Guerlain extracts, consummate craftsmanship.
   
... An extract, which can also be called a perfume (as opposed to an eau de toilette), is the most intense concentration there is in perfumery. A few drops on the nape of the neck, the décolleté or the wrists suffice to create a radiant trail. But nowadays, with so many eau de toilettes, colognes and eau de parfums competing for attention, wearing extracts has become a rare act. A few perfume houses are still perpetuating the creation of extracts. Among them, Guerlain sells more bottles of extract than any other perfume house in the world.


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...Once the glass has been blown and shaped, there are still many finishing touches required in order to obtain the precious Shalimar or L’Heure Bleue extract bottle. An alliance of precision and meticulousness, the travail of the women known as the “dames de tables,” who perpetuate ancestral tasks that one would have thought had become obsolete.

There is baudruchage: wrapping a silken thread around the neck of the bottle. There is also the application of a wax cachet to seal the cord. Two more steps are required to prepare the silk, barbichage (“bearding”) and brossage (“brushing’).

The “table ladies” possess a skill that has become rare in this day and age. We don’t know a lot about the techniques these women have been performing at Guerlain for 180 years. But we do know that there are just 7 women for the entire house. That the most senior of them has been there for 13 years. And we also know that for a single bottle, the three steps (baudruchage, barbichage and brossage) can require over an hour’s work. We invite you to discover below some archive images and photos of Guerlain extract bottles.

 

Applying wax to seal the cord around the neck of
a bottle of L’Heure Bleue extract
 
 

Once they are tied, the silk threads are brushed. The brushing brings volume to the threads and makes them less smooth. / photo: Shalimar extract

     
 
Barbichage (“bearding”) a Shalimar extract bottle. The “dame de table” uses a thin metal blade to separate each filament carefully.

   


Shalimar extract

L’Heure Bleue extract

NB: On May 24 and 25, 2007, for the first time in the house’s history, Guerlain’s “dames de tables’” will be showing their work to the public at the Maisons Guerlain de Paris. For more info: +331 45 62 52 57


Thierry Mugler - Nina Ricci - Jean-Paul Gaultier - Issey Miyaké - Acqua di Parma - Guerlain