Niche Perfumery

Rancé – 400 Years of Tradition

12/17/07 12:39:07

The experience of the perfume house Rancé, which was erstwhile making fragrances for Napoleon Bonaparte and his family, is counting centuries. The Rancé family originates from Grasse, southern France, and was known for their perfumed gloves production since XVII century. Until today Rance remained a family business.

After the French Revolution, the romantic patriot and Napoleon's admirer, but also a talented perfumer, Jean Francois Rancé decided to make fragrances the main product of the house and in 1795 he opened his atelier in Paris.

His modern and classy perfumes immediately won the attention and recognition of many influential Parisians, among which his idol Napoleon himself. In honor of his hero and his war victories, Francois Rancé created fragrances named Le Vainqueur (The Victor), L'Eau d'Austerlitz (The Water of Austerlitz) i La Gloire a l'Aigle Francais (Glory to the Eagle of France).

Napoleon’s wife Josephine, enchanted by her husband's fragrance, asked the perfumer to create something for her as well. Francois Rancé did that and sent her a beautiful porcelain bottle with fragrance named L'Imperatrice. The fragrance became very popular on the French court. Today, L'Imperatrice is renamed into Josephine.

Somewhat later, the venturesome heir and successor of Francois Rancé, Alexandre Rance, created a fragrance for another empress, the wife of Napoleon III, graceful Eugenia. Eau de Parfum Eugenie presents a delicate harmony of natural notes of orange blossom, violet leaf, magnolia, iris, and other precious components.

At the end of the 19th century Alexandre Rancé moved to Milan, Italy, and established a new head office of the Rancé house there, and thus the French Rancé perfume house officially became Italian.

Today, the Rancé perfume house if officially run by Jeanne Sandra Rancé and her son Jean Maurice Alexandre Rancé. The contemporary Rancé, according to the words of its owners, cherishes the centuries-old family traditions, among which creating exclusive fragrances. Besides the newest technologies, Rancé is still using the natural materials in perfume production.

In honor of his famous ancestor Francois Rancé, Jeanne Sandra Rancé launched the Private Collection Rue Rancé, named after the street in Grasse where Rancé family had their parlor for centuries. Rue Rancé includes four eau de toilettes, the original formulas and the bottle designs of which Sandra Rance found in the family archive. Those are the four famous fragrances created by Francois Rancé: Eau Sublime, Eau Royal, Eau Empire and Eau de France. As the Rancé house says, they formulas are the exact reproductions of the originals.

Sandra Rancé has also reproduced the famous fragrances Le Vainqueur, Josephine, Eugenie and François Charles (François Charles Bonaparte, the son of Napoleon). Both the fragrances and bottles have preserved the characteristics and glow of their times, with slightly contemporary design. They can be found in niche perfumes shops and on-line.

The historical fragrances are not the only things that the Rancé house can be proud of. The house has created several modern eau de parfumes and many eau de toilettes.

Elegant D'Erje, the message of which is 'the love of your life', was created as a gift to Sandra Rancé by her husband Felice D'Elio, who is also taking part in the family business, Rouge is intensive evening fragrance, red colored, classical, sensual and seductive, with floral, woodsy and musky nuances.