Captured by the Wertheimers, or Russian trace "Chanel No. 5"

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Every 30 seconds in the world one bottle of "Chanel No. 5" is sold. A unique fragrance created by perfumer of Russian-French origin Ernest Bo for the great Coco Chanel.

Photo: Creative Commons

The idea of creating your own perfume

After World War I, Americans literally flooded Paris. They bought everything they saw. It seemed that their funds were endless, as if they were growing green dollars in the backyards of their own homes. Coco Chanel was arranging her new apartment, when an assistant went up to her and said that the Americans had come and asked why there were no perfumes in the store. Coco grimaced and said to send the Yankees to the nearest souvenir shop, of which there were hundreds in Paris, where thousands of variants of the most terrible perfumes were sold. And yet, so that Coco would not think about the manners of the Americans, this idea crept into her soul: "Parfum from Chanel. And what, maybe, is there something in this?"

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A few weeks later, the idea of creating their own spirits under her own name returned to her, although Koko understood that such projects provide little profit, and the competition was too great.

Acquaintance with the great Russian prince

Photo: Creative Commons (Coco Chanel and Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov)
At one of the parties in Biarritz, Chanel met with Russian Prince Romanov Dmitry Pavlovich, the son of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich and cousin of Nicholas II. He was a tall, handsome handsome man with whom Mademoiselle had an affair. Coco told Dmitry about her idea to create authorial perfumes. She did this on purpose, because she knew that all Romanovs adore good spirits. And he, in turn, told her about the beloved perfumes of Tsarina Alexandra, which were created by the French perfume company Ralle, founded in Moscow.

Ernest Bo - perfumer from Grasse

Photo: Creative Commons (Ernest Beaux)
Ernest Bo, a perfumer from Grasse, invented the formula for this exquisite fragrance. Coco wanted to immediately go to Grasse - the most famous place in the south of France, where the famous houses like "Coty" and "Guerlain" cultivated special hybrids of herbs for their spirits - and find this mysterious Bo. But before this happened, Dmitry introduced Coco to his sister, Maria Pavlovna, who preserved a sample of perfume “Rally No. 1” in a tiny bottle in the shape of a diamond. The fragrance fascinated Coco, literally pierced the nerve endings and spread throughout the body. Having applied it on her wrist, having waited a little, she again inhaled the smell and realized that these were the essence she was looking for: "A hidden fragrance, as disturbing as it was unexpected, containing and expressing the secret charm of a woman’s passion that spilled over on crispy, snow-white sheets. "
Maria Pavlovna presented Coco with her sample “Rally No. 1” and wrote a letter of recommendation to Ernest Bo, the main perfumer of the Rally House. In return, Chanel promised the Grand Duchess, who had a small atelier in Paris specializing in beadwork, to help expand her business with orders from her atelier.
Now Chanel was firmly convinced that she would release her own brand of perfumes and create a new collection of models in a special Russian style, evoking memories of her former splendor and grandeur, which would be in harmony with her aroma.

11 samples and only one "Chanel No. 5"

Photo: pixabay
In the summer of 1922, together with Dmitry Pavlovich Coco went to Grasse, in the heart of the French perfume industry, where she met with Ernest Beau. The presence of a living Romanov and the tiny bubble "Rally No. 1" did their job, and, despite obvious skepticism, Bo willingly entered into a dialogue. Coco wanted to get the most persistent aroma, to strengthen some of its shades, so that they remain longer when the initial bouquet begins to weaken. Her perfume must be expensive and make a woman unforgettable.After some thought, Bo replied that he did not have the right to reproduce Rally No. 1. But Coco didn’t need the perfume of Alexandra, she wanted the most skillful perfumer to adapt some components of the original formula and get a completely new fragrance. How Bo will achieve this, Chanel was not interested, she was ready to pay as much as needed and even more.

Photo: Creative Commons
Ernest Bo prepared eleven images, put them in a row in the same glass bottles, on the snow-white labels of which there was only a number. To keep her sense of smell as sensitive as possible, Coco ate nothing all day and did not smoke a single cigarette. She did not want to make a mistake and make the wrong choice.
Acquaintance with aromas began with the last digit. If she liked the fragrance, Coco sprinkled perfume on a piece of paper, went out with a sample to Dmitry Pavlovich, who was waiting outside the door. Each time he waved his head in the negative. Chanel understood that he was looking for the scent of childhood. Coming back, Coco rejected one pattern after another. Finally, Bo handed her sample number five. This was Mademoiselle's favorite and lucky number.

Having barely touched the fragrance, Coco realized, piercing through and through, evoking memories, it was he, the very smell that she was looking for. Alarmed, Bo tried to draw attention to the remaining four samples, claiming that the fifth was erroneous, as he went too far with jasmine, and its production would be the most expensive of the whole series. But Chanel stopped him, she had already made a choice, and she did not care that the spirits would cost a fortune. She wrote Bo another solid check and ordered the first hundred bottles. She put these beautiful perfumes on her wrist and neck and went to Dmitry: "Well, now it smells of you, like the Romanovs."

Return to Paris

Photo: pixabay
Coco returned to Paris with a hundred square bottles of her own perfume, which were the same shape as the samples, only larger and with a lid in the shape of a diamond. Packaging - a white box with a black border and a logo of two intersecting letters "C" facing each other with the back side. She liked this outward simplicity.
Chanel presented a bottle of perfume to the most faithful and loyal customers, sprayed them every day in the salon, her fashion models wore these perfumes even outside the atelier - this was the best advertisement. Chanel No. 5 perfume instantly conquered literally everyone with its aroma.
The next batch of perfumes for stores in Paris, Deauville and Biarritz sold out in a few weeks. Even more was needed to satisfy the incredible demand. But Ernest Bo could not provide the production in the desired volumes.

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Coco Chanel's mistake

In Monte Carlo, Chanel was introduced to the Wertheimer brothers, Pierre and Paul, who were co-owners of France’s largest perfume and cosmetics company. They were aggressive-type entrepreneurs and immediately offered Coco a contract. Despite warnings, mademoiselle did not turn to specialists and decided everything herself. She told Wertheimers that she would only need 10% of sales, she would not be responsible to anyone, and Bo would produce her perfume as long as she wanted it. And only after years, Coco will understand which mistake she made.

Photo: Creative Commons
In 1931, Chanel came to America. Walking along Fifth Avenue, Coco discovered that her famous perfumes sold in department stores were incredibly cheap and snapped up at incredible speed. The meager percentage of sales and the name Chanel helped the Wertheimers make a fortune by selling Chanel No. 5.
Back in Paris, Coco met with a lawyer. But it did not bring any results, the contract was impeccable.But the Wertheimers did not want to revise the terms of the contract, which she signed so thoughtlessly.
Coco spent fabulous sums on attorney fees. It was a real war in which she lost every time. To avoid litigation, the Wertheimers proposed increasing Coco's stake by 5%. Of course, that was unacceptable to her. But she had nothing to present to the brothers, they impeccably complied with the terms of the contract and were adamant. Coco's lawyers sued the Wertheimers to terminate the contract. The result of this decision was the expulsion of Coco Chanel from the board of directors.
During World War II, Coco Chanel even wanted to take advantage of her acquaintance with a senior German officer to resolve the problem of eighteen-year partnership with the Wertheimer brothers, but in vain. They left for America, and transferred all matters to their cousin. No lawsuits and injunctions helped.

Photo: Creative Commons (Coco Chanel)
Ironically, Coco’s relationship with Pierre Wertheimer continued until her death. After the war, he came to France and regained control of the perfume company Chanel, which was the result of new trials. It was only in 1947 that Coco Chanel and Pierre Wertheimer finally reached an agreement that allowed Mademoiselle to get rich. And, in the end, Pierre became one of its most reliable managers and financiers.

Photo: Creative Commons
Having passed such an interesting, complex and long journey, Chanel No. 5 remains the most iconic fragrance in the history of the perfume industry to this day. They have their fans and those who do not understand them. But those whose hearts have once conquered these spirits remain faithful to this perfume forever.