Quest aid rediscovery of Marie-Antoinette scent

Quest, industry leaders in the fragrance and flavours market, said it had explored previously untouched areas in perfumery creation for the making of the perfume, branching out from its usual methods and adhering to the traditions of French perfumery, whilst using a modern approach.

Proceeds generated by the perfume sales, launched last week, will be used to reclaim ownership of a travel chest used by the Queen, at a cost of €350,000.

The 25ml perfume bottles will be sold to order and will retail in the premium fragrance sector for €350 euros. However, there will be a limited edition 25cl crystal bottled version of the fragrance that will retail for a premium €8000 price tag.

Design company Arketip created the crystal bottle, with established designers Magali Seneguier and Jerome Dinand drawing on experience from their previous work for the likes of Givenchy, Calvin Klein and Moschino.

Historian Elizabeth de Feydeau recently generated new interest in Marie-Antoinette through the launch of her book that looked into the life of her original perfumer Jean-Henri Riesener.

The research of the book led to the discovery of the components of the original perfume and encouraged the collaboration of Francis Kurkdijan and Quest to re-establish a perfume that used the strong flowery scents that Antoinette was known for.

The perfume was made using 100 per cent natural ingredients, sticking to 18th century tradition, and included ingredients such as rose, iris, cut jasmine, tuberose and orange blossom.

Marie-Antoinette married King Louis XVI in 1770 and was executed by beheading in 1793 following accusations of passing military secrets to the enemy. The crimes were unproven at the time of her death.

However, her reputation for opulence and high-fashion lives on, lending this fragrance launch a certain amount of cache.