SAMPLE .. Guerlain, Coque d'Or, 'Golden Shell', 1/2 ml. DECANTED SAMPLE from Flacon, Parfum Extrait, Flacon Quadrilobe, 1937, 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.

Coque d'Or is a Jacques Guerlain perfume from 1937. The name, which means "golden shell", is derived from the French title of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1907 opera The Golden Cockerel or "Le Coq d’Or", and is reflected in the gilded Baccarat bottle, shaped like a bow tie in cobalt blue crystal. As a historical footnote, Jacques Guerlain dedicated Coque d'Or to his friend Serge Diaghilev, Russian art critic and founder of the Ballets Russes, whose favourite perfume reportedly was Mitsouko.

According to Guerlain, the bottle is a nod to Diaghilev too, as he always wore a bow tie at his soirées. 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-oakmoss 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."

"There is a slight similarity between Mitsouko and Coque d'Or in the base of musky chypre notes, providing an “almost ashy mossiness” to the blend. The carnation is very prominent, but it is tempered by the cyclamen with its tobacco note and the dry powdery orris. Coque d’Or is for me a great improvement over Mitsouko, whose earthiness is a bit too basic for my tastes. It also resembles Sous Le Vent a great deal but is a much denser blend than that airy classic. A critic has labeled Coque d’Or as heavy silk, compared with Mitsouko’s velvet and Vol de Nuit’s fur impressions. It is certainly a masterpiece and rare as hen’s teeth. This is especially true in its unique presentation bottle in cobalt blue and Baccarat crystal, hand painted with gold, and in the shape of a bow, one of the most expensive bottles ever created. It is surprising to me that this was created for women as it seems very masculine to my nose. The top note of anise, mixed with lavender and bergamot call to mind a fougere, but almost immediately the heart and base notes enter and declare it chypre territory." Basenotes Review, Jack Twist.

This is an extraordinary work of art and all fans of Mitsouko should make it a point to encounter it. Another Guerlain masterpiece. Coque d'Or was meant not least as a response to "the world's most expensive perfume", Jean Patou’s Joy (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, Oak Moss, and Vanilla

Offered here is an opportunity to buy a small decant of this wonderful fragrance. Very rare and hard to find! Still lovely .. !