The maison
CIREMONDE was started in 1998 in a back room on Rue Oberkampf, with two saucepans and a scent that took nine months to get right. It is still a small house: twelve people, one workshop and two boutiques.
The first scent was Papier Ancien, and it was made because a bookbinder two doors down complained that every candle on the market smelled of dessert. It sold badly for three years and has been in the collection ever since.
The workshop moved to Pantin in 2007, which was as far as the budget stretched and, as it turned out, close enough to keep the same people. Nine of the twelve have been with the house for more than a decade. Two pour, two blend, three finish and pack, and the rest split their time between the boutiques and the refill counter.
We have never made a limited edition. Scents are added when they are ready, which has happened twice since 2010, and nothing is withdrawn to create urgency. The collection is eight scents because eight is what the workshop can pour, cure and refill without the quality drifting.
What we hold to
- Refill before replace. A vessel that comes back is worth more to us than a vessel that sells twice.
- No seasonal churn. Eight scents, available all year, in every format.
- Cure properly. Four weeks, even in December, even when the shelves are empty.
- Say what is in it. Wax, wick and fragrance percentage are printed on every box.
The house in numbers
1998
First pour, Rue Oberkampf, in a room shared with a bookbinder.
12 people
Across the Pantin workshop and the two Paris boutiques.
8 scents
Unchanged since 2019, when Foin Coupé was added.
19,400
Vessels refilled at the counter since it opened in 2011.