La Coupe d’Or by Rosine was launched in 1910, during a vibrant era in perfumery when innovation and artistry flourished alongside the elegance of the Belle Époque. Paul Poiret, ever inspired by evocative imagery and refined symbolism, chose the name La Coupe d’Or—French for “The Golden Cup.” Pronounced simply as “la coop door,” the phrase conjures images of a precious chalice filled with sunlight and richness, evoking warmth, luxury, and abundance. The name itself suggests a sensuous vessel brimming with golden treasures, reflecting both natural beauty and cultivated elegance.
At the time of its release, society was transitioning through cultural optimism before the upheaval of World War I. Fashion was lavish and sophisticated, with women embracing softer silhouettes, elaborate fabrics, and ornate accessories. This period saw a growing fascination with exotic and opulent fragrances that balanced freshness with warmth and sensuality. La Coupe d’Or fit perfectly into this context as a hesperidic oriental amber fragrance, imbued with a luscious accord of vanilla and red fruits. Crafted by the talented Maurice Schaller, the perfume was celebrated for its gourmand richness, reminiscent of a sun-drenched orchard heavy with ripe plums, juicy pears, peaches, apricots, and velvet raspberries. The scent was playfully accentuated by the subtle piquancy of green pepper, adding a lively contrast to the fruit’s sweetness.
Women of the early 20th century, especially those with refined tastes and a flair for the dramatic, would have found La Coupe d’Or captivating. It was suggested for “the lovely golden-haired blonde whose brilliance has been dimmed just a bit with the passing of years, but whose charm is more compelling than ever,” positioning the fragrance as a tribute to enduring beauty and subtle seduction. The perfume’s imagery—“intriguing as a flirtatious glance from violet eyes”—imbued it with a sense of mystery and allure that would resonate deeply with its wearers.
In the competitive landscape of early 1900s perfumery, La Coupe d’Or shared stylistic similarities with other notable amber fragrances such as Coty’s Ambre Antique, which also celebrated rich, warm accords. However, Rosine’s unique blending of ripe orchard fruits with delicate spices distinguished it as a particularly sensual and sophisticated creation. Adding to its allure, the perfume was reputedly favored by American actress Clara Kimball Young, a prominent silent film star known for her beauty and elegance, further cementing its association with glamour and refined femininity.
Overall, La Coupe d’Or stands as a fragrant homage to the golden hours of life—rich, inviting, and deeply evocative—perfectly encapsulating the era’s spirit of luxury and poetic charm.
Fragrance Composition:
So what does it smell like? La Coupe d'Or by Rosine is classified as a hesperidic oriental amber fragrance with a lovely accord of vanilla and red fruits. Similar to Ambre Antique by Coty. It was described as "in the orchard - setting sun - espaliers and flowerbeds exhaling all the penetrating scents of swollen and ripe fruit under their golden robe: cracked and juicy plums, sweet pears, melting peaches, blond apricots and velvet raspberries...while the pungent flavor of green pepper enhances the sweetness of so many delicacies. Nature has filled the Coupe d'Or with its generous and delicate sweets."
- Top notes: Calabrian bergamot, Sicilian orange, apple, pear accord, raspberry accord, apricot, peach, Chilean plum, red fruits accord, Brazilian rosewood
- Middle notes: Italian green pepper, Alpine lily of the valley, hydroxycitronellal, French carnation, Spanish tarragon, Provencal honey, Grasse rose de mai, Szechuan cinnamon, dianthine, Zanzibar cloves, Tuscan violet, Florentine orris butter, Grasse jasmine, Tunisian orange blossom, Grasse heliotrope
- Base notes: Mysore sandalwood, caramel, Venezuelan tonka bean, Mexican vanilla, vanillin, Tibetan musk, Sudanese myrrh, Venetian ambergris, ambreine, Siam benzoin
Scent Profile:
La Coupe d’Or by Rosine opens with a radiant sweep of sunlight captured in scent—fresh, effervescent, and golden. The first impression is a burst of Calabrian bergamot, bright and citrusy with just a trace of bitterness, its zest sharpened by Sicilian orange, juicier and more rounded, almost nectar-like. These hesperidic notes sparkle momentarily before giving way to a lavish orchard tableau.
You are suddenly surrounded by the heady sweetness of apple and pear, their crispness softened by the velvety roundness of apricot and peach. These stone fruits are not fresh from the branch, but rather sun-warmed and dripping with syrup, their skins just beginning to wrinkle. Chilean plum brings deeper purple tones, ripe and jammy, while a red fruits accord—with facets of raspberry, tangy and soft—creates the sensation of a basket overflowing with fruit at the end of a long, hot afternoon. Threaded through this abundance is Brazilian rosewood, lending a silky, faintly peppered woodiness that anchors the orchard's opulence in warmth.
In the heart, the fragrance transitions seamlessly into a more spiced and floral tone, as if dusk is falling over the garden. The unexpected flash of Italian green pepper—fresh, herbal, faintly bitter—cuts through the sweetness like a sharpened blade, adding contrast and lift. French carnation, rich in eugenol, lends its characteristic clove-like warmth, echoed and deepened by Zanzibar clove and the licorice-anise complexity of Spanish tarragon. Szechuan cinnamon contributes both heat and a subtle resinous sweetness. But this is no mere spice market—woven through are florals, tender and luminous.
Alpine lily of the valley sings in a high, clean register, boosted by hydroxycitronellal, a synthetic molecule prized for its fresh green-floral nuance. Grasse rose de mai offers a soft petal-like richness, while Grasse jasmine adds creamy depth. The powdery violet notes from Tuscan violet and the earthy, buttery quality of Florentine orris butter lend the bouquet a powdery, vintage softness, while Tunisian orange blossom and Grasse heliotrope add creamy almond and soft cherry-blossom impressions. Provencal honey runs beneath the entire heart like liquid gold, warm and humectant, subtly animalic and resinous.
As the perfume dries down, Mysore sandalwood—the revered heartwood from southern India, now almost mythical in its scarcity—emerges, smooth and milky, rich with layers of incense and cream. Mexican vanilla and Venezuelan tonka bean melt into one another, caramelized and balsamic, with vanillin amplifying their sweetness, giving the drydown a gourmand, edible warmth. Caramel itself is hinted at—burnt sugar and sticky syrup that coat the darker base elements.
Sudanese myrrh and Siam benzoin offer contrasting textures: the former dry, sharp, and spiritual; the latter resinous, sweet, and amber-like. Venetian ambergris—if genuine—lends a salty, radiant quality, smoothed further by ambreine, its synthetic counterpart. Tibetan musk, warm and animalic, infuses the base with a sensual hum, threading through the resins and woods, drawing all the sweetness into the body and warmth of the skin.
La Coupe d’Or smells like golden fruit under velvet dusk, kissed by spice and grounded in honeyed woods. It is generous, baroque, and softly radiant—evocative of sunlight filtering through orchard leaves, ripe fruit ready to fall, and the final lingering sweetness of summer just before night.
Bottles:
The perfume bottle for La Coupe d’Or by Rosine is a remarkable expression of early 20th-century luxury and artistry, seamlessly blending classical opulence with whimsical detail. Crafted in clear crystal by Baccarat—France’s most prestigious glassmaker—the flacon takes the form of a slim, upright rectangular column. The clear glass body allows the warm amber-gold hue of the perfume to glow from within, much like the rich orchard tones the fragrance evokes. Its clean lines and architectural silhouette lend it an elegant, refined profile, echoing the tailored sophistication of the Art Nouveau to early Art Deco transition.
The stopper is the bottle’s true centerpiece: rendered in satin-finished glass for a soft, frosted effect, it is then sheathed in a delicately gilded metal cap. The cap is modeled to resemble a brimming bowl of fruit—an ornate and symbolic flourish that beautifully captures the scent’s orchard-themed narrative. Plums, pears, and other stylized fruits seem to spill over in relief, evoking abundance and sensuality, while the gold finish lends an air of festivity and richness. It is both decorative and allegorical—a tactile nod to the name La Coupe d’Or, or “The Golden Cup.”
This flacon design is Baccarat model number 394, first issued in 1919, and it stands approximately 5.25 inches tall. Its presence on a dressing table would have signified taste, wealth, and a certain poetic sensibility. Collectors today prize this particular bottle for its rare blend of sculptural detail and iconic Baccarat craftsmanship. It serves not only as a vessel for perfume but as a sculptural interpretation of Paul Poiret’s vision—one where scent, design, and storytelling converge into a singular, luminous object.
photos from worthpoint
Other perfume bottles are simpler in design, tall, with a circular disk shaped stopper, the perfume label is in the shape of a footed bowl overflowing with the fruits motif.
Fate of the Fragrance:
La Coupe d'Or by Les Parfums de Rosine was launched in 1910, during the height of Paul Poiret’s creative renaissance—a period when his fashion house was boldly redefining femininity and luxury through color, texture, and fragrance. Arriving at the dawn of a new decade, the perfume embodied the spirit of Edwardian opulence slowly yielding to modernist experimentation. With its orchard-inspired notes and golden warmth, La Coupe d’Or was envisioned as a celebration of nature’s richness—a poetic offering poured into a flacon that mirrored a vessel of overflowing fruit.
The perfume enjoyed two decades of admiration, retaining its place among Rosine’s most beloved creations. It remained on the market until 1930, the year Les Parfums de Rosine ceased operations following the broader economic turmoil of the Great Depression and the gradual fading of Poiret’s influence in haute couture. As the brand shuttered, remaining stock of La Coupe d’Or—alongside other Rosine perfumes—was sold off in 1931 at significantly reduced prices, a quiet coda to a once-glittering chapter of Parisian perfume history.
Today, collectors and perfume historians covet the fragrance not only for its beautiful Baccarat flacon but for what it represented: the marriage of fashion and fragrance in the hands of a true visionary. La Coupe d'Or stands as a fragrant relic of a bygone era—sumptuous, romantic, and unmistakably golden.
1993 Reformulation & Relaunch:
In 1993, La Coupe d’Or was gracefully reimagined and relaunched under the revived Les Parfums de Rosine by François Robert, a master perfumer known for his refined and classically structured compositions. With this reinterpretation, Robert sought not to modernize the scent in a way that erased its past, but to respectfully echo the opulence and fruity-laced sensuality of the original 1910 creation.
While the 20th-century palate had shifted toward fresher and more transparent compositions, Robert remained faithful to the rich, velvety signature of the original La Coupe d’Or. He preserved the essence of a ripe orchard at sundown—the golden luminosity of apricots and peaches, the velvety touch of raspberries and plums—but softened the density of the original amber and animalic base. The result was a perfume that still felt like a cup brimming with summer fruit, but now filtered through a more modern lens, allowing individual notes to breathe and shimmer with clarity.
The relaunch was part of a broader effort by Marie-Hélène Rogeon and her father Bernard to honor and revive Paul Poiret’s legacy, restoring Les Parfums de Rosine as a house that once again celebrated roses, elegance, and history through scent. François Robert’s work on La Coupe d’Or captured that balance beautifully—bridging 1910 and the 1990s with a composition that felt both nostalgic and contemporary, a golden goblet still overflowing with poetic richness.
Fragrance Composition:
- Top notes: red berries, orange, peach, cinnamon, narcissus, mimosa
- Middle notes: jasmine, rose, lilies of the valley, orange blossom
- Base notes: musk, vanilla, ambergris, sandalwood
Scent Profile:
As I lift the bottle of the 1993 La Coupe d’Or by Les Parfums de Rosine to my nose, the air shimmers with a rich, radiant fruitiness—ripe, sun-warmed, and almost dripping with color. The top notes unfold in an exuberant burst of red berries, tangy and tart with their ruby-like brightness. These are the sort that conjure not just sweetness, but a vivid juiciness—an olfactory echo of stained fingers after picking wild currants or raspberries in the heat of summer. Their intensity is deepened by orange, not just its citrusy tang, but its honeyed pulpiness, likely from sweet Sicilian varieties known for their aromatic complexity. Peach follows, lush and syrupy, the sort that yields to the bite—its skin velvety, its core golden and dripping with nectar. It brings softness and roundness to the sharper edges of the citrus.
A warm spiced thread of cinnamon weaves in next—likely from Ceylon—offering a comforting warmth without turning overly gourmand. It adds dimension to the fruit, keeping the opening from becoming too sweet. Nestled among the top notes is narcissus, green and heady, with an animalic depth that hints at the sensuality to come. Mimosa, powdery and tender, floats gently in the background, evoking the sensation of pale yellow blossoms catching the early spring sunlight—a floral whisper against the juicy cacophony.
As the perfume settles into the skin, the heart blooms into a more classically floral composition. Jasmine unfurls first, its creamy indolic richness giving body and elegance. Here it likely comes from Grasse or the Riviera, known for a jasmine that is slightly more rounded and fruity. Rose adds plushness—possibly a blend of Bulgarian and Turkish attars, giving both dewy freshness and petaled warmth. Lily of the valley—delicate, dewy, and ethereal—brings a silvery green freshness that uplifts the richer florals. Its main component, hydroxycitronellal, is used to mimic the elusive natural scent and adds a clean, fresh, almost watery floral nuance. Orange blossom, heady and slightly honeyed, ties the heart together with a sweet warmth, offering brightness and a Mediterranean sensuality.
The dry down reveals a soft, comforting base. Musk, likely a combination of natural ambrette seed and synthetic musk ketones, adds a skin-like warmth—sensual but never overpowering. It blurs the edges of the brighter florals and fruits. Vanilla, most likely from Madagascar, is creamy and resinous—less sugary than in gourmand perfumes, more like sun-dried pods steeped in warmth. Ambergris lends its marine-skin facet, earthy and slightly salty, enhancing the fruit notes and anchoring the composition in a faint animalic hum. Lastly, sandalwood, possibly Mysore, if only in trace amounts due to restrictions, wraps the entire composition in a milky, woody softness. The sandalwood here is creamy and grounding, a quiet echo of warmth that lingers for hours.
The 1993 La Coupe d’Or is a refined revival—fruity yet elegant, floral yet restrained, oriental in its creamy warmth, and altogether radiant. It feels like golden light filtered through orchard leaves: luminous, sweet, and a little nostalgic.
Bottles:
The fragrance was presented in a bottle designed by Guillaume Rogeon.
Fate of the Fragrance:
By 2002, this perfume was discontinued.
