Often seen perfuming luxury homes around the world, Diptyque's classic candle from Diptyque - instantly recognizable with its minimalist design of white wax, transparent glass vessel and black-and-white label - gets to blow out 60 candles of its own this year.
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The icon's origin story started in 1963, just two years after Diptyque founders Desmond Knox-Leet, Christiane Montadre-Gautrot and Yves Coueslant opened their first perfumery Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris.At the time, scented candles were purely practical but the trio reinvented them into decorative objects as well.
They designed the emblematic oval label as a window framing a graphic interplay of dancing letters from the Diptyque alphabet. The shifting words have distant echoes of Knox-Leet's past as a code-breaker during the Second World War.
Just like the fragrances, the candles were created by mixing together spices, leaves and flower for scents which have their origins in memories or dreams.
This method resulted in the first three candles: Aubepine (Hawthorn), Cannelle (Cinnamon) and The (Tea). Since then, the "herbarium," as Diptyque calls it, has expanded to 49 scents.
Each candle is made from high-quality waxes and a wick whose material composition and diameter guarantee that the wax will burn optimally and pool uniformly. The chemical interaction between these elements and the perfume concentrate ensures the faithful replication of the scent.
Several months of work and fine tuning are required to get the blend just right. The candle is then manufactured in factories in Paris or Provence. There are 10 stages in this two-day process, some carried out only by hand.
To mark this important anniversary, Diptyque has brought together all 49 scents for the first time in a limited-edition gift set. Only 12 have been made so if you want to get your hands on one, the nearest boutique is in Sanlitun in Beijing. Price on request.
