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Jean Patou

Joy

1930FloralParfumFrance

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Editorial notes

  1. 01

    The most expensive perfume in the world, sold from 1930 onward as an act of defiance against the Great Depression.

  2. 02

    Each 30 ml flacon reportedly required 10,600 jasmine flowers and 28 dozen May roses from Grasse. The price was the point: a luxury for American clients ruined by the 1929 crash, sold to them anyway.

  3. 03

    Voted Scent of the Century by the Fragrance Foundation in 2000, narrowly edging out Chanel No. 5 in the final round.

  4. 04

    Composed by Henri Alméras in 1930 around Grasse jasmine and May rose over sandalwood and musk, in a squared Baccarat flacon by Louis Süe.

Dossier

Edition · 000

Status · Active. Bestseller.

A luxurious rose-jasmine soliflore.

Composed by
Henri Alméras
Bottle by
Louis Süe
Founder
Jean Patou
Country
France

The pyramid

Top
rosetuberosealdehydespeachbergamot
Heart
grasse jasminemay roseylang-ylangorrislily-of-the-valley
Base
sandalwoodmuskcivet

The brief

Jean Patou commissioned a perfume that would deliberately use the costliest naturals available — Grasse jasmine and May rose at concentrations no industrial scent had attempted — as a luxury for his American clients ruined by the 1929 crash.

NameNamed 'Joy' by Patou as a defiant counterpoint to the gloom of the Great Depression that had just begun.

Why it mattered

  • Marketed for decades as 'the costliest perfume in the world'; reportedly required 10,600 jasmine flowers and 28 dozen Grasse roses per 30 ml flacon.

The flacon

Squared crystal flacon by Baccarat with a polished black cap, an art-deco minimalism years ahead of the fashion.

Footnotes

  • Joy was voted Scent of the Century by the Fragrance Foundation in 2000, narrowly edging out Chanel No. 5.

The Curator's Note

If your perfume costs the same as a small farm, it had better smell like it.

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