The Première was Chanel's first watch, launched in 1987 when the house created its watch division. Chanel's history says its octagonal dial was inspired by the stopper of the N°5 perfume bottle and by the shape of the Place Vendôme in Paris. The first Chanel watch boutique opened the same year at 40 avenue Montaigne.
Wikipedia credits the design to Jacques Helleu, the house's artistic director for nearly three decades by then. Helleu went on to design the ceramic J12, the watch that made Chanel a serious name in watchmaking.
In 1990 the house followed it with the Mademoiselle watch, on a bracelet of five rows of pearls, and the Première line has been reissued in many versions since.