Chanel takes first dip into trophies with Boat Race designs
The UK rowing contest’s title sponsor is replicating the unisex approach of its J12 watch with the men’s and women’s cups
Chanel has extended its involvement in the Boat Race, the annual rowing contest between Oxford and Cambridge universities and one of Britain’s oldest sporting events, by creating the competition’s first trophies since becoming its title sponsor.
Unveiled today at the ceremonial Presidents’ Challenge event at London’s Somerset House, the matching men’s and women’s trophies are the latest part of a sponsorship that has already put Chanel’s J12 — one of the French luxury house’s most important watch models — at the centre of the race as its official timekeeper.
“These trophies are the first in our history and they are an expression of our long-term commitment to the Boat Race,” says Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel watches and fine jewellery.
Chanel’s sponsorship — which was announced in 2024 and took effect last year — is expected to run until at least 2029, encompassing the women’s race centenary in 2027 and the men’s 200th anniversary two years later.
Designed by Arnaud Chastaingt, director of Chanel’s watch creation studio, and made in the UK by London silversmith Thomas Lyte, the trophies combine a traditional sterling silver cup with a rectangular aluminium frame — white for the women’s competition and black for the men’s.
The colour scheme deliberately references the J12, which Chanel introduced in black ceramic in 2000 and subsequently in white. The watch gives its name to what is now officially the Chanel J12 Boat Race, linking the sponsorship directly to the house’s watch business.
Over the two years spent developing the trophies, Chastaingt used the design process to familiarise himself with the race and its traditions, travelling to the UK to meet event organisers, examine previous trophies and speak to the crews about what they meant to them. Those included cups made by British silversmiths Nicholas Winton and Rod Kelly. He also considered the practical requirements of a trophy which needed to be strong but not too heavy, substantial in size but also comfortable to hold. “It was not simply about designing a beautiful object. It was about giving form to a moment of achievement that belongs to many people,” he adds.
For both Grangié and Chastaingt, it was important to draw on British craftsmanship, given both the race’s history and the country’s centuries-old silversmithing tradition. Thomas Lyte, which holds a royal warrant as silversmith to the King, was brought in to translate Chastaingt’s design into the finished trophies.
The practical challenges of bringing the design’s cup-within-a-frame form were obvious from the first meeting between Chastaingt and Thomas Lyte’s master silversmiths. “We realised we first had to make the central classic trophy, using all the usual skills of spinning and casting, silversmithing and polishing,” says Kevin Baker, Thomas Lyte’s chief executive.
The next step turned traditional craftsmanship techniques on their head. The company’s craftsmen had to cut each 50cm-high cup in half before inserting them into each side of the aluminium frame while preserving the cup’s structural integrity. “We have made thousands of trophies, but we have never cut one in half before,” says Baker.
A total of 120 fixings were required to connect the structures, with Thomas Lyte creating specially made tools to access intricate areas, such as around the handles and lid. An additional challenge presented itself in seamlessly connecting elements made from two entirely different metals, handworked silver with tolerances of 1mm-1.5mm, and engineered aluminium that has tolerances of thousandths of millimetres.
“There was a whole cycle of creating the different handmade elements to make sure they fitted within the frame,” says Baker, who adds that it took more than 320 hours at the bench to complete each cup.
Grangié and Chastaingt were also keen that the cups should be completed in time for the centenary next year of the first women’s race. “[It] gives the project an even stronger resonance. Celebrating women’s performance and determination naturally echoes values that are very close to Chanel’s DNA,” says Chastaingt.
The trophies come as Chanel continues to spend heavily on promoting and developing its brand. The privately owned luxury group reported revenues of $19.3bn in 2025, up 2 per cent, and operating profit of $4.7bn, up 5 per cent. It invested almost $2.4bn during the year in brand activities including client engagement.
To Grangié, the cups reflect founder Gabrielle Chanel’s creation of a contemporary, often androgynous, look for women in the early 20th century. In the spirit of gender equality in modern sporting events, the two cups are of equal size.
Siobhan Cassidy, chair of The Boat Race Company, which receives money from commercial deals associated with the contest, says the race was ahead of its time in this perspective. “Since 2015, the women’s race has received the same funding, been raced on the same course and received the same level of broadcast coverage as the men’s,” she says.
The cups also nod to the brand’s creation of the J12 watch. This unisex style was created in ceramic at a time when the material was not widely used in watchmaking. Initially dismissed by some traditionalists, it is now considered a classic of its time by fans and critics alike. “It is always our creative vision that leads the journey,” says Grangié.
Chastaingt agrees: “[Whether I am] creating a Chanel watch, or creating the Boat Race trophy, my objective is absolutely the same: to create an emotion."