A Watchmaker and a Perfumer Walk Into a Bar
Jaeger-LeCoultre is trying its hand at fragrance.
The titan of luxury timepieces has teamed up with perfumer Nicolas Bonneville on a collection of perfumes meant to highlight the similarities between the art of watchmaking and scent-making.
The result is three fragrances. The Timeless Stories — inspired by Jaeger-LeCoultre's iconic Reverso watch — is a mix of leather, iris, and woods, while The Celestial Odyssey is a spicier wood-forward scent with touches of amber, patchouli, and vanilla (according to a press release, the notes are meant to evoke the sun, moon, and stars). Lastly, The Precision Pioneer is a rich blend of oud, amber, and cedar wood.
Jaeger-LeCoultre's foray into fragrance is part of its ongoing Made of Makers program, a series of partnerships with artists and makers outside the world of watchmaking. Past collaborators include pastry chef Nina Métayer, mixologist Matthias Giroud, and lettering artist Alex Trochut.
"Like watchmaking, the art of perfumery stands at the intersection of creativity, science, and precision, and we are delighted to welcome Nicolas Bonneville to our Made of Makers program," Jaeger-LeCoultre's Chief Marketing Officer Matthieu Le Voyer said.
The scents Bonneville has created aren't available for purchase online — rather, they will be offered "as a special treatment to clients" (ostensibly, the company's biggest spenders) and "used in a variety of other initiatives in the future."
Jaeger-LeCoultre's team-up with Bonneville (who has previously worked with brands like Acqua di Parma, Dries Van Noten, and Givenchy) is indicative of luxury fashion's wider embrace of fragrance.
Over the past year, brands including Balmain, Valentino, Rabanne, Bottega Veneta, and Brunello Cucinelli have relaunched or debuted fragrance lines.
It seems that the world of high watchmaking is catching on. Earlier this year, Vacheron Constantin created a scent-infused timepiece in collaboration with couturier Yiqing Yin and perfumer Dominique Ropion.
