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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Guerlain Chamade (1969) Fragrance Review Series Part 4: Separating the Myths

Morsels of legends, however interesting, may not necessarily be true within the sea of civilization.

―By guest writer AlbertCAN



Upon discovering Chamade yours truly was told that master perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain conducted over 1,100 fragrance trials. While there is a grain of truth in this story-since all memorable vintage Guerlain fragrances were the results of meticulous modifications- the title of the most fine-tuned within the Guerlain realm officially belongs to Nahema (1979). Guerlain Chamade was developed for years before coming to light, but whether it took over 1000 tries is another debate of itself.

Chamade bottles via estellana.com
pic via Basenotes.net

And then there's the bottle: even Guerlain the company can't agree on the same story. Officially it's a heart upside-down, pierced by the arrow stopper, but its creator Raymond Guerlain begs to differ. His actual muse? See below.



The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli, complete with the giant clam shell as the bottle and the young goddess as the stopper. Interesting how life works sometimes.

 
Photos: Detail of The Birth of Venus from Google; Guerlain Chamade bottle from Etsy
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6 comments:

  1. Fiordiligi14:42

    I didn't know we were getting a fourth part! I have always been told that the bottle was an upside-down heart, too, but who knows? It is an especially beautiful design, though.

    I will definitely wear this scent tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous15:16

    Ah, but there's more. We're just putting the finishing touches on this series! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. MJ21:33

    I cannot tell you how much I'm enjoying these posts so far. I love Chamade, as it's always my "first spring" fragance. In fact I've been using it these past days, when the weather has turned a bit warmer in Barcelona.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous05:01

    MJ, so kind of you to let me know! The weather here in Vancouver is moody at best, but I just did come back home seeing the most dramatic dusty mauve sky :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. lady jicky07:05

    Helg --- those older ads are just So Much Better than anything they do these days!

    Mystery and Luxury in one page!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Perfumeshrine14:08

    M,

    so very true....... :-)
    It's hard to do something that good nowadays that we have seen everything.

    ReplyDelete

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