The Chanel Pearl Necklace: A Timeless Response to 2024 Bohemian Chic

“N othing is more beautiful than freedom of the body.” Coco Chanel’s words became emblematic of the Chanel maison’s modus operandi. Chanel valued liberation of form above all. She approached women’s fashion with a revolutionary eye by centering fluid, androgynous, and comfortable yet chic designs. Coco Chanel’s stylistic expertise did not just stop at textiles and silhouettes, but extended far into accessories, including her wildly successful foray into jewelry. Chanel was known for her love of pearls. Pearls were reflective, bouncing light onto the wearer’s face. As such, she wore strings and strings of pearls, layering real pearls with fake and embracing the fashion faux-pas of costume jewelry for the sake of womanly adornment. Her personal fashion practices integrated seamlessly with Chanel. Over time she collaborated with some of the greatest collectors and designers, including Duke Fulco di Vedura and Robert Goosens to create beautiful pieces as an extension of Coco Chanel’s personal style and pioneering attitude.

As such, the Chanel pearl necklace as a complete creation became a motif of the brand. Its reflective capabilities, class, elegance, and flexibility has become thematic in the creation of other Chanel necklaces over the maison’s existence. As the landscape of fashion changes and trends are born, fade into obscurity, and resurrected, the watchful eye of a great fashion house is in constant conversation with trends. The 2024 Spring/Summer Ready to Wear season has witnessed many maisons return to the ease, comfort, and airiness of bohemian fashion, including Chanel and its revitalization of the Chanel necklace and Chanel pearl necklace in today’s day and age. Chanel has called back to many motifs within its jewelry line, blending trends from across its existence to offer the perfect bohemian jewelry collection. At Sotheby’s, our Marketplace boasts a collection of Chanel necklaces and Chanel pearl necklaces that embody many of the boho-chic themes in Chanel’s SS 24 RTW collection.

Bold Pendants and the Iconic Chanel Flap Bag

This SS 24 RTW season, we saw Chanel adorn their models with long, swinging mixed-media pearl necklaces and bold pendants.Long threads of chain were disrupted by pearls, lambskin, dropping into a heavy pendant. This includes the iconic Chanel flap bag motif, which has seen its fair share of interpretations over time. Pinks, whites, silver and lighter golds permeated the Chanel necklace of SS 24, with a fair share of black to create a balanced negative space while sitting on the wearer’s decollete. At Sotheby’s Marketplace, our Chanel 2021 Silver Metal, Black Leather, and Imitation Pearl Classic Flap Bag Necklace is one of the many pieces that embody the theme. Strings of white pearls sit alongside twists of black leather and silver metal, all of which are attached to a semi-functional chainmail classic flap bag to create an iconic take on the Chanel pearl necklace.

Long, Layered Chanel Necklaces

In true boho-chic fashion, layered necklaces have reasserted themselves as an iconic form of self-expression. Trading in leather and turquoise for shining metals, careful balances of light and dark, and dynamic shapes became Chanel’s 2024 response to bohemian fashion. Nearly each model that strutted down Chanel’s runway donned a stack of necklaces that twinkled whenever they moved, “an ode to liberty and movement” according to the show notes of creative director Virgine Viard. Sotheby’s Marketplace offers multiple layered Chanel necklaces, able to be worn on their own or used within a stack to further lean into the maximalist bohemian look. Our Chanel 2020 White Imitation Pearl, Black Strass and Pale Gold Metal CC Necklace offers a pre-layered triple stack of diverse imitation pearls, filled with CC motifs and the classic Chanel maltese cross as another modern interpretation of the Chanel pearl necklace. Another excellent offer would be our Chanel 2019 Multicolor Glass, Imitation Pearl, Strass and Pale Gold Metal Charm Necklace. Glass, metal, and pearl charms twinkle along three pre-layered pale gold metal chains as a playful, yet classy and chic take on the Chanel necklace.

Chanel Pearl Chokers

What do you think of when you hear the term ‘little black dress’? It is widely known that Coco Chanel is the woman to thank for the concept foundational to nearly everyone’s understanding of fashion and styling. The LBD debuted in an October 1926 issue of American Vogue as a sketch of a crepe de Chine chemise with delicate pleats, a cloche hat, and a Chanel pearl necklace. In 2024, Chanel traded in the traditional LBD for a tulle high-neck babydoll style dress and a pre-layered three stack of pearls in a Chanel pearl choker donned by model Adut Akech. In the same SS 24 RTW show, models were styled with Chanel pearl chokers stacked alongside gold necklaces of varying lengths. This further speaks to its versatility as a bohemian accessory. Over time, Sotheby’s has consigned and sold quite a few Chanel pearl necklaces and chokers to offer our clients. A notable example would be our Chanel 2017 Imitation Pearl Choker Necklace currently available at Sotheby's Markeplace. The iconic Chanel interlocking CC motif sits front and center, inlaid with crystal and surrounded by a dynamic interplay of diversely shaped and sized pearls twisted with a radiant gold chain.

Buy Chanel Necklaces at Sotheby's

Collectible and iconic Chanel necklaces are available for immediate purchase through Sotheby's Buy Now Marketplace. The curated selection of vintage and modern Chanel necklaces includes styles with pearls and other iconic motifs. Chanel necklaces from prior fashion collections are also sometimes available in the Handbags & Fashion auctions in New York, Paris, and Hong Kong. Sotheby's also often has a selection of Chanel fine jewelry pieces with in precious metals and diamonds. If you are interested in selling Chanel jewelry you can contact a Fashion Specialist or Jewelry Specialist depending on the type of Chanel jewelry.