Authentic Chanel N°5 Bottle Gold Pin Brooch — La Collection, Brand New

The N°5 bottle is one of the few pieces of packaging anyone can draw from memory — square, flat-shouldered, with the faceted stopper and the label that hasn’t meaningfully changed since 1921.

This is that bottle in miniature: polished gold-tone metal, the white label picked out in enamel with N°5 CHANEL PARIS PARFUM, and a tiny CC on the stopper. Butterfly clutch on the back.

Where to wear it. On a jacket lapel, which is the obvious place and still the best one — it reads as deliberate on tweed, denim or a blazer. On a coat collar. On the strap of a bag, where it does what a charm does without the swing. On a beret, a scarf, or the front of a tote. Pinned to a cardigan it dresses the whole thing up without any other jewellery needed.

It’s small enough to be an everyday pin rather than an occasion one, which is the difference between a brooch you own and a brooch you wear.

Condition

Brand new, never used.