Classic Lalique To The New Starck - All The L'Air Du Temps Bottles Since 1948.

It was announced a few days ago that the classic Nina Ricci perfume bottle for the L'Air du Temps fragrance spray has been redesigned by omnipresent designer Philippe Starck as a special limited edition.

This is not the first time the L'Air du Temps flacon has been redesigned. The original bottle design introduced in 1948, was made to emulate a sunburst and had a frosted glass insert in the top. Only 3 years later Robert Ricci had Rene Lalique of Lalique crystal design a bottle that has since become a classic. Numerous iterations of dove-topped bottles have appeared since then, culminating in the newest modern version by Philippe Starck.



Below are all the bottles produced for the fragrance, in chronological order.

The first L'air du Temps bottle, 1948:

In 1951 Lalique crystal created the now iconic bottle with the two frosted doves atop the swirled clear crystal flacon.

1951, Lalique bottle with 2 doves:

From 1951 to present, Lalique Crystal made numerous limited and special editions of the classic bottle which included variations on the number of doves, the color of the doves and the color of the bottle. The one anomaly? In 1996, Lalique made a winged version of the bottle that did not have the doves.

1955, single dove:

1991-1993, colored doves:

1996, winged bottle:

1998, globe bottle:

2004, gold bottle:

2005, amber bottle and doves:

2006, pearlized bottle:

2007, prestige bottles:

60th Anniversary bottle:

And most recently designer Philippe Starck has taken the symbolic two doves and abstracted them for the newest limited edition of the perfume and topped one of the wings with a silver cap.


The newest bottle called L'Air du Temps by Starck will be available as a 45ml spray launching in October 2010. This limited edition is reported to cost 69 EUR ($89).

Click the below image to enlarge:


About the perfume (from the Nina Ricci site):
L’air du temps - Nina Ricci Perfume


The icon fragrance from the Nina Ricci house was born in a creative and joyful spirit in 1948. The perfect harmony of an enchanting elixir, the symbol of femininity and eternal youth. the emblematic values of L'Air du Temps remain universal: Peace, Purity, Freedom and Love. L'Air du Temps is also the air that we breathe, the mood of the moment, the reflection of each era. L'Air du Temps… An unequalled moment of emotion.

Fragrance : Spicy Floral
This fresh and timeless fragrance is a unique combination of contrasts. The legendary accord of spicy carnation and gardenia is subtly tinged with rose and jasmine from Grasse and caressed with sandalwood and iris for even more sensuality. A fragrance of emotion, L’Air du Temps exudes a mysterious power of seduction. Its fragrance blends into the personality of each woman to bring out her sensual charm and refinement.

Buy L'Air du Temps products here

Nina Ricci
Philippe Starck
Lalique Crystal

Bond no. 9 Bottle Design Competition: Make Sure Yours Doesn't Stink

You may or may not be familiar with Bond no.9. Recognizable by the unique bottle design, Bond no.9 makes 34 different fragrances inspired by the city of New York.




The name of this fragrance collection, Bond No. 9, is also the address of its headquarters boutique at 9 Bond Street, in NoHo. They explain their mission as a dual purpose one: To restore artistry to perfumery, and to mark every New York neighborhood with a scent of its own. Each fragrance represents a specific downtown, midtown, or uptown locale or a city-wide sensibility.



They just introduced their latest addition, Brooklyn, which comes in a fun graffiti scrawled bottle. But... in addition to that, Bond no. 9 is having a design competition right now to create the additional visuals for this scent. Unfortunately, there's only 2 weeks left (it's not very well publicized), so... get cracking!



Throughout March 2009, Bond No. 9 invites everyone—amateurs and artists alike—to join their Brooklyn Bottle Design Competition and create additional visuals for this contemporary male-oriented cardamom-cedarwood eau de parfum.

You get a template to download like the one shown below:


Ground Rules:
* Create your design to fit within the outline of the Bond No. 9 superstar flacon and to include our circular “token” logo. * Any style, figurative or abstract, is fine with us.

* Inspiration can come from anywhere in Brooklyn—DUMBO, Park Slope, Flatbush, Canarsie, Midwood, Bay Ridge, et al.—or from the very idea of Brooklyn.

* Any medium is okay: oil, acrylic, watercolor, house paint, pastel, crayon, Magic Marker, makeup—even a ballpoint pen or pencil will do.

* Completed designs should be submitted to contactus@bondno9.com or Bond No. 9, 9 Bond Street, New York, NY 10012 by March 31, 2009.

After the two winners are chosen in early April, they’ll put the victorious designs into production, with the winner’s names displayed on the bottles. Each winner will also receive one bottle of Brooklyn per month for a year.

Perhaps some of their more interestingly designed bottles or their special limited editions or will inspire you:


Above: Spirit of Peace, Bryant Park and Andy Warhol Lexington Bottle designs.

Above: West Side

above: Andy Warhol Union Square

Above: Andy Warhol Silver factory

above: Andy Warhol Lexington Street Signature (complete with Robert Lee Morris necklace)

Above: Wall Street and Eau de New York

above: Chinatown regular and Swarovski limited version

above: Fire Island and Coney Island scents

above: Bleecker Street regular and Swarovski limited version

above: Saks Fifth Avenue for Her regular and Limited-Edition Swarovski Snowflake

So, download the template here and start designing!


Shop Bond no. 9 for the fragrances above plus more like candles, gifts and samples.