Ma Griffe by Carven c1946

Ma Griffe by Carven: launched in 1946. Created by Jean Carles, chief perfumer of Roure Bertrand Dupont. The name means "My Signature" as well as "My Claw" in French. Undoubtedly, a pun on the name, as Madame Carven clawed her way to top the design world and left her mark with her revolutionary Ma Griffe perfume.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does the original formula smell like? It is classified as a floral chypre fragrance for women.

• Top notes: hyacinth, green notes, peach, pear, aldehydes, neroli, bergamot, gardenia, galbanum, asafoetida, clary sage and lemon
• Middle notes: broom, Singapore vetiver, sandalwood, iris, orange blossom, orris root, Grasse jasmine, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley and rose
• Base notes: labdanum, tonka bean, cinnamon, musk, benzoin, oakmoss, and styrax.

The composition for Ma Griffe was developed from Jean Carles' work he had originally done for the aldehydic chypre perfume Emir for Dana in 1935. Emir was inspired by F. Millot's masterpiece Crepe de Chine from 1925.

Ma Griffe made use of the aromachemicals styrallyl acetate, citronellal from citronella oil and an increased dosage of natural styrax. From the gardenia blossom comes styryllal acetate, synthesized in the 1940s. Its green, fresh, flowery-sharp note of gardenia buds was first used in the composition of Ma Griffe. The addition of citronellal provided a clear scent of tangy green citrus fruits.

Femme, 1946:

"For the morning and the sun, the joy and the spring wind, here is “Ma Griffe,” by Carven with lemony scents like a Riviera garden. It will delight young girls and women who dress “young” at Carven (or Elsewhere)."

Combat, 1953:

"Ma Griffe de Carven - Acute dominance of hyacinth aldehyde. It exasperates exhalations of sassy musk, peach and pear, with hints of genet and neroli. A smell that jumps to the nose like a holiday souvenir, frank, flowery, fruity, alive like running water, but also sensual like the body bandaged for the effort of a young athlete with satin skin. It is like the dynamic and cool reverse of great heat, like the vigorous compensation of leisure."

Bottles:

Like Chanel, she chose to house her perfume inside of a simplistic cube shaped clear glass bottle, but it was housed inside of a coffret cloaked in her lucky colors, white and green, which helped it to be distinguished among the other bottles on the department store shelves. The bottle was made in France at the Pochet et du Courval glassworks. This older bottle was used during the 1940s-1970s.

Another bottle that was used was a variation of the cube shaped bottle topped with a gilt finish spiral cap designed by Jacques Bocquet, when viewed from the top, the spiral forms a stylized C for Carven. This unique bottle was used from the 1970s-1980s.

Other bottles were used to house Ma Griffe over the years and included the standard Carven bottle for eau de colognes, a tall, ribbed glass bottle with a plastic screw cap, or the tall, square shaped bottle, these were used in the 1960s-1980s. Later bottles used in the 1980s-1990s were simple kidney shaped spray flacons with gilded plastic caps or the curvaceous flat amphora spray flacon with the gilt metal cap.

Fate of the Fragrance:

Ma Griffe was reformulated in 2000 and in 2013, Ma Griffe was reformulated and relaunched again.

So what does it smell like? It is classified as a floral chypre fragrance for women.

• Top notes: bergamot, lemon and gardenia
• Middle notes: jasmine, sandalwood, rose and ylang-ylang
• Base notes: vetiver, musk, tonka bean and styrax

The newest reformulations are shown in the photos below:

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