When a brand designs a fragrance bottle that’s so expensive to produce that only a limited number of consumers will actually own it, it’s a marketing strategy that creates a buzz around the brand – and elevates its image.

Many brands use this strategy. Typically, a special edition of a fragrance goes hand in hand with a special edition bottle. Sometimes a brand will develop a new version of a scent to mark a fragrance’s anniversary.

Viktor & Rolf celebrated 10 years of its Flowerbomb fragrance in 2015 and launched Flowerbomb Fireworks, just in time for the holiday season – along with the luxurious re-launch of its Swarvoski Edition, which is shown in the slideshow above. 

Crystal Conveys Luxury

Partnering with a crystal house, such as Baccarat or Lalique, is essential when a brand’s goal is to create a bottle worthy of a high price tag, according to Robert DuGrenier, of Robert DuGrenier Associates, who is a glass-blower and sculptor. “Crystal reflects so much more light than typical soda glass,” DuGrenier explains.

“Baccarat’s lead crystal is exquisite. They use a finishing process that includes hand polishing and then an acid polish, and it takes skill to make its glass shine with such brilliance,” DuGrenier continues. (Baccarat’s bottle for Norman Norell New York is featured in the slideshow above – read more here about how this bottle was hand-blown.)
 
Jean Patou Joy, shown in the slideshow above, is one of the most expensive fragrances in the world, at $600 an ounce – even though Clive Christian has officially claimed the title of “World’s Most Expensive Perfume,” by the Guiness Book of World Records.

Jean Patou Joy costs $1,800 when it is packaged in the limited edition inscribed bottle by Baccarat. Only 50 of these bottles are produced each year, and launch just before the holiday season. “Baccarat’s bottle for Jean Patou features a lot of hand-work. Each facet is cut and polished to a jewel-like finish that’s absolutely gorgeous,” DuGrenier comments. “And such an immense amount of handwork goes into producing each bottle that, in a way, each is unique,” he adds.

Through the years, Clive Christian (also featured above) has created special editions of its iconic No 1 fragrance, in different bottles. The ultra-luxe No 1 Passant Guardant launched in 2014 and retails for 143k British Pound Sterling, which is approximately $213k in U.S. dollars, depending on the exchange rate. Its 30 ml crystal bottle is encased in a handcrafted lattice design, cast in 24 carat gold. It is also embedded with 2000 individually set white diamonds, two yellow diamonds and a pink diamond. (See it in the slideshow above, along with 2015’s launch, No1 Imperial.)

More by Baccarat & Lalique

Each year, Baccarat produces 250 numbered bottles for its own fragrance, Rouge 540, which is priced at $4k. The number 540 indicates the temperature of the glass necessary to achieve the bottle’s signature golden red hue. The 3.3 oz. bottle weighs 500 grams, and has 160 facets The bottle is based on a design created in the 1940s by Georges Chevalier, who was Baccarat’s creative director from 1916 through the 1970s.

Not to be outdone, Lalique has its own fragrance collection, which includes the 2015 launch, Lalique Plumes Limited Edition Extrait de Parfum Crystal. It was priced at $1,800 – and it sold out at Neiman Marcus before the end of the year. The bottle is based on a design by Rene Lalique, from 1910. It’s called the “Petites Feuilles,” or “Little Leaves” bottle, and it looks like its covered in feathered plumes, molded from glass.

Sculptural & Extravagant

Agonist (see it above) is a niche fragrance brand from Sweden that says its scents focus on “details, artistic expression, and raw materials.” Its made-to-order refillable bottles reflect that philosophy, and are works of art designed to display. The bottles seem to sit on marble sculptures – see three of them in the slideshow above.

Every holiday season, Chanel sells limited quantities of its Les Grand Extraits collection, which are highly concentrated fragrances housed in supersize bottles. Two are shown above – but the brand also makes an elegant, hand-crafted crystal bottle for No 5, priced at $15k. Only 50 of these hand-numbered bottles are produced each year. They are packaged in a hand-made coffret, and hand-delivered.

Guerlain launched a lavish, generously sized fragrance in 2015, Perfume le Bouquet de la Mariée. The 125 ml bottle retails for $1,000, and is designed for brides. The diamond-cut bottle is adorned with white flowers and a lace decoration inspired by a veil.

Last but not least, House of Sillage, a haute parfumerie based in the US, has been launching fragrances in round cupcake-shaped bottles with elaborate caps adorned with jewels since 2011. Two are shown in the slideshow above, Tiara and Cherry Garden. Its latest addition is Chevauz D’Or.

House of Sillage was founded by Nicole Mather who says her goal in creating each scent – and bottle – is to balance the “personal touch of a craftsman with cutting edge technology to create fragrances and packaging with elegance and distinction.”

See all these luxurious bottles in the slideshow above.

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