Note: Please understand that this website is not affiliated with the Chanel company in any way, it is only a reference page for collectors and those who have enjoyed the Chanel fragrances.

The goal of this website is to show the present owners of the Chanel company how much we miss the discontinued classics and hopefully, if they see that there is enough interest and demand, they will bring back the perfume!

Please leave a comment below (for example: of why you liked the perfume, describe the scent, time period or age you wore it, who gave it to you or what occasion, any specific memories), who knows, perhaps someone from the company might see it.

Looking to Buy Vintage Fragrances?

Showing posts with label flacon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flacon. Show all posts

Monday, June 15, 2015

Chanel No. 19 c1970

Chanel No. 19 by Chanel: launched in 1970. Created by Henri Robert. In USA in 1972. Chairman of the board of Chanel, Inc, at the time, H. Gregory Thomas (who also served as president of the company for 32 years),  said that his good friend, Mademoiselle Chanel wanted a perfume all her own. It had to be something very different from Chanel No. 5, and she commissioned her top perfumers to work on the new concoction. 

A confidante of Chanel's is said to have told her: "Why not bottle that indomitable, creative, magnificent spirit of yours? Make it your own personal signature. There must be a fragrance that captures the very essence of Coco Chanel. There are many, many ways I would describe what is uniquely you. But I shall choose perhaps 19 of the most obvious. This perfume must do justice to each. You will always be young no matter what age you reach. And truly elegant in your manner and lifestyle. Intensely female. Graceful. Casually understated. Contemporary. Brilliant. Witty. Fascinating. Generous. Honest. Courageous. Outspoken. Supremely confident and completely independent as few women are or ever hope to be. You are logical. A perfectionist. Unforgettable. And way ahead fo your time and the rest of us as well."

According to the story, Chanel was both delighted and amused by it. And having been born on Aug 19, she found the temptation to name the new fragrance No. 19 too great to resist. This was Coco Chanel's private perfume which she used for the three years preceding her death. Her own private stock, she occasionally gave some to special friends or select couture customers of the 31 rue Cambon salon. But mainly, she kept it to herself, "So that," said Chanel, "when I leave the room a touch of me remains."

Thomas promised her that the fragrance would not be marketed until her death. "She felt that she didn't want it sold as long as she was alive," said Thomas. The unnamed perfume's formula was found among her personal papers. The perfume came to be named Chanel No. 19, after Coco Chanel's birthday, August 19. "She was born on Aug 19," said Thomas, "I know the real year of her birth, but I'm not telling." (It was revealed it was officially in 1883).



Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel c2001

Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel: launched in 2001. Created by Jacques Polge.



Sunday, July 6, 2014

Magnolia c1927

Magnolia: Created in 1927,

The parfum sold for $12.50 at the time. It was also available in eau de toilette in the cube bottle.



Monday, June 2, 2014

Vintage Chanel No. 5 Bottles in Fitted Case

Rare, vintage 1940s-1960s graduated set of three Chanel No. 5 glass perfume bottles with original contents in a fitted leather case. Holds 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz and 1 oz extrait.


Sunday, March 9, 2014

FAKE CHANEL PERFUME ALERT - Essence of Chanel No. 5

A vintage 1970s-1980s set holding an Italian sterling silver heart pendant with perfume funnel and mini bottle of "Essence of Chanel #5" perfume. This perfume is NOT genuine Chanel No. 5 perfume. It is a knockoff. The box has a small label that says "Box made in China for Elegant Montreal".




http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIQUE-VINTAGE-CHANEL-NO-5-WITH-SILVER-HEART-PENDANT-NECKLACE-AND-PERFUME-FUNNEL-/111283390498?pt=Vintage_Costume_Jewelry&hash=item19e901c822


FAKE CHANEL PERFUME ALERT!!! ROLLERBALL

HEADS UP! Here is a fake Chanel perfume being sold on ebay this week. It is a rollerball imprinted with "Chanel No. 5", however, Chanel has never produced this item before. It is one of those junky perfume oils you can find at flea markets, etc.

You have been warned....don't buy fake!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chanel-No-5-Roll-On-Cologne-Perfume-Partial-Bottle-Textured-Plastic-Cap-/360874571847?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5405ccf847


Sunday, December 15, 2013

Vintage 1980s Chanel Dramming Fountain

Dramming refers to a technique for transferring a fragrance from a larger container to a smaller one (some websites call this "decanting".)

When stores have “dramming events” they are telling you that they have very large bottles of the fragrance, usually on display, that they will pour into a smaller one for you, usually in connection with special promotions. A dramming machine is equipped with a small spigot in the front to fill the miniatures with that would be given away during fragrance launches or promotions.







photos from ebay seller foundintime



It is interesting to note that on ebay, dramming bottles and machines are NOT permitted to be sold. Their policies are shown below:

Perfume testers and dramming bottles (which are bottles from which small quantities can be taken for supply to consumers as free samples), typically marked with the words 'demonstration' or 'not for sale', may not be listed on eBay. Also, you need to make sure that the essential and legally required information - such as, among others, the identity of the manufacturer or the person responsible for marketing the product, the composition of the product (content and list of ingredients), the use of the product (function and particular precautions to be observed in use) and preservation of the product (date of minimum durability) - is not missing from any permissible cosmetic or perfume product. Smell-alike perfumes may not be listed on eBay when they are compared to a well-known brand or scent. You may not list a perfume in a bottle other than the original bottle (decanters).

Make sure your listing follows these guidelines. If it doesn't, it may be removed and you may be subject to a range of other actions, including restrictions of your buying and selling privileges and suspension of your account.

What are the guidelines?

Allowed:

  • New, in-box full-sized cosmetics
  • Factice bottles (dummy merchandise bottles)
  • Collector items (empty bottles)


Restricted:

Perfumes in their original bottles including miniatures and samples can be listed as long as you make sure that the essential and legally required information (see Policy overview) is not missing and that the box is not missing if the bottle came in a special box

Homemade cosmetics can be listed, as long as you make sure they comply with country regulations

Smell-alike perfumes can be listed, as long as there is no reference to a brand in the item title, attributes or description and the item is not listed in a category for branded items. Also, you are not allowed to circumvent this rule by misspelling brand names or otherwise trying to refer or allude to a brand.

Not allowed:

Items that are not allowed include, but are not limited to:

  • Testers
  • Dramming bottles
  • Decanters
  • Used cosmetics
  • Replica perfumes or cosmetics

Friday, December 13, 2013

Vintage 1970s Chanel Factice Wall Display

Vintage 1970s Chanel Factice Wall Display. 

This astonishing wood & plexiglass fronted display stand would have been removed from the wall in which it was set when Chanel altered the size of the bottles which happened to coincide when barcoding came into play in the early 1980's, it stands at exactly 48cms tall by 38cms wide by 5cms deep ( 1ft 5" tall x 1ft 3" wide x 2" deep ), it is in absolutely superb condition save the odd, easy to remove dark mark to the painted frame.

Of the 5 parfum bottles, the 2x 7ml bottles stand at 5.5cm, 2x 14ml bottles stand at 7cm & the largest, which is set into the centre of the display stands at 8cm are full with intact black wax CC logo seal & the original Baudruchage membrane (though the larger bottle has a small amount of residue). Thanks to the gold mirrored walls to the case being set at 45 degree angle to the flat face of the case the case appears to hold more than the 5 bottles.

This item sold on ebay for approximately $1,959.24 US dollars on Sept. 25, 2013.






Photos and info from ebay seller sam_in_barbate 

Friday, November 1, 2013

Chanel No. 31 c1920 and Mademoiselle Chanel 31 rue Cambon c1945

Chanel No. 31: launched around 1921, created by Ernest Beaux.

Chanel No 31: possibly relaunched in 1933.


On Thursday, March 04, 1948, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for MADEMOISELLE CHANEL 31 RUE CAMBON by Chanel, Inc., NEW YORK.

First Use Anywhere: 2/17/1948
First Use In Commerce: 2/17/1948

The USPTO has given the MADEMOISELLE CHANEL 31 RUE CAMBON trademark serial number of 71551168 in 1950. The federal status of this trademark filing expired in 1992.

Mademoiselle Chanel No. 31 rue Cambon: launched in 1945. Became Coco Chanel's signature scent following the split from the Wertheimer's.

Unhappy with the quality of the perfumes that the Wertheimers were selling in her name through their newly minted Chanel, Inc. company in the USA, in 1945, Gabrielle took matters into her own hands.

After finding a small perfumer in Switzerland to produce her new perfumes using the last of her raw materials, she started a new perfume line on her own and began making a line of competitive perfumes, based on the originals. She named them "Mademoiselle Chanel No.5", , “Mademoiselle Chanel 31 rue Cambon”. The perfumer also made new versions of Ernest Beaux’s creations and renamed them “Mademoiselle Chanel Bois des Iles” and “Mademoiselle Chanel Cuir de Russie.”

Gabrielle Chanel gave lawyer, Rene de Chambrun several tiny bottles to give to his wife. She then asked if it were possible that she could make these up from her own home, and Chambrun declared that she could, provided that she could only give them as “gifts”. Chambrun’s wife enjoyed the perfume and a Russian “nose” also agreed and they both deemed the perfume “exquisite”. A Swiss perfumer was instructed by Gabrielle to make up a hundred bottles of her various perfumes.

To get around the trademark for the bottle design, she used cylindrical bottles with sloping shoulder and topped with disk shaped, ground glass stoppers adorned with a red circular label bearing a large C for Chanel. These same bottles (sans Chanel labels) were also used by D’Orsay for several of their perfumes. To decorate the bottles Gabrielle used a eye catching red label with white lettering, in a simplistic font, true to her style of minimalism.

She then started selling the perfumes in her boutique. Chambrun mistakenly believed that she was permitted to do so in her contract with the Wertheimers. The Wertheimers disagreed and claimed she was counterfeiting their product of which they owned the trademark names. In 1946, a lawsuit between her and the Wertheimers ensued. They came to her boutique and seized all of her bottles labeled "Mademoiselle Chanel No. 5". A new settlement was reached and, she was allowed to sell perfumes under the name "Mademoiselle Chanel" but was not allowed to use the number 5 in conjunction with any of her perfumes.

Keeping her promise to Chambrun and Maitre Chresteil, president of the French Bar Association, she prefixed each perfume with “Mademoiselle Chanel” and sent them as gifts to her friends, Hollywood’s own Samuel Goldwyn and owners of the two most prolific department stores in New York Neiman Marcus and Bernard Gimbel.

She ceased the production of these perfumes in 1947. Who was the Swiss perfumer? No one knows. Gabrielle never revealed his name publicly.

So what does it smell like? Notes of oakmoss, jasmine and roses. This was later reformulated by Henri Robert and christened Chanel No. 19 and launched in 1970 as a tribute to Coco Chanel on the occasion of her birthday.

This is a different perfume than the newly made 31 rue Cambon: created in 2007 by Jacques Polge and Christopher Sheldrake. Notes: Iris, rose, jasmine, sandalwood, bergamot, black pepper, patchouli, citrus, labdanum


The Best French Short Stories of ... and the Yearbook of the ... - Page 23, 1923:
"They were like that cursed perfume — mixture No. 31, which he got from Chanel's — which always floated round Gerard. . . . Ah, what a nuisance!"


Photo from Elysium.

Photo from Elysium.


Jasmin c1933

Jasmin by Chanel: launched in 1933, created by Ernest Beaux.


Chypre c1925

Chypre: launched in 1925, created by Ernest Beaux.


Friday, October 4, 2013

Info on Chanel Perfume Bottles

Chanel perfume bottles...
  • All Chanel perfumes appear in the signature Chanel bottle based on the original Sem design. 
  • All Chanel bottles have been made by Verreries Brosse and usually the bases will be embossed with a VB or BR logo. 
  • From the 1920s until 1951, the small O used in any perfume beginning with No. (number), will have a dot underneath it, after 1951, the dot disappears. 
  • From 1970-1987, all Chanel's pure parfums will be marked with the word Perfume underneath the fragrance's name. Starting in 1988, we see the word Parfum used instead.
  • Starting in 1987, the words Paris/New York are added to Eau de Parfums.
  • Black striped boxes used up until 1958.
  • The words "New York Distributor" was used from the late 1940s and into the 1950s.
  • The familiar black and gold cologne sprays were introduced in 1958, they were metered to expel 800 sprays in each bottle. Light and sturdy, designed by Chanel for the age of air travel.
  • Cologne and talc was used from 1939 - onwards

Decipher the numbers found on the extrait boxes:
  • No. 203 = 3 oz 
  • No. 202 = 2 oz
  • No. 201 = 1 oz
  • No. 200 = 1/2 oz
  • No. 210 = 1/4 oz
  • No. 375 = 1 1/2 oz (Eau de Cologne, not extrait)

Decipher the letters on the boxes to determine size of bottles:
  • T.T.P.M = 1/4 oz (Tres Tres Petit Modele/Very Very or Extra Extra Small)
  • T.P.M. = 1/2 oz (Tres Petit Modele/Very or Extra Small)
  • P.M. (Petit Modele/Small) = 1 oz 
  • M.M. (Moyen Modele/Medium) = 2 oz
  • G.M. (Grand Modele/Large) = 3 oz
  • T.G.M. (Tres Grand Modele/Very or Extra Large) = 4 oz


To open the classic Chanel crystal parfum flacon, use the following tip provided by Parfums Chanel in 1963:

Remove cord and paper; with index finger as cushion, tap underneath sides of stopper lightly with glass object (glass on glass being the scientific method) while turning the bottle steadily between fingers, so that the stopper will be loosened evenly.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Real Bleu by Chanel vs. Fake Bleu by Chanel



So you want to by Bleu by Chanel...but you are afraid of buying a counterfeit...do yourself a favor and buy it at a Chanel's own website, a higher end department store, Sephora or Ulta. 

Ebay, flea markets, mall kiosks, craigslist, many online retailers and other retailers are known to sell counterfeits...save yourself the headache and doubts by buying at an authorized dealer only!!!

Or you already bought Bleu by Chanel...from eBay, a flea market, a mall kiosk,  website, craigslist, or some other retailer, or were given it as a gift ....and you have doubts as to its authenticity...well this tutorial will help you determine whether it is real or fake.


ebay member jmpassaniti wrote this:


"It appears the sales of counterfeit Bleu de Chanel are now epidemic on eBay.  I have encountered dozens of listings, most showing either a slightly faded box cover or a generic Chanel image that sell almost hourly on here.  After sharing notes with several buyers, including myself, it's a safe bet they are almost ALL fake counterfeits.

These are being sold by sellers in Michigan, New York, and California, and by some who have nearly 100% positive feedback, but the fragrance is undeniably a weak fake. Considering almost all of these auctions net the seller between $40-50 a bottle, with multiple sales a day this is quite a haul.

The cellophane wrap and box seem convincing enough.  The logo is raised, the box bottom has what appears to be a four digit lot or serial number embossed on the box, and the earlier counterfeit problems of spelling errors and unclean packaging appear to be resolved by the offshore manufacturer.  The real story doesn't become clear until you open the box and look at the bottle itself.


It has got a hazy film all over it, smudges and smears of what could be fragrance or fingerprint oil, and tiny fine scratch swirls that become evident in bright sunlight. The top shows a diagonal seam and the bottom is slightly irregular -- the sign of a cheap glass bottle manufacturing process. These bottles have been around, and not in a good way.

The bottle cap will be the ultimate test of real vs. fake.  Real Bleu de Chanel has a cap that holds in place with a magnet.  The phonies have a small seam line inside the cap which, by forcing the cap down, holds it in place.  If you set your cap on top of a real Chanel bottle, the magnets do all the work and the cap will automatically be held in place -AND- most important of all, the Chanel logo on top of the bottle will always spin into perfect alignment with the front/back of the bottle. You can see a demonstration of that on YouTube.  Just search for "Real vs. Fake Bleu de Chanel."

If your bottle cap doesn't do this, it's a fake/counterfeit.  The fakers sometimes use magnets, but the bottle caps don't align properly.  The most recent ones on eBay don't even bother with that -- they simply require the owner to press them down to hold them in place.

Ignore the Made in France vs. USA tips from around a year ago.  Legitimate Chanel fragrance can come from either their U.S. factory in New Jersey or from France.  Most of the fakes will say France just because people assume Chanel = France.

If you have a phony, don't even bother to spray it on yourself.  You have no idea what is in there, and would you spray a crime ring's fragrance on your skin?

Instead, file complaints.  The feedback system on eBay is notoriously poor for identifying fakes.  People are just happy to have received something in the mail quick for a good price that resembles the product they want.  Most have no idea they bought a phony.

Sellers promise refunds and some encourage you don't blow the whistle on their fake sales.  Occasionally, some are unwitting dupes themselves.

Chanel is among the most frequently counterfeited fragrances because of the high demand and the manufacturer's near-obsessive inventory control.  They destroy leftovers, old stock, and irregulars -- they don't sell it at wholesaler auctions.  I'd suspect the only real bottles of Chanel on here are those sold by individuals who have a single leftover bottle they don't like, one inherited from a family member who passed, or got one as a gift.  The ones selling a near-endless supply (check those feedbacks to see what they sold in the past) are immediately suspect, especially if they are selling in the $40-50 range for a 3.4oz bottle.

Yes, you'll pay $79 for an authentic bottle of this at the local department store, but for twice the price you'll actually get the real product.  The 1.7oz costs $59 -- around what you'll pay for the fake and the return postage to send it back (not to mention the time and hassle)."





 

View this YouTube tutorial:


Also this YouTube tutorial can be helpful:





FAKE CHANEL ALERT!!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Tuesday, May 14, 2013