Chanel No. 19 Vintage – My Experience

/ Sandra

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Sandra

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Hi APJ, how are you doing?

Yay – I recently bought a bottle of vintage Chanel No. 19 Extrait! I can remember so many years ago wearing No. 19, especially in the warmer months and loving it. I wanted to experience the emotions of joy and strength again.

Chanel No. 19 used to be one of my absolute favorite perfumes to wear over twenty years ago. The memory of the seasons shifting in Vienna made me want to revisit No. 19 again. Following the dark grey days of winter, the sun would inevitably come out and ring in spring. Ever so slowly the trees started to come alive again with the bright young green leaves and when the sun rays shone upon them pure joy washed over me lifting off the weight upon my shoulders during my commute.

Chanel No. 19 Vintage – My Experience

Over the years I would periodically go to the Chanel counter and revisit No. 19 in hopes of finding that joy again. I tried over and over again, failing each time to capture that moment. The current versions of the EdT and the EdP are wonderful in their own right but to be honest with you the opening is simply too harsh and sharp. They are also not how I remember No. 19. Until now…

My precious bottle arrived and I held off on wearing it until all the guests were gone as I wanted to experience it without other opinions or judgments. Even though the seasons are shifting here and autumn is definitely marching forward, it is surprising to me just how green Switzerland is.

This little bottle of vintage Chanel No. 19 is so green, lush and yet earthy. There is nothing jarring in the beginning and to be honest it is simply radiant. This is the rays of sun touching my face after the rain. This is a breath of fresh air as I step out into the ongoing viridian speckled with gold beauty outside. This is what Chanel No. 19 should smell like. Oh my. It is almost as if I am smelling perfume nirvana.

Now that I remember and actually have the golden egg in my hands, I am fearful of ever being without it again. This is the reason I was so hesitant to venture into the field of vintage. I know that there plenty of stellar modern perfumes in production, but why oh why is my treasured No. 19 so completely unrecognizable now?

I am now faced with my tendency to hoard in fear of finishing the bottle and not being able to waft around in a cloud of such exquisite beauty.

Do you have a perfume from your past which you would like go revisit? What memories would it conjure up? Would you treasure the gift of long lost memories and use the perfume?

Until next time. Oodles of fragrant kisses.

Sandra xo

17 thoughts on “Chanel No. 19 Vintage – My Experience”

  2. I am so with you. When I bought my vintage Diorissimo, the seller included samples of vintage No.19 parfum and EdT. I loved both, but the parfum a little more – it took a year, but now I have two sealed bottles of vintage parfum. I don’t wear it often but when I do it’s perfect.

    Shakespeare knew his onions about hoarding, though he said he was talking about love:

    Now proud as an enjoyer, and anon/Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure.

    Will my bottles last? Time will tell. In a year I’ll be back to my dealer again, I predict. I bet you’d love vintage EdT too, so keep an open mind. In any case, enjoy your precious masterpiece. There’s nothing quite like it.

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    • Hi Empliau, what a wonderful dealer you have. And how wonderful that you have two sealed vintage parfum bottles. Thank you for the tip on the vintage EdT. I used to love it many years ago, so I will definitely keep my mind and eyes open. Enjoy it I will.
      Thanks,
      Sandra xo

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  3. my advice: use it! and not over the course of a few years, but use it whenever you feel like it and i hope this means every week… Why? I have a vintage bottle of No 5 perfume… which was ahhhh-mazing! never smelled anything so good… i did not use it often, and then finally when i did use it again the top had gone, and although the dry-down is good, it’s just not what it was.. and now i feel sad i did not just indulge when i should have…

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    • Thanks for the solid advice Wendy! I am so terribly sorry about your beautiful vintage No. 5. I can’t imagine how you must feel. I will definitely be using it as I do not want to regret anything.
      Sandra xo

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  4. What a fabulous coincidence. I just got a bottle of somewhat older N°19 parfum. I wore it 6 nights out of 7 in Scotland. It’s absolutely beautiful. Exquisite. I shall use it all up and have no plans to save any? Why? I will wear it to bake, to workout, to sleep. Whenever I want. You know I hoard nothing because it is bloody useless, serves no purpose whatsoever. Use it. xxxx

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    • Hey there Val, wonderful that you have a bottle as well. It is one of those perfumes that steals your heart. What a joy it must have been to wear it in Scotland! I will take your advice and enjoy every single last drop of it.
      Sandra xo

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  5. Ooh, there’s a lot of chat going on recently about vintage 19 extrait. It must be amazing stuff, it’s got a lot of fans. Thankfully I’ve never smelled it so I don’t know what I’m missing😉 Use it up, no hoarding. Your October is looking far superior to mine, lovely vistas.

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  6. The timing of your Chanel 19 experience is good as I recently had quite similar experience. I understand you loved this Chanel 19 20 years ago but any chance you are loving it even more now? The reason I am asking is that I recently acquired a fragrance just due to nostalgia because i first got it during my first year in the US as a college student, back in 2001. I remembered the smell well and I also remembered I didn’t particularly like it at that time even though it was certainly a unique composition. However, I received it 2-3 days ago and actually loving it now, not only due to nostalgia as it took me back to that first year in the US but also because I think it is actually good. It also helps that I made sure to get an old version so that I would not receive a potentially reformulated version. I have not smelled the current version but it has been a long time since 2001 now so the probability of reformulation/cheapening of formula is quite high.

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    • Hey there Fazal. Interesting question and as a matter of fact – yes. I am enjoying the whole experience much more now. I feel as if I am understanding the shifting nuances of No. 19 and enjoying the complexity of the perfume. I loved it 20 years ago but it was a perfume that I felt confident wearing to the office. Now it is the whole experience. May I ask which fragrance you recently acquired?
      Sandra xo

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      • Sandra, it is Salvatore Ferragamo Pour Homme, originally released in 1999. So when I got it in 2001, I got it not long after its release and I still remember the price of the tester bottle was still quite cheap at the time. If you have not smelled it, it is fig-dominant.

        I am not sure how close it is to other fig perfumes but I think fragrances like Diptyque Philosykos and Marc Jacobs Pour Homme (discontinued) may give you an idea of Ferragamo. I have not smelled Marc Jacobs one (online reviews says Ferragamo is similar to Jacobs one) and my memory of sniffing Philosykos is not very reliable. However, I did smell Costume National Homme a year or two ago and it instantly reminded me of Ferragamo Pour Homme. of course, ferragamo came earlier. In fact, I think it is the oldest fig-centered perfume among the ones I have mentioned here with one exception, only Philosykos seems to have come earlier than Ferragamo.

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  7. The vintage sounds amazing, luckily I don’t know what I am missing. I found the modern version very good when I tested a sample some years ago, so it is one of those Chanels which will have a place in my collection some day. For all the luxury shopping available here now, a Chanel boutique is still not to be found. And I would like the experience of shopping it in person.

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