Guerlain invited Tunisian calligrapher Inkman to merge Eastern and Western artistic traditions for the brand’s latest limited-edition bee bottle fragrance. Parisian jeweler Goossens brought Inkman’s design to life.
LVMH-owned Guerlain aimed to bring together two art forms, French perfumery and Arabic calligraphy, for a 2022 limited-edition: the bee bottle by Inkman. Tunisian calligrapher Inkman designed the adornment for the one-liter bottle (Pochet du Courval), which was executed by Parisian jeweler Goossens.
The golden adornment that molds to the flacon’s contours weaves stylized Arabic lettering with Guerlain’s iconic “G”. The decoration is laser cut from a piece of brass, with each piece polished, first with a bench polisher, then by hand.
The bespoke ornaments are hand-shaped to embrace the curves of the flacon and galvanized in four successive layers of metal: warm-hued copper, white bronze, nickel, and gold. Once the adornments are fixed to the bottle, Guerlain’s Dames de Table seal the flacon with gold thread using the baudruchage technique.
The bottle is filled with eau de parfum Le Songe de la Reine. Composed by Guerlain’s Master Perfumer Thierry Wasser, it was formulated to evoke the Mediterranean with notes of mandarin, bergamot, citrus fruit, sandalwood and iris.
Just 26 signed and numbered one-liter bottles are available, priced at €10,000.
BottlePochet du Courval
Bottle embellishmentGoossens Paris
DesignInkman
PerfumerThierry Wasser
