Chanel names Marie-Laure Cérède to lead jewelry creation studio

Chanel has named Marie-Laure Cérède to lead its jewelry creation studio, placing a designer with deep Cartier instincts at the helm of all precious jewelry and high jewelry creations from October 2026. The appointment matters because it puts a seasoned hand inside one of the house’s most visible creative engines, where Chanel’s codes are translated into objects meant to be worn, collected and eventually remembered.

Cérède will report to Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel watches and fine jewelry, and will work closely with teams in Paris and Geneva. She succeeds Patrice Leguéreau, who guided Chanel’s jewelry creation studio for 15 years until his death in November 2024. The move also reinforces the importance of 18 Place Vendôme in Paris, the historic building that houses the Creation Studios, the High Jewelry workshop, the Patrimoine and the boutique itself.

Cérède arrives with a résumé that suggests both technical fluency and a strong visual signature. She grew up in Libreville, Gabon, studied at ESCP Europe and joined Harry Winston in 2002, where she spent 14 years as artistic director of jewelry and watchmaking. She returned to Cartier in 2016, most recently serving as creative director for watches and jewelry.

That Cartier chapter is the key to reading Chanel’s choice. Cérède’s recent work included Clash Unlimited, the Reflection de Cartier cuff watch, Cartier Libre designs shaped like carabiners or panther claws, and the cushion-shaped Trinity ring created for the line’s centenary. These are not quiet gestures. They are pieces built around clear silhouettes, coded references and recognizable symbols, a language that can travel well from high jewelry into personalized fine jewelry, where buyers often want a design that feels intimate without losing graphic force.

Chanel’s own process, from the first sketch in the Creation Studio to the search for exceptional gemstones and the final production by artisans at 18 Place Vendôme, depends on a designer who can hold narrative and construction in equal measure. Cérède’s appointment points to a future in which Chanel’s high jewelry may lean even more deliberately into motif, meaning and emotional shorthand. For custom and bespoke jewelry, that could be the more lasting signal: pieces that are not only luxurious, but legible in the way they tell a story.