When Coty created Ambre Antique in 1905, he ignited a revolution that changed perfumery forever. By daring to merge precious natural essences with new synthetic molecules, he opened the door to a new olfactory era—one that celebrated artistry and innovation in equal measure. Now, 120 years later, Coty’s visionary spirit returns through Infiniment Coty Paris, a collection that redefines luxury fragrance for the modern world. Its latest creation, a meticulous reissue of Ambre Antique, is both a tribute to the past and a bold step toward the future.
Ambre Antique: A Modern Icon Reborn
Ambre Antique, courtesy of Infiniment Coty Paris.
Founded in 1904, Coty was built on the idea that perfume could be more than adornment—it could be emotion, memory, and modern art. The house’s early scents, from Chypre to L’Origan, were radical for their time, fusing natural absolutes with man-made accords to create something entirely new. That same creative audacity drives Infiniment Coty Paris, co-created by Sue Nabi and Nicolas Vu. For the maison’s 120th anniversary, they have revived Ambre Antique not simply as a historical replica, but as a work of olfactory archaeology.
“The faithful recreation of Ambre Antique was a real challenge. But it was also an act of homage—to Coty’s pioneering legacy and to the artistry of perfume itself.”
—Sue Nabi
La Danse de Parfums’ by Georges Goursat (SEM).
Ambre Antique, courtesy of Infiniment Coty Paris.
To bring the scent back to life, Coty’s technical Perfumer unearthed the long-lost original formula, reconstructing its structure note by note. Central to the process was the recreation of Ambréine S, a groundbreaking synthetic accord invented by Samuelson in the early twentieth century. Born from an “accidental” overdose of vanillin and bergamot, this luminous amber note became the fragrance’s backbone, imbuing it with warmth, radiance, and a sensual complexity that feels startlingly modern even today.
Craftsmanship and Design Meet Modern Perfumery at Infiniment Coty Paris
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Equally essential was the sourcing of the natural materials that defined Coty’s earliest masterpieces. Rose, jasmine, iris, orange blossom, and bergamot—harvested from across the Mediterranean—were chosen not only for their purity and depth but for their sustainability. In Ambre Antique, these florals bloom alongside a textured vanilla balm, ambergris, and Tonkin musk accords, creating a composition that is both comforting and magnetic. The result is a scent that feels alive on the skin—soft yet powerful, timeless yet completely of this moment.
“The faithful recreation of Ambre Antique was a real challenge,” says Sue Nabi. “But it was also an act of homage—to Coty’s pioneering legacy and to the artistry of perfume itself.” That spirit of homage extends beyond the formula to the design of the bottle, which embodies Infiniment Coty Paris’s philosophy of fragrance as an art object. The glass flacon features a golden illustration inspired by La Danse des Parfums, a 1913 poster by French artist Georges Goursat (SEM). Through the bottle’s asymmetrical facets, the image appears to move—an elegant woman caught mid-dance, suspended between past and future.
Ambre Antique, courtesy of Infiniment Coty Paris.
“At Infiniment Coty Paris, bottles are conceived as true artistic canvases,”
— Nicolas Vu
Each of the 1,905 bottles in this limited edition bears a numbered medallion, engraved in gold and silkscreened with the original Ambre Antique typography. It’s a collector’s piece meant not just to be worn but displayed—an objet d’art that bridges Coty’s storied heritage and its avant-garde present. “At Infiniment Coty Paris,” says Nicolas Vu, “bottles are conceived as true artistic canvases. This one revisits an illustration from over a century ago, translating it into a contemporary design that reveals the fragrance within.”
The Ambre Antique Film with Marie Debré Chapuis
In the film Ambre Antique, Infiniment Coty Paris collaborates with Parisian illustrator Marie Debré Chapuis to create a poetic dialogue between past and future. Inspired by Coty’s 1913 La Danse des Parfums and reimagined through her contemporary lens, Chapuis envisions a timeless heroine—strong, radiant, and adorned in futuristic echoes of Antiquity. Her golden skin reflects the scent’s warm amber notes, while a portal-shaped jewel near her eye opens into a realm of imagination. Animated in partnership with Quartier Animé, the short film merges traditional drawing with ethereal digital effects, translating bergamot into flowing rivers and crystalline vanillin into shimmering light. The result is a hypnotic visual symphony where heritage and innovation intertwine. “When I first smelled Ambre Antique, it felt almost mystical,” says Chapuis. “It’s a fragrance that’s 120 years old yet remains unconventionally modern.” The film captures precisely that spirit—Coty’s enduring essence reborn for a new era.
A Tribute to the Amber Family’s Past and Future
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With Ambre Antique, Infiniment Coty Paris reaffirms its position as both historian and innovator. The fragrance stands as a prelude to a new series of olfactory creations dedicated to the Amber family—reimagined with even greater depth and intensity. As the maison continues to expand its collection, each release promises to push boundaries and reawaken the emotional resonance that made Coty’s earliest perfumes so revolutionary.
Ambre Antique is not nostalgia; it’s renewal. It’s the story of how a single idea—combining the natural with the synthetic, the sensual with the cerebral—continues to shape the art of perfumery. One hundred and twenty years later, its amber glow still feels infinitely modern.
Discover more at infinimentcoty.com.
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