Guerlain, Chamade, 'Drum Beat of Surrender', 250 ml. or 8.5 oz. Flacon, Eau de Toilette Flacon Goutte, 1969, 1975, 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.

Chamade was created by Paul Guerlain in 1969, and it was inspired by the Francoise Sagan's novel “La Chamade”. In the time of Napoleon, ‘chamade’ was a very fast drumbeat that called to retreat. This perfume is meant to emulate the heavy heartbeat of a person in love and its fragrance is based on hyacinth, heavy and green, and blackcurrant that can be sensed through the oily hyacinth richness. The fragrant love story is housed in a beautiful bottle in a shape of an upside down turned heart, pierced by an arrow .. a symbol of surrender to love. The bottle was designed by Raymond Guerlain just a year before he passed away. This is a lush exotic scent

Chamade has that heartbreakingly romantic quality, an aloof beauty that slowly reveals itself on the skin. It's the hyacinth .. when it is found in perfume, something magical happens and it becomes a most alluring fragrance note. The green note gives way to a beautiful accord that seems to shine like a diamond in the sunlight. Chamade takes its time to develop completely, but the wait is worth it. It is both elegant and sensual.

Top notes are Bergamot, Hyacinth, Turkish Rose, Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, and Lilac
Heart notes are Blackcurrant Buds, Lily of the Valley, Galbanum, Iris, and Cassis
Base notes are Vetiver, Vanilla, Benzoin, Amber, Sandalwood, Peru Balsam, Tolu Balsam, and Tonka Bean

Offered here is a vintage 1970's bottle of this beautiful exotic scent. It looks to me as though it has never been used. . It comes in its original presentation box. The perfume represents the heavy heartbeat of passion with its upside down heart shaped bottle .. a surrender to love! Chamade means 'Fast drum beat' .. or refers to the military surrender signal!

Offered here is a pristine bottle of the gorgeous Chamade in the Eau de Toilette format, still sealed and in its original presentation box. Such a beautiful fragrance .. . exquisite!