An engraved Guerlain bottle from 1870 fetched the record sum of €45,600 at an auction in the city of Arcachon, in the southwest of France.
The flacon, engraved with the house’s original address, Rue de la Paix, was initially expected to fetch €20,000 to €30,000.
Organized by Arcachon auction house Toledano, the sale took place in the presence of French fragrance expert Bernard Gangler.
He also said that another less known perfume flacon, Depinoix by Julien Viard (from 1920), broke a “world record,” fetching €32,400.
According to the auctioneers, 80 percent of bidders for the more than 250 perfume bottles under the hammer were French.
Exceptions included participants from Russia, India, and China, who called in via telephone.
