Did Chanel's spectacular diamond exhibition almost cure the Great Depression?

What was the single most important jewellery event of the past 100 years? For me, there can only be one answer: Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel’s exhibition of about 50 (no one knows the exact number) spectacular diamond jewels, which took place in Paris from November 7–19, 1932.

The event was staged in the richly decorated étage noble of her 18th-century mansion at 29, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

The word ‘staged’ is an appropriate one. Each piece was presented on a fully clothed wax mannequin complete with real hair and eyelashes (or, in some instances, part of a wax mannequin — a be-sleeved wax arm, for example) and placed in glass vitrines. The overall effect bordered on the surreal, especially as the mannequins had realistic facial expressions. Visitors paid 20 francs for entry, and the proceeds were donated to charity.

Chanel’s ‘Exposition de Bijoux de Diamants’ was attended by the great and the good — princes and politicians, artists and actors — photographed by the filmmaker Robert Bresson, featured in the newsreels and covered, often on the front page, by the world’s press. Why the fuss? By the 1930s, Chanel was an international celebrity. What began in 1910 as a millinery establishment had become one of the largest couture houses in Paris.

Chanel had created a style so unique, so timeless, so desirable that it is still in vogue today. She had been paid $1 million dollars to design costumes for only three Hollywood films and her perfume sales alone made her one of the richest women in Europe. A 10-year affair with the 2nd Duke of Westminster, the wealthiest man in England, added to the Chanel magic.

Timing played a part, too. To unveil jewellery with an estimated value of £55 million (in today’s money) during a period of widespread economic hardship — it was the depths of the Depression — was, to say the least, audacious; which brings us to the story behind the exhibition.

The collection was commissioned by the Diamond Corporation of London with the express purpose of reviving demand after the 1929 stock market crash. It loaned the diamonds and paid for all the pieces — many of which involved complex settings as thin as wire — to be made. De Beers stock, by the way, rose 20 points after the exhibition opened. At least two pieces from the show were purchased on the first day. Yet such was the power of the Parisian jewellery guilds that they were able to stop sales on the grounds of unfair competition. What of the jewellery itself?

The majority of pieces followed a celestial theme. Janet Flanner in The New Yorker wrote: ‘Mlle Chanel’s mountings for the jewels are in design dominantly and delicately astronomical. Magnificent lopsided stars for earrings; as a necklace, a superb comet whose nape-encircling tail is all that attaches it to a lady’s throat; bracelets that are flexible rays; crescents for hats and hair; and, as a unique set piece mounted in yellow gold, a splendid sun of yellow diamonds.’

There were also trompel’oeil textile motifs — ribbons, fringes and feathers — and a few with simple geometric patterns. It is widely believed that Chanel’s inspiration came from the orphanage where she spent much of her childhood. This was attached to the medieval Cistercian abbey at Aubazine in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the coat of arms of which incorporates the sun, moon and stars and where stained-glass windows and mosaic floors contain other symbols found in the collection.

The show was surrounded by mystery. Chanel never said why she agreed to hold the show; she was famous for her costume jewellery and for combining real gems with fake ones, for wearing pearls with tweed instead of ballgowns, so the move into high jewellery was out of character, to say the least.

What happened to the pieces when the show closed? Long after Chanel had died, the company spent a small fortune trying to find out and we must assume that the collection was dismantled. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to describe this as a tragedy. Yet, although the originals are denied to us, all is far from lost.

In 1993, Karl Lagerfeld relaunched Chanel Fine Jewellery, and eight pieces from the original Bijoux de Diamants selection were reissued. In the years that followed, further designs were reissued and new pieces, inspired by the originals, were released.

I’ve not had the opportunity to visit the CHANEL jewellery mansion in Paris, but I will confess to being a customer of its London sister. After making an extremely modest purchase — considering the fabulous jewels on display — one of the assistants patiently waited as I breathed all over their display cabinets and then showed me one beautifully decorated salon after another. The interior, based on Chanel’s own private apartment, is almost as breathtaking as the jewellery.

This feature originally appeared in the September 9, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe