Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Perfume Anniversaries 2013: Guerlain, Ricci, Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, Cartier, Dior, Lutens and Rodriguez

2013 marks anniversaries for many fragrances which are classics or modern classics. In order to celebrate I am amassing a few links in homage to their status in perfumery so you can enjoy a mini retrospective.



Guerlain's Vol de Nuit fetes its 80th birthday this year. A wonderful classic, it fused the green note of galbanum into an otherwise soft as goose down oriental. Guerlain also celebrates a much older birthday: Cologne Imperiale from 1853!

Nina Ricci L'Air du Temps is only 65, but what a turbulent milestone. The dove-crowned bottle has become the symbol of peace after the storm, as romantic as it is memorable.

Yves Saint Laurent's Paris perfume is much younger: 30 years old. This ebullient rose has left its mark. Many recall it as a formative step in our perfume timeline. A similar time-frame floral, Eternity by Calvin Klein becomes 25. A sweeter floral, Classique by Jean Paul Gaultier, becomes 20 years old this year.

Cartier has its own best-seller fragrance: Declaration which completes 15 years of resounding aesthetic and commercial success. A masculine modern classic, as is Dior's Fahrenheit, 10 years its senior. Narciso for Her by Narciso Rodriguez is 10 years old this year. The little kid on the block has become a reference for the market with everyone copying it. And a lint which expands at an ever increasing rate! (check the highlighted link for a breakdown of all the concentrations/editions of Narciso Rodriguez Narciso fragrance)

Last but not least, Ambre Sultan by Serge Lutens is already 20 years old. A niche fragrance youth who hasn't lost its bronzy suaveness.

~concept inspired by Iris Delambre, pic via joyce.fr


12 comments:

  1. I think I might put on some Ambre Sultan today.

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  2. Perfume anniversaries of old classics should more properly be referred to as memorial services.

    This is less sad than last year (grotesque) memorial for L'Heure Bleue. Plus, to me VdN feels less essential than HB. At least Ambre Sultan is still good.

    cacio

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  3. Ellen16:51

    Some of the fragrances which are celebrating were some of my favorites and still are, for that matter. My brother brought me a bottle of Paris when he returned from a trip to that magnificent city. And who could ever forget L'Air du Temps. Ambre Sultan still sings its siren song for me. There is a reason they are called "classics." Some things do stand the test of time.

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  4. Happy birthday to Vol de Nuit!!!

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  6. Mimi G18:27

    Totally agree with Cacio but happy birthday to one of my most beloved perfumes Vol de Nuit . I have gotten more compliments with wearing Vol de Nuit than any other fragrance. Here's to at least another 80 years !

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  7. Laurels01:29

    L'Air du Temps is 65!? I remember all the ads from my childhood, and knew some glamorous teens who wore it, I'd have guessed 35.

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  8. Anonymous13:31

    I'd love to explore more of this line, the one I came across was a beauty!

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  9. Kera13:38

    I'd love to explore more of this line, the one I came across was a beauty!

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  10. I wore L'Aire de Temps on my wedding day 1971.

    Paris I bought cheap in Fiji and gave it away because I didn't know nothin' way back then.

    Now I'm in it to win it!!!

    keewee

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  11. karuna94903:33

    Eternity doesn't get a lot of love from the perfume community, but it was one of my first and I still adore it!

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  12. I remembered saving my allowance for a bottle of Paris. When I started working I stop using it, let me try it again! Hopefully it would still suit me.

    ReplyDelete

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