Guerlain, Coque D'Or, 'Golden Shell', '80 ml. or 2.7 oz. Flacon de Guerre, Parfum Extrait, 1937, 1944, Paris, France ..

The House of Guerlain is one of the oldest perfume houses in the world. It was founded in 1828 when Pierre-Francois Pascal Guerlain opened up his first perfume store on 42, Rue de Rivoli in Paris.

Pierre-Francois composed and manufactured custom perfumes with the help of his two sons, Aime & Gabriel. His unique approach was to personalize perfume for a specific person, place or event. Honore de Balzac commisioned his own eau de toilette during the writing of Cesar Birotteau, and the periodical La Sylphide, le Journal des Elegances, scented each issue with a different fragrance by Guerlain.

Guerlain catered to the high society of Paris, and obtained a very loyal following. The perfume house was so successful that Guerlain decided to open a flagship store at 15, Rue de la Paix in Paris in 1840. The house was at its peak in 1853 with it's fragrance Eau de Cologne Imperiale. This perfume gained Guerlain the prestigious title of His Majesty's Official Perfumer of France. This in turn led him to create perfumes for other royals such as Queen Victoria of England, the Empress Sissi of Austria, the Queen of Belgium and Queen Isabella of Spain as well as other crowned heads of royalty.

Pierre-Francois passed away in 1854 and his sons inherited the perfume house. Aime became the master perfumer, a tradition that would be upheld for the next master perfumer in lineage. Gabriel managed and further expanded the house. Aime, created several fragrances for the perfume house, these include Fleur d'Italie, Rococo, and Eau de Cologne du Coq and his greatest creation, Jicky.

Guerlain Coque d'Or, created in 1937, is a legendary, rare chypre fragrance created by Jacques Guerlain, inspired by Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera and dedicated to Sergei Diaghilev. Known as a "heavy silk" scent, it features prominent notes of carnation, iris, spices, and a leathery, oak moss base.

It is a rich, warm spicy chypre with notes of peach, citrus, carnation, clove, iris, rose, leather, and oak moss. It is described as a velvety, powdery, and slightly androgynous leather scent, often compared to a blend of Mitsouko and Vol de Nuit.

Launched in 1937, its name means "Golden Shell." It was designed to accompany formal evening gowns and reflects the opulence of the Art Deco era. The original bottles are iconic, designed by Jean-Michel Franck in cobalt blue crystal painted with gold to resemble a bow. It is considered one of the most expensive and rare perfume presentations ever created.

While not in general production, it is regarded as a masterpiece of underappreciated work from Jacques Guerlain, foreshadowing later, more modern leather fragrances.

Perfume lovers who are familiar with the Jacques Guerlain catalogue will recognize his Mitsouko chypre style in Coque d’Or. Right from the start, we get the unique aldehyde-orris-oak moss rich accord which combines a comfortable, almost ashy mossiness with an aspect of luminosity and colour. In Coque d'Or, the latter is an exotic fruit note, reminiscent of pineapple and coconut .. and far more sweet than Mitsouko's peach .. together with cool cyclamen and powdery daffodil. The effect is ladylike in a 1930's film star kind of way: glamorous yet aloof, and slightly soft-focus.

The unmistakable scent of orris, with its strong hints of lipstick, old books, and brandy, is prominent in Coque d’Or from the beginning to the end, yielding that vintage vibe that pervades all the historic Guerlains. The high level of orris gives Coque d'Or a matte, precious finish that is almost tactile to the nose. Other standard Jacques Guerlain touches are jasmine, carnation, musk, and the use of balsam and amber. Not a single fluff or unevenness is to be found in this perfume which is wrapped in a cocoon of musk. If Mitsouko were velvet and Vol de Nuit were fur, then Coque d'Or is heavy silk. It exudes smoothness, understated luxury and a gravely voiced elegance, not too floral and darkened by vetiver and patchouli, that perfectly fits our nostalgic image of what someone like Marlene Dietrich would have been wearing back then. Accoding to the newspapers of the time, Coque d'Or was "made especially for long formal evening gowns."

Coque d'Or was meant not least as a response to "the world's most expensive perfume", Jean Patou’s Joy of 1930, and because of its innovative bottle design, made to resemble a bow tie in cobalt blue Baccarat crystal, and gilded by hand, the price of Coque d’Or ultimately exceeded that of Joy.

Top notes are Anise, Fruit Notes, Lavender, Bergamot, and Aldehydes
Heart notes are Jasmine, Carnation, Cyclamen, and Orris
Base notes are Vetiver, Patchouli, Tolu Balsam, Musk, Civet, Oak Moss, and Vanilla

Offered here is a highly collectible Flacon de Guerre containing 80 glorious mils of this wonderful fragrance. No box. Highly collectible .. very very rare .. This war time bottle was only used from 1938 to 1945 ..