When Francis Kurkdjian was tasked to craft a perfume for Baccarat’s 250th anniversary again in 2014, he didn’t know he would have an olfactory hit on his arms. Almost a decade later, Baccarat Rouge 540 – so named for the temperature at which gold mud and crystal rework right into a molten pink hue – has turn into one of many world’s most coveted fragrances, a lot so, that it’s even been namedropped in a Drake tune.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Maison Francis Kurkdjian)
A decade on, although, Kurkdjian wished to push his creation additional, releasing one thing even rarer and much more exhilarating. Right this moment, the perfumer’s eponymous perfume home, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, has unveiled an ultra-limited version of Baccarat Rouge – the Édition Millésime.
So restricted is the discharge that solely 54 bottles will likely be launched per yr for the subsequent decade. And so valuable are the elements, {that a} flacon of Édition Millésime will set you again $28,000.
The perfume’s rarity, to not point out breathtaking value, comes from an ingredient that’s even rarer than gold: ambergris, a substance that varieties within the digestive tracts of sperm whales thought to originate from undigested squid beaks. ‘It is tremendous disgusting,’ Kurkdjian tells Wallpaper*. However as soon as expelled into the ocean and washed ashore, the hardened materials emits a musky, earthy odour that’s been treasured by perfumers for hundreds of years.
(Picture credit score: Laurent Humbert)
Although the unique Baccarat Rouge perfume consists of an ambergris accord, it’s an artificial model that’s derived from a aromatic herb referred to as clary sage. Because the perfumer recollects, ‘In some unspecified time in the future, I stated to my enterprise accomplice Marc [Chaya] that I might like to push some boundaries and to make use of actual ambergris. Nonetheless, if I do, you will not be capable to promote as a lot.’
And thus, Édition Millésime was born.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Maison Francis Kurkdjian)
As a result of Kurkdjian had by no means labored with actual ambergris, he had to do a little analysis. In reality, he fairly actually immersed himself in it, spending weeks on a ship with Longitude 181, an environmental organisation co-founded by a protege of legendary French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, to study sperm whales and their migration habits.
Working with a specialised ambergris dealer, Kurkdjian acquired a block of the pure stuff, crushed it right into a powder, and synthesized it right into a valuable liquid. Working with it, Kurkdjian says, is an olfactory model of enhancing a picture in Photoshop: ‘You inform the man subsequent to you, “push the sunshine, carry the brightness. Okay, cease there, return.” Fragrance works the identical, roughly,’ he says.
‘Actual ambergris brings indescribable, intangible, sexiness.’
Francis Kurkdjian
So what does Édition Millésime scent like? Followers of the Baccarat Rouje 540 might not be capable to discern the distinction instantly, however because the fragrance mellows, it reveals extra complexities, even a sure creaminess, per the perfumer. ‘The brand new scent stays in the identical household, it’s only a distinction of power,’ Kurkdjian explains. ‘It is larger when it comes to quantity and sillage. You may have extra power. Actual ambergris brings indescribable, intangible, sexiness.’
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Maison Francis Kurkdjian)
Such a exceptional fragrance required an equally exceptional vessel. Kurkdjian and his group labored straight with the artisans at Baccarat in jap France to craft a particular pink crystal bottle and luminous base for Édition Millésime. ‘It was a really intense dialog,’ the perfumer recollects. ‘[I told them] you must push your boundaries. I pushed my boundaries with the scent.’
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Maison Francis Kurkdjian)
The result’s one thing that’s an objet d’artwork, moderately than a easy fragrance bottle; The bottle, which comes topped with a pure gold cap, and base, which ensconces the bottle between eight crystal pillars, required 19 artisans to make and a few 500 hours of workmanship. The bottle and base, in flip, are saved in a spruce field – a miniature model of those that Baccarat makes use of to move chandeliers – and even comes with its personal drawstring leather-based carrying bag.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy Maison Francis Kurkdjian)
The 54 fortunate house owners who come up with Édition Millésime this yr may also be part of an unique clique referred to as ‘Les amis du Rouge’ and have entry to particular invitation-only occasions and releases from the Maison; every fragrance bottle even comes with its personal membership card.
Kurkdjian, for his half, didn’t have a specific end-customer in thoughts to be part of this exclusively-scented set. ‘When you begin to suppose that you simply wish to goal a gaggle, it turns into low cost,’ he insists.
Nonetheless, we wouldn’t be one bit stunned if Drake – and several other different avowed A-Listing followers – joined the membership.
Supply: Wallpaper
