12.6mm thick, and the curved plate of the buckle and bracelet links follow your wrist, ensuring a very ergonomic fit. My wrists aren't particularly skinny, but the watch offers a strong presence on the wrist, and I think the J12 works surprisingly well on men's and women's wrists alike.

Manually winding an automatic watch isn't the best thing to do, but the winding action here is positive and tactile. Some of my automatic watches feel like rubbing against metal or unpleasantly heavy when I manually wind them, but thankfully, that's not the case with this watch at all. The watch also features a 70-hour power reserve, and the COSC-certified chronometer spec ensures excellent accuracy.

There is no doubt the standard J12 is an attractive watch, but there is one problem: whether you should choose black or white. That was the issue my wife faced when she was in the market for one (the J12s were not readily available at stores back then, and she was told the black one could be ordered quickly, which she went for).

The J12 came out in black in 2000 as Chanel's icon piece, and the white variant followed in 2003. After that, choosing between the two colors became the prime issue for many prospective buyers. Twenty years after the birth of the collection, the J12 Paradoxe, which captures the charms of both variants, could finally be the best answer to this problem.

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The Basics

Brand: Chanel
Model: J12 Paradoxe
Reference Number: H6515

Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 12.6mm
Case Material: Highly scratch-resistant black and white ceramics, stainless steel
Dial Color: White and black
Indexes: Arabic numeral, applied ceramic
Lume: Yes, hour, minute, second hands, square-dot indices on the chapter ring
Water Resistance: 50 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Highly scratch-resistant white ceramic and stainless steel bracelet, trifold buckle

The Movement

Caliber: Cal. 12.1
Functions: Hour, minute, second, date (with quick set), and hacking seconds
Power Reserve: 70 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 vph
Jewels: 28
Chronometer: Yes, COSC certified

Pricing & Availability

Price: $8,050
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: No, regular production

For details, visit Chanel.

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