Game changer: Coco Chanel’s 1932 collection saved an ailing diamond industry during the Great Depression
Chanel was key to liberating women, who looked at the Bijoux de Diamants exhibition with a view to purchasing the precious stones for themselves
The big year for diamonds was 1932. The great Coco Chanel, whose first love was costume jewellery, turned her formidable design gifts to diamonds.
Chanel said: “In my profession, any means is legitimate, provided it is only used in the true spirit of fashion. I started creating costume jewellery because I felt it was refreshingly free of arrogance, during a period that tended towards ostentatious displays of luxury.”
So what changed? The Great Depression, that’s what. Chanel lent her support to the diamond companies that were struggling in the depression, which had set in by 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s. Her reasoning was that “during the economic recession … there emerged an instinctive desire for authenticity”.
So in 1932, Chanel created a high-jewellery collection of 35 pieces featuring authentic diamonds. With the first use of precious stones in her designs, Chanel created a sensation in the fashion world. She could have used coloured stones but chose not to. “If I have chosen diamonds, it is because they represent the greatest value in the smallest volume.”
The motivation behind the invitation to produce a diamond collection was simply to revitalise the market. It is an indication of Chanel’s influence on fashion and society that this was considered a powerful strategy – one woman to save an industry dominated by men.
Chanel was key to liberating women by introducing them to more relaxed, comfortable clothes. She had a personal following among women. Women looked at the 1932 diamond collection with a view to purchasing for themselves, rather than waiting to receive.
