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Parfum Narratif · Eau de Parfum

The Operais Burning

1er mai 1951

Smoky French cade, Virginian cedar and a seductive lipstick accord evoke the drama of the fire that engulfed Geneva’s opera house during Wagner’s The Valkyrie.

25% concentration · Swiss Made

Watch or listen

Watch the filmTold by its characters

£185.00

Tax included

All customs duties and taxes are included in your total. We guarantee nothing more to pay on delivery.

Size

50ml 2ml Discovery Set

Notes

Burnt Harp:

Charred Wood:

Smoky Lipstick:

Watch the narrative film

Delivery, duties and Try it first

Shipped from Geneva in 3–5 business days. Duties and taxes are paid for deliveries to the EU, so there is nothing to pay at the door.

Every 50 ml arrives with a sealed 2 ml of the same narrative. Try the sample first; if the story is not yours, return the unopened bottle within 14 days.

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The Story

1er mai 1951

Legend has it that on the 1st of May, 1951, the Créateur Olfactif entered the Geneva Opera House at noon, just as a rehearsal of Wagner’s The Valkyrie had reached its third act.

As he breathed in the atmosphere of the building in search of inspiration, a fascinating scent suddenly touched his nose: it was woody, smoky, seductive!

He quickly jotted down a formula and, unaware that the source of this scent was a fire ravaging the opera house, rushed to his laboratoire to recreate the scent and capture it in a bottle.

The next day – to his great surprise – he realized that the opera house had burned down.

This story is as true as I remember it,

But memory can be tricky sometimes…

— Genève

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The Scent

Notes

Burnt Harp

Charred Wood

Smoky Lipstick

Top

Black pepper · Smoke

Heart

Rose · Iris · Leather

Base

Cade · Cedar wood · Amber · Oak moss

Family

Woody Amber

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The Créateur Olfactif

In his own words

The name THE OPERA IS BURNING came long before the formula. I’ve always found something both melancholic and strangely mesmerising in the idea of an opera house—a place devoted to beauty and drama—burning down and rising again like a phoenix. I opened the fragrance with a seductive burnt lipstick accord, imagining the fire entering the performers’ dressing rooms before making its way to the stage.

— Mustafa Moneir, perfumer and founder

The Pillar Box

Reduced to its most common denominator

The Pillar BoxGenève, 4 février 2025Genève, 4 février 2025

Fig. 1 · As it arrives

Touch or swipe the plate to take it apart.Click or drag the plate to take it apart.

The flacon is presented upside down: its base on top, the atomiser below. Almost zero plastic, entirely recyclable, and Swiss Made.

Discover the Pillar Box

Inside every Pillar Box

A true story

Inside every perfume

25%

Perfume concentration

Swiss Made

Blended and aged

Made to be kept

The box becomes the pedestal

Questions

Before you choose

How does “Try it first” work?

Every 50 ml arrives with a sealed 2 ml of the same narrative. Open the sample first; if the story is not yours, return the unopened bottle within 14 days.

Can it be gift-wrapped?

Yes. Choose gift wrapping in the bag and add a message: it is wrapped by hand in Geneva with a handwritten card.

Shipping, duties and returns

We ship from Geneva in 3–5 business days. For the EU, duties and taxes are paid in advance, so there is nothing to pay at the door. An unopened bottle can be returned within 14 days.

Not ready for the full bottle?