Mauboussin

Mauboussin is a French fine-jewellery house founded in Paris in 1827 [8]. For most of its history it has been known for jewellery, watches and high jewellery, but it is also the name behind a fragrance line that began in 2000 and continues today through the "Je le Veux" collection of eaux de parfum. The house is a subsidiary of Groupe Galeries Lafayette and remains active, with an operating online store and, by its own account, more than 120 boutiques worldwide as of 2024 [7].

The company presents itself as an "artiste joaillier" working since 1827, dedicated to jewellery with what it calls original and refined design. Its fragrances are sold as part of French haute parfumerie, an extension of the jewellery house rather than a separate brand.

The house traces its beginnings to a jewellery workshop opened on rue Greneta in Paris in 1827 by a Mr. Rocher. The workshop passed to Jean-Baptiste Noury, and the firm traded for decades as Maison Noury, taking a medal at the 1878 Paris Universal Exposition. Through the closing decades of the nineteenth century it exhibited widely at world expositions, including the 1873 Vienna Exposition.

The name Mauboussin comes from Georges Mauboussin, a nephew of the Noury family. According to the house, Georges took direction of the workshops in 1883 and the company was renamed "Mauboussin" in 1923, when he formally succeeded Noury [3]. Wikipedia records the succession differently, placing Georges Mauboussin as director from 1877 and dating his ownership to 1903 before the 1923 renaming [7]. The sources agree on the 1827 founding and that the house carries Georges Mauboussin's name; they differ mainly on the exact years of succession.

Through the early twentieth century the firm built its reputation at international exhibitions. In 1923 Georges Mauboussin moved the house to rue de Choiseul, near the Opéra quarter, and it took the Grand Prix at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris [8], the event sometimes described as the origin point of the Art Deco style. In 1928, under Georges's son Pierre Mauboussin, the house opened subsidiaries in New York, London and Buenos Aires, and in 1933 it was named official supplier to the Maharaja Yashwant Rao Holkar of Indore. It later collaborated with the American firm Trabert & Hoeffer in the 1930s and 1940s [7].

The date of the move to the house's Place Vendôme address is recorded inconsistently. The company's own history and the jewellery-history publisher Berganza both place the move to N° 20 Place Vendôme in 1955 [3]; a Wikipedia summary gives 1946 [7]. In 1994 the house extended into watchmaking, in a venture involving Alain Mauboussin and the watchmaker Richard Mille.

Mauboussin is a subsidiary of Groupe Galeries Lafayette, the French department-store group [7].

The house frames its work around what it describes as nearly two centuries of jewellery know-how. It says the great majority of its pieces are designed, cut and crafted in France, and it positions its jewellery toward women who favour original, refined design. Its perfume guide describes the fragrances as the work of "master perfumers" using rare raw materials, placing the line within French haute parfumerie.

Mauboussin entered fragrance in 2000 with a self-titled eau de parfum, the jeweller's first perfume, composed by the perfumer Christine Nagel [9]. The original scent was built on notes including plum, bergamot, jasmine, ylang-ylang, Turkish rose, amber, patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla.

The current fragrance range is the "Je le Veux" collection, which the company describes as an exclusive selection drawn from French haute parfumerie. It comprises eight eaux de parfum — Musc, Ylang, Iris, Ambre, Santal, Yuzu, Oud and Caviar — each sold in 100 ml format, with gift sets that add a shower gel and body lotion. Beyond fragrance, the wider house spans jewellery, bridal, watches and leather goods. The fragrance line's manufacturer or licensee is not stated on the company's site.

Beyond its exhibition prizes, the house counted figures such as Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo and Paulette Goddard among its historical jewellery clients [7]. In a 2011 review, the critic Luca Turin gave the original Mauboussin eau de parfum four stars, describing it as "an oriental situated somewhere between the first Kenzo Jungle and Fendi's Theorema" [9].

Mauboussin is active. Its direct online store carries current pricing and promotions, and the company reports more than 120 stores worldwide as of 2024 [7]. The fragrance line reached its 25th anniversary in 2025, counting from the 2000 launch [10], while the house itself approaches its bicentenary.