Heritage
A house, in its own words
The story of Parfums 137 begins in 2012 when a small collective of fragrance lovers gathered in a Parisian atelier. Their goal was to create a house that honored the tradition of Grasse while speaking in a contemporary voice. The first public offering arrived in 2013 with Olibanum, a frankincense‑driven scent that earned praise from niche reviewers for its clarity and restraint. That same year the brand released Immortelle, Bigarade, Osmanthus, Myrte and Spearmint, each framed as a study of a single botanical note. In 2014 the line grew with Vetyver, a woody composition that highlighted the house’s willingness to explore less‑traveled olfactory paths. By 2015 Parfums 137 opened a modest boutique on Rue de la Verrerie, allowing customers to experience the fragrances in a setting that mirrored the brand’s minimalist aesthetic. A partnership with perfumer Jean‑Claude Ellena in 2017 introduced a limited‑edition amber series, reinforcing the house’s commitment to artistic collaboration. In 2020 the brand announced a shift to recyclable glass and biodegradable caps, aligning its packaging with a growing sustainability agenda. The tenth anniversary in 2022 was marked by a limited‑edition re‑interpretation of Olibanum, using a higher proportion of sustainably sourced frankincense. Throughout its first decade, Parfums 137 has remained independent, avoiding acquisition offers and retaining control over its creative direction. The house continues to release a handful of new scents each year, each one announced with a brief note that frames the fragrance as a moment of contemplation rather than a marketing event.
Parfums 137 treats perfume as a focused meditation on a single ingredient. The founders believe that a scent can reveal its character when stripped of unnecessary layers, allowing the raw material to speak directly to the skin. This philosophy drives the brand’s choice to launch compositions that highlight one note, whether it is the resinous depth of frankincense in Olibanum or the bright citrus of Bigarade. The house values transparency; each launch includes a short dossier that explains the origin of the key ingredient, the extraction method and the intended emotional tone. Sustainability informs the creative process: the team seeks suppliers who practice ethical harvesting, especially for ingredients such as frankincense, myrtle and osmanthus. The brand also embraces a modest release schedule, preferring quality and narrative over volume. By limiting the number of annual launches, Parfums 137 gives each fragrance space to develop a following and to be evaluated on its own merits. The creative team works closely with perfumers who share an interest in minimalist structures, encouraging them to experiment within a narrow scent family rather than chasing trends. This approach results in a catalogue that feels cohesive yet varied, each bottle offering a quiet invitation to explore memory, place and feeling.