Chanel J12 chromatic, face angle

The dial is chock full of details to appreciate: Circular finish under the applied (polished) numerals. The vertical brushing in the center section. The unusual placement of the railroad-track. The minute markers on the rehaut. The date window. The simple branding. The center crosshair.

One thing that did disappoint me a bit is the hands. They’re rhodium-plated for finish and corrosion resistance, which I like, but are simply shaped and uniformly polished. A bit of a matte finish or anhedral shape would have made them more readable.

Chanel J12 chromatic, face angle

Luminosity is just OK:

Chanel J12 lume

It’s a versatile watch that can go swimming, not a dive watch that can dress up. The caseback shows this too:

Chanel J12 chromatic caseback

Darn near every dive watch uses a circular screw-down caseback; it’s simpler to make and quite robust. Chanel manages a 200m rating with a curved shape that keeps the watch slim. An impressive piece of engineering that almost no one will appreciate, and one of the reasons why you rarely see 200m ratings less than 12mm thick.

The bracelet has a unique design too, the pins are snap-fit. Perfect finish, even on the bits not normally visible.