What to Know First
- Chopard’s Origines Collection is the foundational pillar of the Maison’s in-house Haute Parfumerie programme, comprising twelve fragrances across three Gardens families — all composed by master perfumer Alberto Morillas using sustainably sourced natural ingredients and structured around the same ethical principles that govern Chopard‘s jewellery and watchmaking.
- The collection was explored at an intimate Parfum Lunch on the French Riviera, staged against the backdrop of Chopard’s near-three-decade partnership with the Cannes Film Festival.
- All four Haute Parfumerie sub-collections — Les Origines, Les Imaginaires, Les Ouds, and Les Fleurs Bijoux — are crafted in alignment with Chopard’s Journey to Sustainable Luxury initiative.
- Oud Assafi, valued at more than its weight in gold, anchors the Gardens of the Kings family and gives the collection particular resonance for GCC audiences.
A Fragrance Programme Built from Scratch
In 2017, Chopard ended its external licensing arrangements and rebuilt its fragrance operations entirely in-house. The decision was deliberate: to apply the same standards of traceability and ethical sourcing that had defined its Chopard Mille Miglia Classic Chronograph Raticosa watchmaking to every raw material entering the perfumer’s organ.
The result is a Haute Parfumerie programme structured around four sub-collections. Les Origines forms the foundation. Les Imaginaires explores poetic, conceptual territory. Les Ouds dedicates itself entirely to Oud Assafi. Les Fleurs Bijoux fuses high jewellery composition with white flower accords.
The Three Gardens Families
The Origines Collection opens with Gardens of the Tropics (2017), the four-fragrance group that launched the entire programme at the Cannes Film Festival. Magnolia au Vétiver d’Haïti, Néroli à la Cardamome du Guatemala, Vanille de Madagascar, and Vétiver d’Haïti au Thé Vert each place a single tropical ingredient at the centre and build outward.
Gardens of Paradise (2018) draws from the mythical gardens of Arabian civilisation. Orange Mauresque, Jasmin Moghol, Rose Seljuke, and Miel d’Arabie each showcase an extraordinary concentration of natural ingredients sourced through Firmenich’s Naturals Together sustainability programme. For GCC collectors, this family carries particular cultural resonance.
Gardens of the Kings (2019) is structured entirely around Oud Assafi — a fragrant resin from an extremely rare species of Asian tropical tree, valued at more than its weight in gold. Agar Royal, Aigle Impérial, Nuits des Rois, and Or de Calambac take the material across India, China, the Middle East, and South America, blended with ingredients sourced responsibly from five continents.
Alberto Morillas and the Emotional Register
Every fragrance across all three families is the work of Alberto Morillas, the Spanish-born master perfumer at Firmenich. His catalogue includes Bulgari Omnia, Kenzo Flower, and CK One — compositions that span decades and audiences.
Chopard selected Morillas for his command of natural ingredients and his capacity to construct compositions of genuine emotional depth. Of the oud compositions, Morillas has said: “When I smell oud, I return to a dream. It’s an emotion. Right away, you can see Japan, you can see China, you can see India.” That quality of sensory transport is precisely what aligns his approach with Chopard’s positioning as “The Artisan of Emotions.”
Cannes as Creative Context
Chopard has served as Official Partner of the Cannes Film Festival since 1998, crafting each edition of the Palme d’Or by hand in Fairmined-certified ethical gold at its Swiss ateliers. Each trophy requires approximately 40 hours of work by five master artisans. Since 2014, every Palme is set upon a block of natural rock crystal whose internal impurities ensure no two are identical.
The Parfum Lunch placed the Origines Collection within that same geography. A carefully selected group of international guests explored the twelve fragrances in a setting designed to make Chopard’s creative philosophy tangible. The Maison’s position as Official Partner of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah extends that same cultural ambition into the GCC.
Founded in 1860 in Sonvillier, Switzerland, by Louis-Ulysse Chopard and led since 1963 by the Scheufele family, the Maison’s argument is consistent across every discipline: luxury is most meaningful when it begins with feeling, not material. The Origines Collection is that argument made olfactory.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chopard's Origines Collection?
The Origines Collection is the foundational pillar of Chopard's Haute Parfumerie programme. It comprises three families — Gardens of the Tropics (2017), Gardens of Paradise (2018), and Gardens of the Kings (2019) — each crafted by master perfumer Alberto Morillas using sustainably sourced natural ingredients.
Who created the fragrances in Chopard's Origines Collection?
Every fragrance in the Origines Collection was composed by Alberto Morillas, a Spanish-born master perfumer at Firmenich whose previous work includes Bulgari Omnia, Kenzo Flower, and CK One.
Is Chopard's fragrance line available in the GCC region?
Chopard operates as the Official Partner of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah and maintains an active luxury presence across the GCC. Its Haute Parfumerie programme, including the Origines Collection, is part of its broader global offering.
What makes Chopard's haute parfumerie different from a licensed fragrance line?
Since 2017, Chopard brought its fragrance operations fully in-house, replacing prior licensing arrangements with a programme built around ethical sourcing, traceability, and the same creative standards applied to its high jewellery and watchmaking.
What is the rarest ingredient in the Chopard Origines Collection?
Gardens of the Kings centres on Oud Assafi, a fragrant resin produced by an extremely rare species of Asian tropical tree and valued at more than its weight in gold. It is blended with natural ingredients sourced responsibly from five continents.
