Les Cœurs de Chamade, released for Valentine’s Day in 1999, was a special limited-edition fragrance set that celebrated love, passion, and the enduring elegance of Guerlain’s perfume heritage. The set brought together two fragrances under one romantic concept: the iconic Chamade of 1969, a feminine creation by Jean-Paul Guerlain, and the newly composed Chamade pour Homme, designed as its masculine counterpart. Together, the pair symbolized the dialogue between two hearts—feminine and masculine—bound in harmony yet distinct in character.
The original Chamade, named after the French term for the quickened drumbeat signaling surrender in both battle and love, was a perfume of bold romanticism. It embodied the spirit of a modern, liberated woman of the late 1960s, blending green, floral, and oriental notes into a fragrance that was both tender and daring. By 1999, this fragrance had already established itself as a Guerlain classic, and its inclusion in the Valentine’s set underscored its legacy as a perfume of passion and surrender to love.
To accompany it, Chamade pour Homme was introduced as a natural evolution of the theme. Crafted with the same sophistication and attention to detail, it offered a masculine interpretation that balanced strength with sensuality. Its creation acknowledged the timeless bond of shared fragrance—an intimate gesture where partners could each wear a scent drawn from the same inspiration yet designed to suit their individuality.
Presented together, Les Cœurs de Chamade was more than just a fragrance set; it was an expression of Guerlain’s artistry in weaving storytelling with scent. The pairing invited couples to share in a scented dialogue, echoing each other’s presence through complementary accords. Released as a limited edition, it remains a collectible piece that highlights Guerlain’s ability to create perfumes that transcend time, becoming both personal talismans and cultural expressions of love.
Fragrance Composition:
So what does smell like? Chamade pour Homme is classified as a woody spicy fragrance for men.
- Top notes: bergamot and black pepper
- Middle notes: violet, hyacinth, green notes and nutmeg
- Base notes: precious wood, vetiver and leather
Scent Profile:
When first uncapping Chamade pour Homme, the fragrance opens with a luminous spark of bergamot, the classic Italian citrus prized for centuries in perfumery. Bergamot from Calabria is unlike any other citrus—it carries not only the effervescent brightness of lemon and orange, but also a floral roundness and faint herbal bitterness that comes from its natural aroma chemicals such as linalyl acetate and limonene. These compounds are responsible for that crisp, almost champagne-like fizz at the top, which instantly feels refined and elegant. Here, Guerlain lets this bergamot shine with clarity, while subtle modern synthetics extend its sparkle, preventing the fleeting freshness from evaporating too quickly. It feels like a bright opening chord struck in sunlight.
Just beneath the bergamot, a twist of black pepper emerges, its piquancy almost electric. The pepper, sourced from India, exudes an aromatic sharpness thanks to piperine, which lends warmth, and volatile terpenes like β-caryophyllene, which give a dry spiciness. The note feels alive, prickling the senses without overwhelming, acting as a bridge between the zest of the bergamot and the warmth waiting to unfold. It enhances the brightness, giving the fragrance not just freshness, but an immediate sensuality, the promise of something deeper.
As the scent warms on the skin, the heart reveals an unexpected softness. Violet leaf contributes a green, dewy freshness that is at once leafy and slightly cucumber-like, stemming from ionones, which naturally carry that powdery, floral-leaf balance. Guerlain amplifies this with carefully measured synthetics, lending a longer-lasting, transparent freshness that feels almost like inhaling the air of a shaded garden. Alongside it blooms hyacinth, a flower seldom used in perfumery because of its delicate volatility. Recreated here through a blend of natural isolates and synthetics such as phenylacetaldehyde and hydroxycitronellal, it has a crisp, watery sweetness tinged with subtle earthiness, like petals just unfurling in early spring. These floral nuances intertwine with green notes that suggest freshly crushed stems—galbanum-like facets, grassy aldehydes, and subtle leafy aromatics—creating a vivid picture of verdant growth.
Threaded through this greenery is the spice of nutmeg, sourced from Indonesia, whose warm, slightly resinous profile comes from compounds like myristicin and sabinene. Unlike the sharper bite of black pepper, nutmeg has a rounded, almost creamy warmth. Here, it balances the cool florals with a glow that feels both exotic and comforting, like sunlight filtering through the leaves. Its sweetness harmonizes with the violet and hyacinth, lending depth without losing lightness.
As the fragrance settles into its base, the precious woods begin to resonate. Sandalwood, likely sourced from Mysore or a carefully crafted synthetic reconstruction, offers its signature creamy, milky depth due to santalols, while cedar contributes its dry, pencil-shaving clarity from cedrol and cedrene. Together, they form a foundation that feels noble and grounding, the olfactory equivalent of polished wood paneling. Alongside this comes vetiver, most likely from Haiti, prized for its purity and balance. Vetiver oil is a complex tapestry of molecules—vetiverol, vetivone, khusimone—that lend earthy, smoky, and slightly nutty nuances. In Chamade pour Homme, the vetiver adds structure, like deep roots anchoring the brightness of the top and heart.
Finally, a subtle leather accord lingers, achieved not from actual hides but through a blend of birch tar and modern aroma chemicals such as isobutyl quinoline. It is both smoky and green, suggesting worn gloves and polished saddles, but softened to harmonize with the florals and woods rather than dominate. This leather note closes the fragrance with masculine elegance, evoking both strength and refinement.
Altogether, Chamade pour Homme feels like a scented dialogue between contrasts—light and shadow, freshness and warmth, nature and artistry. Each raw material, whether sourced from Calabria’s orchards, India’s spice fields, or Haiti’s vetiver plantations, carries with it a sense of place and character. Guerlain elevates them through careful use of synthetics, extending their natural beauty and weaving them into a composition that is at once timeless, modern, and deeply romantic.
Bottles:
The Les Cœurs de Chamade set of 1999 was presented with remarkable elegance, its design as carefully considered as the fragrances it contained. The centerpiece of the set consists of two crystal-clear glass flacons, each shaped into a concave half of Guerlain’s classic Chamade tear-drop silhouette. When placed together, the pair forms a complete heart, a symbolic gesture of union—perfect for the Valentine’s theme. The flacons are refined yet understated, their clarity allowing the liquid inside to glow softly, a play of light through curved surfaces.
Each bottle is crowned with a clear glass stopper, the name “Chamade” etched across the top in graceful, gold-toned lettering, a subtle yet luxurious detail that ties into the romantic presentation. The base of each flacon bears the “Guerlain” name, also rendered in gold, ensuring that the house’s identity is integrated seamlessly into the design. The proportions are generous yet balanced: standing 7.4 inches high and 3.34 inches wide, the flacons feel substantial in the hand, echoing the grandeur of Guerlain’s tradition of perfume bottle design.
The set is completed with a pearlescent presentation box, shimmering softly with an iridescent finish. On its front, the box is signed in gold pen by Jean-Paul Guerlain, adding not just an element of prestige but also a personal touch from the master perfumer himself. This detail elevates the set from a mere luxury item to a collector’s treasure, infused with both artistry and intimacy. Measuring 8.85 inches by 5.1 inches by 2.36 inches, the box cradles the two flacons perfectly, presenting them side by side as a mirrored pair.
Each bottle holds 30ml of eau de toilette, with one containing the feminine Chamade (originally launched in 1969) and the other the masculine Chamade pour Homme, created for this very edition. Together, the flacons represent a dialogue between two fragrances: the original romantic floral-oriental composition and its newly imagined woody-spicy counterpart. This pairing not only celebrated Valentine’s Day 1999, but also symbolized Guerlain’s ability to express love and harmony through both scent and design.
