There are few more recognisable bottles in the world than the Guerlain bee bottle. Bees are the emblem of the house and have adorned Guerlain‘s creations since Eugénie de Montjo – betrothed to Napoleon III – was presented with a bottle of Guerlain Impériale in 1853. She wore it for her wedding to the Emperor, who loved to have his portrait painted in a luxurious fur-trimmed robe, embroidered with gilded bees.
Perhaps because of that bee bottle – or more likely, because of his skills as a perfumer – Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain was appointed the official perfumer to her Royal Majesty, and the legacy lives on in Guerlain‘s bee-adorned, honeycomb-topped flacons. (Into which you can now have many Guerlain fragrances decanted at their boutique in Harrods Beauty Halls, as you can read here.)
A feat of glass craftsmanship, we share with you now a short-but-so-sweet film which captures the magic of the making of the bee bottle at the historic Pochet du Courval factory in Northern France’s ‘Valley of Glass’.
It had us buzzing…
By Jo Fairley
