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.

Looking to Buy Vintage Fragrances?

Showing posts with label mystery bottle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery bottle. Show all posts

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Ebay Find - FAKE Liu

The listing states that this is an "ULTRA RARE VINTAGE GUERLAIN PERFUME " LIU ".... GLASS BOTTLE WITH FROSTED STOPPER .... LAUNCHED IN 1927 .... UNKNOWN BOTTLE FOR GUERLAIN .... PERHAPS A LITTLE WAR PRODUCTION .... NEVER SEEN ON EBAY ....  SMALL SIZE 2/3  FULL AND SEALED WITH ORIGINAL BOX .... VERY GOOD VINTAGE CONDITION FOR BOTH BOTTLE AND BOX .... SIZE OF THE BOTTLE IS 6,7 X 4,9 X 1,9 CM OR 2,6 X 1,9 X 0,75 INCH .... A MUSEUM BOTTLE FOR GUERLAIN COLLECTOR'S ...."


The truth:


This bottle is a clever fake and I will tell you why.

Bottle: The bottle itself is 1920s and older and was never a bottle used by Guerlain. It is a much cheaper manufactured bottle than a luxury company like Guerlain would have used.

Labels: It is not hard to find loose labels or bottles online. It would be easy to apply a loose label to any bottle. A second the label was applied to the box.

Box: This box style was never used by Guerlain and appears to be blue and gold, not a color combination used for Liu. Not even during the war years. There are two very specific bottles used for wartime presentations, and this is not one of them.

Trimming: The baudruchage cording and metal seal appears to be taken from a Shalimar bottle. 

Sticker on base: The label on the bottom of the bottle appears to have been soaked off another Guerlain bottle, this particular label was used from 1930s, during the World War II, and until end of 1940s. 








I have never seen this flacon used by Guerlain...ever....I am suspect of this flacon and even more so by the condition of the tax stamp on the base of the bottle. It looks as if it was wet and loosened from another bottle and affixed onto this one. The condition of the tax stamp should be near pristine as the rest of the bottle, the labels and the box. This bothers me.

Also, I believe that two labels were removed from two genuine Liu flacons and affixed to this bottle and box. A genuine Guerlain baudruchage was removed from a bottle and added to this bottle to "complete" it.  Look at the bottom edges of the label on the bottle, see how they have been dog eared?

I know that Guerlain did use different flacons over the years due to wartime shortages and special editions, but can someone please explain this one? Is it really a genuine Guerlain bottle and presentation or is it a cleverly made fake? I think the latter. I do not propose that the current seller did this, as he has had several genuine flacons over the years. I believe he may have purchased this from an unscrupulous seller at one time and himself was duped into believing that this is a rare example. Let me know  your thoughts.

Could this be the smaller limited edition Flacon Plat by Pochet et du Courval in 1929???...

Flacon Plat (Flat) c1910-1959

Limited edition flacons created by Baccarat and Pochet et du Courval. Housed various Guerlain fragrances such as Kadine, Djedi and L'Heure Bleue.

Baccarat:

  • 40cc/40ml/1.35 oz - 7.7cm/3.03" (limited edition of only 500 in 1916) 
  • 80cc/80ml/2.7 oz - (limited edition of only 500 in 1916) 


Pochet et du Courval:

  • 20ml/0.676 oz - 5.5cm/2.17" (1929)




now this is what the Liu flacon should look like...photo from Quirky Finds