Skip to main content
← 5 DropsFragrance · file
Chanel

Cuir de Russie

1924ChypreParfumFrance

Where to find it

Search links · no tracking

Outbound links open a search on each site for Chanel Cuir de Russie. Product pages aren't deep-linked because retailer URLs change and stock varies.

Editorial notes

  1. 01

    A polished birch-tar leather pulled from the Tsarist tanning tradition that scented imperial riding boots and bookbindings.

  2. 02

    Composed during Ernest Beaux's experimental 1924-1925 wave at Chanel. The perfumer was French-Russian, trained at Rallet in Moscow before joining Coco Chanel.

  3. 03

    Part of the same Beaux output that produced Bois des Îles and Gardenia. All three remained Paris Salons exclusives until Chanel folded them into the Exclusifs collection in 2007.

  4. 04

    Composed by Ernest Beaux in 1924 around aldehydes, iris, jasmine and leather, the leather chypre his Tsarist Russian memories made possible.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active. Exclusifs collection.

A polished birch-tar leather.

Composed by
Ernest Beaux
Founder
Coco Chanel
Country
France

The pyramid

Top
aldehydesbergamotorange blossommandarinclary sage
Heart
irisjasmineylang-ylangrosecedar
Base
leathervetiveramberstyraxbalsam

The brief

Beaux, a French-Russian perfumer formed at Rallet in Moscow, channelled his memories of Tsarist Russian leather aesthetics — riding boots, cossack saddles, the imperial library.

Name'Russian Leather' — referencing the traditional Russian birch-tar tanning method that scented riding boots and bookbindings.

Footnotes

  • Cuir de Russie was part of Beaux's experimental 1924-1925 wave at Chanel that also produced Bois des Iles and Gardenia; all three were rarely available outside Paris before the Exclusifs reissue in 2007.

The Curator's Note

Coco Chanel kept a Romanov in her perfumery. The smell is the receipt.

Explore the catalogue

Play today's puzzle