French luxury brand Chanel has unveiled new trophies for the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities, marking the first new awards introduced since the company became the event’s title sponsor. The announcement took place on Wednesday at the Presidents’ Challenge event held at Somerset House in London.
Chanel, which began its sponsorship in 2024 and will continue through at least 2029, has integrated its signature J12 watch into the event as the official timekeeper, branding the race as the Chanel J12 Boat Race. The new trophies—a pair of matching cups for the men’s and women’s competitions—reflect the unisex design ethos of the J12 watch series. Both trophies were designed by Arnaud Chastaingt, director of Chanel’s watch creation studio, and crafted in the UK by London-based silversmith Thomas Lyte, which holds a royal warrant.
The trophies feature traditional sterling silver cups encased within rectangular aluminium frames—white for the women’s trophy and black for the men’s—a deliberate nod to the J12’s original white and black ceramic models introduced in 2000. The design process took two years, during which Chastaingt engaged with event organizers and rowing crews to understand the history and significance of past trophies. This research included studying previous awards created by British silversmiths Nicholas Winton and Rod Kelly.
The construction of the trophies posed significant technical challenges. The traditional silver cups had to be precisely cut in half and integrated into the aluminium frames without compromising structural integrity. More than 120 fixings and custom-made tools were necessary to assemble the pieces, and the team worked to reconcile the differing tolerances of hand-finished silver and engineered aluminium. Each trophy required more than 320 hours to complete.
Chanel executives emphasized the importance of British craftsmanship given the Boat Race’s heritage and the country’s long-standing silversmithing tradition. Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel watches and fine jewellery, highlighted the trophies as symbols of the brand’s enduring commitment to the event. Both he and Chastaingt noted that the equal size of the men’s and women’s trophies reflects modern values of gender equality, resonating with the race’s progress in offering equal recognition, funding, and broadcast coverage to both competitions since 2015.
The timing also coincides with upcoming milestones for the race, including the centenary of the women’s competition in 2027 and the 200th anniversary of the men’s race in 2029. Chastaingt framed the awards as an homage to founder Gabrielle Chanel’s early 20th-century creation of an androgynous and contemporary aesthetic.
Chanel continues to invest heavily in brand promotion, reporting $19.3 billion in revenue and $4.7 billion in operating profit in 2025, with nearly $2.4 billion allocated to client engagement and marketing. For Grangié and Chastaingt, the new trophies represent not only craftsmanship but also the emotional connection inherent in both watchmaking and the celebration of athletic achievement.