Princess Grace de Monaco by Faberge c1998

Princess Grace de Monaco by Faberge: launched in 1998 as a tribute to Princess Grace (actress Grace Kelly). Created by the perfumers at Givaudan-Roure.

In tribute to the legendary Princess Grace of Monaco, Faberge created the Grace de Monaco Parfum, a collection of intoxicating floral fragrances. Inspired by her legend as princess and screen actress and in honor of her revered elegance and devotion to the creative. The late Princess's son, Prince Albert of Monaco gave his serene approval to the licensing deal. 

Chesebrough-Pond's planned to license photos of Grace Kelly for its advertising campaign. The company hoped to sell 1000 units that year. The fragrance was only sold at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman and was not even advertised. The company would eventually market a more affordable version of the Faberge. The bottle was produced by French glass maker Saint Louis, a division of Hermes. Neiman Marcus even made a special offer in its catalog: for $100,000, a buyer would be flown to Paris to consult with the Saint-Louis experts on the design of an egg. 

The perfume was unveiled at the 1998 Princess Grace Foundation-USA Annual Awards Gala held in New York which was attended by Prince Albert and actress Ashley Judd.

Princess Grace, the former Academy Award winning actress Grace Kelly, passed away at the age of 52, on Sept 14, 1982 from injuries she sustained when her car plunged 120 feet off a mountain highway road the day before on the French Riviera. Doctors said she had suffered a stroke at the wheel of her car which lead to the tragic crash where received several broken bones and a second stroke which proved to be fatal. She became Princess Grace in 1956 when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Regarding perfumes, Princess Grace inspired the scent of Le Dix by Balenciaga and favored the scent Fleurissimo from Creed  a scent that was commissioned by Prince Rainier for Grace Kelly to wear at their wedding.  

My grandmother worked as an Avon representative during the 1960s and 1970s. She did so well that she and 320 other lucky saleswomen won the "Tasha Flight to Fantasy" sweepstakes with an all expense paid six day, five night trip for two to Monte Carlo as the prize for outstanding sales of Tasha perfume, which was one of Avon's newest fragrances at that time. Along with fabulous scheduled tours to the Italian and French Riviera, the winners were treated to a dinner banquet hosted by the princess in 1980 in appreciation for Avon's donation to one Her Serene Highness' favorite charities, the International Committee of the Red Cross. My grandmother and grandfather both got to meet the princess at this Tasha Final Night Banquet at the Monte Carlo Sporting Club. Many years later, I had asked my grandmother what was the princess like in person, and my grandmother said that the princess' name was so very apt, because she was one of the most graceful and elegant women she had ever met with an aura of glamour still about her.

 

Fragrance Composition:

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

• Top notes: mandarin, marigold, orange blossom and ylang-ylang
• Middle notes: Italian jasmine, May rose and Indian tuberose
• Base notes: orris root, Mysore sandalwood, ambrette seeds, tonka bean and vanilla

Bottles:

The parfum was housed in elegant presentations reminiscent of those collected by Russian tsars. Choose between the $3,000 collector's edition (only 500 were made), and the perfume bottle is nestled in a Fabergé- styled crystal egg created by Saint Louis crystal in Paris, and the perfume bottle; the $750 signed edition of 2,000 in a Saint Louis bottle with a hand painted 22kt gold-encrusted egg stopper; or the newly launched $325 version in a similar bottle, also signed. In any event, you get 2 ounces of perfume.

Available as:

• 0.25 oz Parfum
• 2 oz Parfum
• 1.7 oz Eau de Parfum
• 3.4 oz Eau de Parfum
• 6 oz Body Cream
• 6 oz Body Lotion

The small parfum bottles shown below are known as the Faberge Imperial Deluxe Dreidels, and are in a molded glass diamond shape and the gold tone cap is set with a faceted faux emerald jewel. These parfum bottles were housed inside a colored velvet pouch which corresponds to the color of the jewel on the bottle cap.

Limited Editions:

Limited Editions for the Grace de Monaco parfum were usually made in only 1000 examples. These beautiful parfum bottles often come with something extra, such as a small vase or egg box. The manufacturer who created all of these was the famed French glasshouse, Cristalleries de Saint-Louis, who manufactured each piece exclusively for Faberge. Oftentimes, a portion of the sale from one these editions went to the Princess Grace Foundation, a charity organization that is dedicated to the education and development of young performance artists and hence provided grants for these emerging artists in theatre, dance and film.

The perfume line was only available at high end retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

Emerald Green Atomizer: A very rare example of Grace de Monaco parfum was issued as a limited edition. The egg shaped bottle is made up of emerald green crystal, hand cut and polished by the Cristalleries de Saint-Louis. The bottle also comes with an atomizer. This gorgeous bottle holds 2 oz of Parfum. It originally retailed for $375.

A second limited edition parfum was made up of egg shaped crystal flacon which had a cover made up of emerald green crystal with hand etched decoration piqued out in 24kt gold enamel. This bottle also held 2 oz of parfum. It was packaged inside of a green velour box lined with snowy white satin. Inside the box are three bottles, the large egg bottle, a smaller cut crystal bottle and a standard bottle with a screw cap holding the parfum, plus a small gold tone funnel used to decant the perfume from the standard bottle into the tiny crystal bottle. Then you would place the tiny crystal bottle inside of the egg. This was a limited edition of only 999 copies.

This Limited Edition egg shaped 1 oz Parfum bottle is made up of clear crystal, with hand cut and polished panels. It is topped by a green crystal stopper hand cut and gilded, manufactured by Cristalleries de Saint-Louis.. Housed in green velour box lined with white satin. It retailed for $250.00.

Pedestal Crystal Flacon: Limited Edition egg shaped 2 oz Parfum bottle made up of clear crystal, with hand cut and polished panels on a footed base, manufactured by Cristalleries de Saint-Louis. Topped by a green crystal stopper hand cut and gilded. It is similar to the bottle shown above, yet this example is footed. Housed in green velour box lined with white satin. Only 1000 bottles were made. Originally retailed for $850.

Millennium Egg, Perfume & Necklace:  Limited edition 2 oz parfum bottle, packaged with a emerald green crystal vase with lid in which to house the perfume bottle. The mountings on the vase are gilded sterling silver.. The accompanying necklace is also made of sterling silver, and its egg shaped pendant is crafted of sterling silver and accented with enamel. This ensemble originally retailed for $2,300, produced as a limited edition of only 500 copies. This is one of the more rarer presentations to be found today.

Crystal Egg and Flacon: Limited edition 2 oz parfum bottle, packaged with a emerald green and clear fluted crystal footed vase or candy dish with gilded green crystal lid with finial.

Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued, date unknown.