Chanel has just unveiled the 1932 high jewelry collection

Usually, when Phoebe Bridgers talks about the moon, she sings in front of a group of crying fans (I am, admittedly, one of them) who utter the words “Moon Song” to her. But last week, she could be found talking about astronomy in a not heartbreaking context, while wearing star-inspired Chanel jewelry.

Standing under a crescent moon on a stage in Los Angeles, she presented the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who were performing for Chanel guests at a dinner celebrating the launch of the 1932 jewelry collection, which is the second ever released by the brand. The crowd cheered, but the 18-karat Coco Crush earrings and bracelet adorning Bridgers’ earlobes and wrist were beautiful enough to bring tears (of jealousy).

It’s been 90 years since Gabrielle Chanel designed Bijoux de Diamants, the first fine jewelry collection in history. It was created three years after Black Thursday pushed the world into the Great Depression, and Chanel was determined to create something that could shine through the turmoil. The 50-piece collection was comprised of white and yellow diamonds set in platinum and yellow gold, with 22 pieces inspired by specific constellations. “Nothing better to forget the crisis than to feast on beautiful novelties,” she said of the collection. And so it seems fitting that in 2022, nearly three years after the entire world shut down for the pandemic, the fashion house she built would respond to our dark times with something so lavish.

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The Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform at the Chanel dinner to celebrate the 1932 high jewelry collection.

Like the original Bijoux de Diamants collection, the 1932 design revolves around three symbols: the comet, the moon and the sun. Chanel muses like Marion Cotillard, Lori Harvey, Greta Lee and Whitney Peak was present at the West Hollywood celebration and, like Bridgers, was also layered in pieces from the 1932 collection named after the cosmos.

Maggie Rogers at the Chanel dinner to celebrate the 1932 high jewelry collection.

Singer Maggie Rogers, also a recent Harvard Divinity School graduate, wore five rings from the collection but said the 18-karat gold Comet shooting star ear cuff was her favourite. On the Chanel black carpet, Rogers mentioned how she felt a kinship with Gabrielle over her affinity for space: “[The cosmos] is something that has always resonated with me and is very apparent and present in my musical work.

Gossip Girl‘s Whitney Peak said the collection made her feel like a “superstar” before joking, “I feel like I shouldn’t be wearing it. I don’t know how they let me pulling like that! then tightening around his neck the Comète Couture necklace from 1932 in 18 carat gold and diamonds.

Whitney Peak at the Chanel dinner to celebrate the 1932 high jewelry collection.

While the collection has 77 pieces, its flagship piece is the Allure Céleste necklace, with round diamonds, a deep blue oval sapphire and a weight of 55.5 carats. What makes it extraordinary is its ability to transform: the halos break off to become brooches, and the central row of diamonds becomes a bracelet, transforming the necklace into a shorter version. Thirteen other pieces from the 1932 collection also have the ability to similarly transform, allowing the wearer to create new diamond constellations around their wrists and neck.

Guests dining at the Chanel dinner to celebrate the 1932 high jewelry collection.

Many pieces were made without a clasp, which Gabrielle Chanel openly disliked. “I hate clasps! I removed the clasps! Yet my jewelry can be transformed,” she declared in an interview in 1932 after the “Jewelry of Diamonds” exhibition. She strived to design pieces that provide flexibility for busy women with busy lives, and that don’t hinder their freedom. And as the bejeweled guests left their worries behind to dance under a canopy of baby’s breath, it was clear that the new 1932 collection stayed true to its vision.