Origins & milestones

Jasmine did not arrive as one bottle. The timeline below keeps Grasse, Guerlain, Chanel, Nahéma and IFRA as proper names, not metaphors.

Read the years as a map of trade and reformulation, not as a ranking of beauty.

Timeline

1. AntiquitySambac east

   Jasminum sambac moves through South and Southeast Asia as hair and rite flower.

2. 16th–18th c.Grasse jasmine

   J. grandiflorum naturalized in Provence as a perfume crop.

3. 1921No. 5 jasmine

   Ernest Beaux and Chanel lock Grasse jasmine into an aldehydic monument.

4. 1930Joy

   Patou’s jasmine load beside rose — the two-flower canon.

5. 1962Hedione

   Firmenich’s methyl dihydrojasmonate: air, tea, and modern jasmine without full indole.

6. 1989Samsara

   Guerlain’s sandal-jasmine; late grand-floral oriental.

7. 2000A La Nuit

   Lutens / Sheldrake: sambac as night, banana and indole.

8. 2011Jasmin Rouge

   Tom Ford’s spicy red jasmine as boutique night floral.

9. 2010sChanel fields

   Publicized Grasse partnerships restage jasmine as terroir branding.

10. IFRA yearsHedione share

    Indole and some naturals managed; hedione takes more of the air.

The eras

• Crop and attar — Provence fields and Kannauj stills, not yet a “note pyramid” story.
• Absolute luxury — No. 5 and Joy make jasmine a measurable extravagance.
• Hedione air — The molecule lets jasmine float in eaux and masculines (Eau Sauvage lineage).
• Night niche — Samsara, A La Nuit, Ford — jasmine as dusk and sandal.
• Terroir plus tea — Named Grasse fields and transparent hedione teas share the shelf.

Milestones

• Grasse grandiflorum — The French jasmine that luxury houses still name in copy and contracts.
• Hedione, 1962 — Changed every “fresh jasmine” after Eau Sauvage’s era.
• A La Nuit, 2000 — Sambac as a night portrait, not a French absolute clone.

Jasmine keeps moving; the other six chapters say what one date cannot.

Origins & milestonesNotes & accordsCraft & methodCulture & meaningIcons & legendsHow to wearMarket & bottles