Parfums 137 Nara 1869: New House, Unique Old Stories (2008) {New Fragrances} {Historical Perfumes}
Parfums 137 subtitled Jeux de Parfums (Perfume Games) is a new French perfume brand that proposes an interesting, both learned and playful serialized concept, that of introducing each semester a new range of three perfumes meant to be layered in 7 possible combinations, which each time will be inspired by a unique, extraordinary story. 1 is for a story, 3 for the already mixed essences, and 7 for playfulness (they indicate in advance how the layerings smell). The idea is to progressively build a library of perfumes, one can assume in the tradition of popular serialized encyclopedia.
The first coffret offered by the house is called Nara 1869 and is based on a true olfactory historical event, one exhumed from a very little known discreet chapter of the history of perfumes.......
Nara 1869 is inspired by the long travel to Japan in 1869 of a perfumer named Akimoff sent by the house of Violet to scout perfumery materials. There he met a Venitian photographer called Felice Beato who introduced him to the intricacies of Kôdô, a ceremony in which participants are asked to recognize essences. On Dec 7, 1869, Akimoff falls under the charm of a young geisha (seen in the photo taken by Beato) and creates three perfumes inspired by the ceremony fashioned respectively with osmanthus, bigarade, and olibanum, which he offers to her. From this unique happening, Alexandre Bigle, the founder of the brand decided to derive the idea for his first offering. The set of three perfumes was composed by perfumer Isabelle Maillebiau.
Bigarade features notes of citruses, white tea blossoms, musk, and woods.
Osmanthus has notes or nuances of peaches and abricot together with florals and patchouli.
Olibanum is said to be fresh, spicy, and an ode to incense with notes of myrrhe and patchouli.
The 3 X 15 ml perfumes are now available at the Bon Marché for 60 € and will be purchasable online on their website from January 20, 2008.
(Source: Parfums 137 press release)
