Boucheron by Boucheron c1988

Boucheron by Boucheron: launched in 1988. Created by Francis Deleamont and Jean Pierre Bethouart.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is classified as a floral semi-oriental fragrance for women. It begins with a fresh fruity top, followed by a floral heart, resting on a woody oriental base.

This instant classic is a refined, semi-oriental floral. It grabs your attention with fruity top notes of mandarin and apricot. The heart, or middle notes, of the perfume is an opulent floral blend of tuberose, ylang ylang, precious jasmine, orange blossom and narcissus. And its finish is as soft as rain with creamy sandalwood, warm amber and balsamic vanilla.

• Top notes: Persian galbanum, bergamot, Calabrian bitter orange, mandarin, lemon, sweet orange, Sicilian tangerine, African tagetes, apricot, Spanish basil, mint, blackcurrant buds absolute, asafoetida
• Middle notes: geranium, Moroccan orange blossom, Moroccan jasmine, lily of the valley, British broom, Auvergne narcissus, Grasse tuberose, orris, cedarwood, Madagascar ylang-ylang
• Base notes: Mysore sandalwood, patchouli, civet, amber, benzoin, musk, styrax balsam, South American tonka beans, Indian Ocean vanilla, oakmoss, olibanum

Bottles:

The bottle is a design by Joel Desgrippes and depicts a rock crystal ring set with a large sugarloaf sapphire cabochon in a gilded bezel. Alain Boucheron specially chose it to hold his first perfume because he felt that its elegant ring shape was worthy of a maharanee.

Known as the "Bague de Boucheron", the Boucheron ring bottle continued to be a popular design over the years and special limited editions were also produced.

The bottles were made by Saint-Gobain Desjonqueres, their marking is the "SGD" you find in the bottom of the bottle.

When introduced, the one ounce parfum retailed for $200, the 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum for $80, the 1.7 oz Eau de Toilette for $60. The luxury body cream retailed at $200.

The vintage oval bottles holding the original version will have a diamond design containing a representation of the Vendome Column,  above the Boucheron name, other vintages have the Boucheron B logo and the Eiffel Tower as one symbol.

• 1988-1997 -  Vendome Column logo
• 1997-2004- Eiffel Tower & B logo
• 2004 - present - Boucheron name with no other logo

The oval bottles came in two sizes: 100ml and 50ml for both the eau de parfum and the eau de toilette. The parfum and the eau de parfum bottles have frosted glass sides, the eau de toilette bottles are unfrosted and of exceptional clarity.

In 1996, a refillable 75ml eau de parfum canister was presented, known as "Les Pluriels", was a sumptuous case, crafted like a one-of-a-kind piece: golden fluting that seems etched into the gold and sapphire blue cabochon. The refill bottles are simple as shown in the photo above. This bottle was also used for the fragrances Jaipur and Trouble in later years.

Ancillary Products:

The success of the perfume line was followed by a sumptuous bath line as costly as most perfumes of their time. Starting in 1990, the Boucheron range was expanded to include shower gel, body lotion, body cream, dusting powder and in 1993, a special powder compact was released impregnated with the scent of Boucheron.

Elle, Volume 9, Issues 1-4, 1993:

"This is an instance when you might choose a powder for its case. Renowned jeweler Boucheron's Le Poudrier compact, capped with a sapphire cabochon and set in three golden rings, can be considered an accessory, albeit an expensive one. The powder itself is a universal shade, as transparent as mile. It's pressed with Boucheron fragrance and contains a moisturizer and UVA/UVB filters."

Limited Edition Flacons:

In 1992, the limited edition Collection Couleurs line of ring flacons was introduced to hold 1 ounce Eau de Parfum sprays. The bottles were the familiar frosted glass shaped ring bottles but were topped by marbled two toned plastic cabochons instead of the usual sapphire blue plastic. The colors were a malachite green, a sunny golden agate yellow and a vivid coral red.

Around the same time, another limited edition bottle set was introduced, the Collection Couleurs Perles. These bottles had colored plastic cabochons caps simulating pink, Tahitian black and white pearls. These spray bottles held 1 ounce of Eau de Parfum.

For the 10th anniversary of the launch of Boucheron pour Femme, a limited edition bottle was produced of only 1000 numbered examples. Made up of clear sparkling handmade Baccarat crystal decorated with gold gadroons, it held parfum d'extrait in a half ounce (15 ml) size. It was presented in an elegant jewelry case designed in the Boucheron workshop.

Le Figaro magazine, 1998:

"Boucheron parfum d'extrait in its Baccarat crystal ring bottle with fine gold gilding - limited edition, 15ml, 5,900 Francs."

Indianapolis Monthly - Nov 1998:

"If money's no object, you can lay down $950 for half an ounce of Boucheron Baccarat Crystal Parfum."

Officiel de la couture et de la mode de Paris, 1999:

"Ten years of Bague de Boucheron, is also the 140 year history of the jeweler. To celebrate the event, the famous bottle is made of fluted Baccarat crystal and decorated fine gold gilding. Only 1000 examples produced and numbered. 15 ml extrait d'parfum, 900 Francs."

Precious Limited Edition Flacons:

L'Express, 1990:

"The precious bottle of Bague de Boucheron, set with 32 diamonds and 4 sapphires, produced only in a very limited series of only 3 examples, 95,000 francs."

Mirabella, 1995:

"And some bottles have inherent value, like Boucheron's Jaipur in a thirty-two-diamond gold-and-crystal bracelet bottle ($30,000) or its eponymous perfume in a ring-shaped gold bottle ($20,000)."

 

The Fate of the Fragrance:

In 1988, Schweizerhall Holding signed a 30-year license agreement with Boucheron, Place Vendôme Paris, one of the most exclusive jewelers in the world. A few years later, Schweizerhall was represented in 90 countries with the Boucheron brand. As a result, Schweizerhall took over the traditional Parisian company completely. Both PCI Parfums et Cosmetiques, Ultra Cosmetics and Boucheron were  subsidiaries of Schweizerhall and distributed the Boucheron fragrances throughout the world.

In 1999, PCI changed it's name to "Boucheron International SA." so boxes will be marked with that name after that date. 

Schweizerhall Holding based in Basel signed an agreement to sell its Boucheron division to the Gucci Group on July 1, 2000. Domenico De Sole, President and CEO of the Gucci Group says, "I am pleased to announce that Boucheron is joining our fast-growing group of luxury brands. Boucheron is a great brand with strong potential and is a perfect match for Gucci."

An easy way to tell vintage from new? 

Vintage boxes are marked: 
"PCI Parfums et Cosmetiques SA 
PARIS/BALE
MADE IN SWITZERLAND"

Other vintage boxes are marked:

"ULTRA COSMETICS

PARIS/GENEVE

MADE IN SWITZERLAND"

In 1999, PCI changed it's name to "Boucheron International SA." so boxes will be marked with that name after that date. 

Also, use the bottle shapes to determine age:

The fragrance was relaunched in new packaging, a newer round version of the bottle in 2003, which features a built in sprayer and houses a reformulated version of the fragrance including jasmine, ylang ylang and tuberose, and oriental notes, such as amber and sandalwood.

In 2006, a limited edition called Les Editions Bleues was released in blue colored packaging. This was also used for the Boucheron Pour Homme.

In 2011, Boucheron signed an exclusive license agreement with Interparfums for the development of their fragrances.

Boucheron has been reformulated a couple of times over the years much to the chagrin of its loyal followers. Many of these reformulations were a direct result of the restrictions proposed by IFRA.

The familiar elongated oval bottle was returned to the shelves around 2011.

Using the c2011 elongated oval bottle below, you will notice that the words "Boucheron Eau de Parfum" are directly in the center of the circle of the bottle. The old bottles have the wording set lower, towards the base of the circle and not in the center.

 In 2012, a limited edition bottle was produced for the Christmas season which cloaks the bottle in black. The scent has not changed, only the bottle.

"Celebrate the holiday season with this special edition of the classic Boucheron Pour Femme Eau de Parfum. With luminous golden finery, the bottle reflects the craftsmanship and know-how of the magical workshops of Place Vendome. 3.3 oz. $136.00" 

2013, also brought a new Christmas limited edition also celebrating the scent's 25th Anniversary, the bottle retains its familiar shape but is encased in opaque white topped with a black and gold cap. The scent has not changed, only the bottle.

"Christmas in white Boucheron, a tribute to the light ...In 2013, Boucheron celebrates 25 years of his great feminine and honors the light, the thread creations joaillier. For her, the famous ring bottle is adorned with an immensely bright white dentate gold and topped with a cabochon onyx color.3.3 oz, $136."