Chanel, title sponsor and official timekeeping partner of the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge universities, has for the first time created trophies for the historic competition, which takes place each spring on the River Thames.

Winners of the Chanel J12 Boat Race, which is set for April 11, will take home trophies designed by Arnaud Chastaingt, director of Chanel‘s watchmaking creation studio. Chanel said the curves and volume of the traditional trophy have been “streamlined and re-sculpted” to enhance the polished silver.

An announcement was made Wednesday, during the Presidents’ Challenge, the annual opening ceremony at Somerset House in London that launches the countdown and training season for the Boat Race.

The two trophies, for the men’s and women’s crews, each sit within a rectangular frame that reflects Chanel’s signature colors. The women’s trophy frame is polished white with matte black lines, while the men’s is polished black with matching matte lines.

At the heart of the trophy is a crest-like seal made from gold-plated silver bordered in black, which is meant to celebrate “the victory and the encounter” between Chanel and the Boat Race.

Both trophies are equal in size and conceived for ease of handling, “with frames crafted to enable the winners’ maximum comfort in the moment of the victory showcase,” according to Chanel.

Chastaingt said he was “humbled and honored to lead the creation of trophies for the winners of this momentous race. The ambition was to preserve the trophy’s symbolism as a beacon of victory, while reinterpreting and refining it for today.”

He added: “My guiding principle was to illustrate the relationship between Chanel and the Boat Race through its design, to have Chanel’s presence felt without overshadowing the significance of either the trophy, or the race.”

The trophy was made by the British trophy specialists Thomas Lyte, which holds a Royal Warrant as goldsmiths and silversmiths to King Charles III. They were developed over nearly two years, and each one took 320 hours to complete, according to Chanel.

Next year, Chanel will also be marking the centenary of the Women’s Boat Race, which takes place on the same day, usually before the men’s. The company said that, in honor of the anniversary, the order of the races will be reversed.

The men’s will take place first on the Championship Course at 15:40, followed by the women’s at 16:40. The races are scheduled to last 1.5 and 2.5 hours, respectively, before high tide.

When the first Women’s Boat Race was held in 1927, the Oxford and Cambridge crews were not permitted to compete directly against each other, so each team rowed separate races and were assessed on both style and speed.

It would be another 50 years before women’s rowing would enter the Olympic Games, so the students who took to the water in 1927 were trailblazers. Chanel said last year the Women’s Boat Race was the fifth most watched women’s sports production of the year, including coverage of the Paris Olympic Games.

Siobhan Cassidy, chair of The Boat Race Company Ltd., said the competition only takes place after the Presidents’ Challenge, a tradition dating back more than 200 years. During the event, presidents of the previous year’s losing crews formally challenge their victorious opponents to defend their titles.

Cassidy added: “It is this tradition that we are glad to uphold as we look forward to the next 100 years of the Women’s Boat Race. The centenary is the perfect time to deepen our longstanding partnership with Chanel, with the unveiling of the J12 Boat Race trophies. Our three organizations commit to precision — and an unwavering standard of form and function — that we are immensely proud to carry into the next 100 years.”

Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel watches and fine jewelry, said the company’s ambition “is to support and safeguard what makes this historic event so exceptional: its traditions, uncompromising standards and the remarkable collective endeavor it celebrates. The creation of these trophies embodies that commitment.”

He added: “Conceived with humility and respect for the heritage of The Chanel J12 Boat Race, the trophies unite Chanel’s creative vision in tribute to the athletes whose precision, discipline and teamwork define every edition. We hope they will become enduring symbols of achievement for the crews who raise them, today and for generations to come.”

The Boat Race was first raced by crews from Oxford and Cambridge universities in 1829, with the Women’s Boat Race following 98 years later. It is now one of the world’s oldest and most famous amateur sporting events. The race takes place in London on the Championship Course that stretches over 4.25 miles of tidal Thames in west London between Putney and Mortlake.