Hello and welcome! Please understand that this website is not affiliated with Guerlain in any way, it is only a reference site for collectors and those who have enjoyed the classic fragrances of days gone by. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. The main objective of this website is to chronicle the 200+ year old history of the Guerlain fragrances and showcase the bottles and advertising used throughout the years. Let this site be your source for information on antique and vintage Guerlain perfumes. Another goal of this website is to show the present owners of the Guerlain company how much we miss many of the discontinued classics and hopefully, if they see that there is enough interest and demand, they will bring back these fragrances! I invite you to leave a comment below (for example: of why you liked the fragrance, describe the scent, time period or age you wore it, who gave it to you or on what occasion, what it smelled like to you, how it made you feel, any specific memories, what it reminded you of, maybe a relative wore it, or you remembered seeing the bottle on their vanity table), who knows, perhaps someone from the current Guerlain brand might see it. If you have any questions, please send all images of your bottle and pertinent information directly to me at cleopatrasboudoir@gmail.com. I will try to assist you the best I can.

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Thursday, October 23, 2014

La Ruche Imperiale - 160 Year Anniversary of the Bee Bottle c2013

La Ruche Impériale- was one of several special presentations created in 2013 to mark the 160th anniversary of the creation of the bee bottle, known as the Abeille flacon.



Guerlain commissioned nine “Maîtres d’art” of the Institut National des Métiers d’Art of France. Giving them full artistic freedom to create whatever they could envision to centre around a one litre bee bottle. The resulting incarnations are truly the epitome of one of a kind masterpieces.


The unique bottles were on display at the Maison Guerlain, 68, Champs-Élysées, from the 10th of December 2013 to the 14th of February 2014 and were showcased in photo and video exhibitions in Guerlain’s Exclusive Line Doors in 2014. They will be sold to help fund the “Maîtres d’art – Students” project, in which master artists pass down rare and exceptional skills to apprentices, overseen by the Institut National des Métiers d’Art (INMA). You can read more about the INMA online.

Laurent Nogues, Maître d’art – Class of 2011. This founder of the Creanog studio is the preeminent artist in the sector of embossing, hot-stamping and insets on paper. He fabricates labels for affluent brands and highly respected institutions.

From Guerlain:

“La Ruche Impériale” (“The Imperial Hive”) 
A graphic art version of the honeycombs that make up the hive. This precious honeycomb-shaped case is just waiting to be opened and unfolded to reveal the innovation and splendour of paper transformed through embossing. It is composed of six panels lined with white paper embossed with a tone-on-tone honeycomb motif. On closer view, one notices an optical illusion on the central stamp that represents the legendary bottle. The development of specific tools and a very singular embossing technique allow for a complex, tailor-made geometry for endless effects of light with striking definition.