Le Numero Cinq by Molyneux c1925

Le Numero Cinq by Molyneux: launched in 1925. Created by Jacques Vogel.

Molyneux’s most famous perfume was le Numero Cinq, also known as the Number Five, his lucky number, the same as Chanel’s.

In fact, author Luca Turin states that Chanel and Molyneux befriended one another and had hatched an idea to both bring out a perfume called No. 5 on the same day in 1921.

c1930 ad

The story also says that Molyneux’s version of a Number Five perfume was years ahead of Chanel’s incarnation. Nigel Groom states a contrary, that Molyneux launched some numbered perfumes in 1925, one of them being the infamous Le Numero Cinq.

Naming perfumes after numbers was a common practice during the 1920s. Other perfume companies launched their own Number Five perfumes. Perfumeries such as Forvil, Lamballe, Gaverine, Fragonard, Claire and Rimmel.

Following a legal action spurred by copyright issues by Chanel, in 1927, the perfume was renamed Le Parfum Connu, "The Known Perfume". Respectively, on some labels, the perfume is simply named what looks like a letter G, but in reality is a number five printed upside down.

Original Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? Le Numero Cinq is classified as a floral fruity chypre fragrance for women. It begins with aldehydes, neroli, peach, hyacinth, jonquil and lily of the valley layered over rose, jasmine, orange blossom, ylang ylang and carnation, resting on a base of musk, castoreum, incense, amber and sandalwood.

• Top notes: white hyacinth, jonquil, aldehydes, neroli, bergamot, peach, lily of the valley, genet
• Middle notes: violet, narcissus, rose, jasmine, Florentine iris, plum, carnation, Bourbon Island ylang ylang, orange blossom
• Base notes: musk, cloves, incense, castoreum, labdanum, orris, Singapore patchouli, ambergris  

Theatre, 1930:

"Molyneux's "Parfum Inconnu" Introduced abroad as "Le Numero Cinq", is duplicating here the vogue it enjoys in Paris. It is priced at $10 the ounce, up to $300 for huge luxury bottles of this sophisticated scent ."

Marie-Claire, 1937:

"No. 5 by Molyneux: fresh, fruity and subtle. Dominant note: bergamot, orange blossom, essence of exotic fruit. Excellent in fabrics, velvets, woollens. Unique in its kind, could never be copied. Created a fashion in perfumes. For redheads.""

La Femme Chic, 1945:

"Similarly Cinq de Molyneux, who completes the range of creations of this House through an intermediary. Its particularity lies in the fact that to the freshness of some of its famous predecessors is added a warm and heady side, which does not harm in any way to his distinction."

L'Amour de l'art, 1950:

"Le Numero Cinq de Molyneux: The number 5 was the lucky number for Captain Molyneux also born a 5 and whose fashion house is at number 5 rue Royale. But we could add that this complete perfume satisfies our 5 senses and that 5 different scents swirl into one: rose, jasmine, orange blossom, sandalwood and patchouli.This delicious blend harmonizes with all complexions, it is quite fresh and subtle at first but it rounds out by heating up in contact with the epidermis."

Combat, 1953:

"Le Numero Cinq by Molyneux - Castoreum, amber and iris give a new accent to the classic trio of couturier perfumes: rose, jasmine and lily of the valley. How to locate your climate without bias? A dance between the two wars. Pretty women in shirt dresses that don't hide much, helmets up to their eyes and watched by Van Dongen, abandon themselves to the indifferent arms of Argentine gigolos. Petit-gris and dazzling clips. For me, this luxury embalms the Number Five.?"

Combat, 1955:

"Numero Cinq (perfumed cologne) by Molyneux - a dance hall from the inter-war period. Pretty women in shirt dresses who don't hide much, helmeted up to their eyes and watched by Van Dongen abandon themselves in the indifferent arms of the Argentinian gigolos. Beneath the squirrel and the pearls, they smell of castoreum, amber and iris, which give a unique accent to the fateful trio: rose, jasmine, lily of the valley. Diluted in a water of cologne, this famous perfume installs the pleasures of winter in the heart of summer."

Fodor's Europe, 1954:

"Molyneux. "Chic"— for brunettes, men or women; "le Numero Cinq" —fresh and clean, for everyone; "Magnificence"— tenacious, sumptuous with furs; "Rue Royale"— for young red-heads; "Vivre"— blondes."

Bottles:

1 oz parfum, red leather purse case, c1920s-1930s, photo from worthpoint.

1/2 oz parfum, original box, c1920s-1940s. Le Parfum Connu. Photo from worthpoint.

1 oz parfum, original box, c1940s-1960s. Photo from worthpoint.

Bottle stands 3 1/4" tall, c1930s-1940s. photo from worthpoint.

c1950s-1960s, 9ml parfum. Photo from worthpoint.

c1950s-1960s, 1/6 oz parfum bottle. Photo from worthpoint.

Fate of the Fragrance:

The exportation of Le Numero Cinq the to USA was halted during WWII and didn't arrive back to to American shores until 1948. The perfume seems to have been discontinued sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. 

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