When Perfume Bottles Were Jewels: Begüm Khan × Guerlain

There was a time when perfume bottles were purchased independently of the fragrances they contained, then filled with essences obtained from perfumers. Begüm Khan’s collaborations with Guerlain offer a contemporary reinterpretation of this elegant tradition in the history of perfumery.

There was a time when choosing the vessel that held a fragrance was just as personal as choosing the perfume itself. Before perfume and its packaging became inseparable elements of a single commercial product, fragrances were purchased in larger quantities from perfumers or apothecaries and decanted into separately acquired bottles made of glass, crystal, porcelain, or even adorned with precious metals. Particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries, perfume bottles were more than functional containers; they were personal possessions that reflected their owners’ taste, social standing, and aesthetic sensibilities. A bottle could remain in someone’s possession long after the fragrance it once held had disappeared.

Today, we tend to think of perfume as a unified product, defined by its name, scent, and bottle. Yet the idea of perfume as a subject of the decorative arts, as much as an olfactory composition, belongs to a tradition that long predates the modern fragrance industry.

The latest creation born of Istanbul-based jewellery designer Begüm Khan’s ongoing collaboration with Guerlain brings this historical relationship back into focus through a contemporary interpretation.

Created by Jacques Guerlain in 1912, L’Heure Bleue was inspired by that fleeting, bluish moment when day gives way to night. More than a century later, the fragrance has been reinterpreted by Delphine Jelk, Director of Guerlain Perfume Creation, in a composition built around iris, orange blossom, and vanilla. However, the introduction of an ozonic accord and ambroxan marks a significant departure from the original. While Guerlain maintains that the fragrance’s signature powdery character has been preserved, opinions among those who have experienced the new interpretation remain divided. Some critics find very little resemblance between the 2026 composition and its 1912 predecessor. The original formula, meanwhile, has not been discontinued; it remains available under the name L’Heure Bleue 1912.

It is the special 1.5-litre flacon of this new interpretation that becomes a jewel in Begüm Khan’s hands.

The Turkish jewellery designer’s creative partnership with Guerlain, which began in 2021 with the Bee Bottle series, now continues with one of the most recognisable bottle designs in the history of perfumery. Drawing on Guerlain’s iconic 1912 Flacon Cœur Inversé (inverted heart) silhouette, the design allows the iris flower, central to the fragrance’s composition, to unfold across the surface of the bottle. Crafted in Istanbul workshops, the floral arrangement is made from 24-karat gold-plated bronze and meticulously embellished with 12,224 individually hand-set stones in varying shades of blue. Limited to just 66 pieces worldwide, this collector’s edition once again positions the perfume bottle as an object of craftsmanship and artistry in its own right.

Of course, the transformation of perfume bottles into works of art is nothing new. Yet from the early 20th century onwards, as perfume houses increasingly associated distinctive bottle designs with specific fragrances, the nature of this relationship began to change. The bottle was no longer simply a personal vessel for holding perfume; it had become an inseparable part of the fragrance’s identity.

Begüm Khan’s design exists at the intersection of these two traditions: on one side, Guerlain’s historic bottle design and perfumery heritage; on the other, Istanbul’s tradition of jewellery-making and decorative craftsmanship. While the fragrance itself is reinterpreted, the historical form of the vessel that carries it lives on through contemporary craftsmanship.

What I find particularly compelling about this collaboration is not merely the splendour of the resulting object, but the way perfume’s longstanding relationship with different crafts continues to find new forms of expression. The creative partnership between Guerlain and Begüm Khan, developed over several years, is itself a contemporary example of this continuity.

There was a time when precious perfume bottles were treasured for generations, remaining long after their contents had changed. Today, Begüm Khan’s jewel-like interpretation of L’Heure Bleue evokes a similar idea. Preserving the heritage of a perfume does not necessarily mean keeping its formula unchanged. Sometimes, continuity resides less in the fragrance itself than in the form that contains it, the craftsmanship behind it, and the meaning bestowed upon the object.

Fragrance is fleeting; the vessel that holds it endures. Perhaps it is precisely this contrast that lies at the heart of our fascination with perfume bottles.

No creatio ex nihilo.