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Chypre
Le Chypre
1917 Eau de Toilette

8.5 / 10 32 Ratings
A popular perfume by Coty for women, released in 1917. The scent is chypreartig-floral. The longevity is above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Chypre
Floral
Spicy
Animal
Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
BergamotBergamot CivetCivet SageSage
Heart Notes Heart Notes
JasmineJasmine Orris rootOrris root RoseRose
Base Notes Base Notes
OakmossOakmoss LabdanumLabdanum

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.532 Ratings
Longevity
8.722 Ratings
Sillage
7.720 Ratings
Bottle
6.630 Ratings
Submitted by DonVanVliet · last update on 03/26/2026.
Source-backed & verified
Interesting Facts
The fragrance was named "Chypre" (French for Cyprus) because its notes were inspired by the Mediterranean. It gave the name of the Chypre fragrance family and was therefore the basic Chypre fragrance in the history of perfumery (the typical olfactory dramaturgy of Chypre was already found in other perfumes in the second half of the 19th century, but not this popular and modern). The now classic course was conducted exemplarily in this referential perfume: hesperidian top, floral heart, woody and mossy base.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Chypre / Chyprée (Eau de Cologne Parfumée) by Coty
Chypre Eau de Cologne Parfumée
Mitsouko (Eau de Toilette) by Guerlain
Mitsouko Eau de Toilette

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions
10Scent
ScentFan

336 Reviews
ScentFan
ScentFan
Helpful Review 5  
First Love
This perfume may very well be the first I fell in love with. It brings back memories of my childhood and my mother. I've posted reviews of Chypre de Coty before, but not put them in the database. Here goes.

Nov 2, 2013
So cool, so grownup. Did my mother wear this? Don’t think old lady when I say that. My mom was a grand gal, so gorgeous that when I brought my high school prom date over to meet the family and my mom came downstairs, his mouth gaped open, his brain froze, and before he could catch himself he croaked out, “Who is THAT?” I elbowed him and whispered, “Sshh! That’s my mom.” I was so proud of her, so glad to have femininity in perfection as my own mother. She always smelled great. I know she wore lavender. She also wore this. There's citrus, which must be Bergamot. Mandarin? Musk is there. Maybe even civet. And there’s a tangy, resinous element. Maybe cistus labdanum. And flowers, Jasmine included. I remember this perfume. I’ve smelled it on ladies furs piled on my bed as their owners sipped tea (or something) in the living room--long ago, before furs were a bad thing. To me, Coty’s Chypre feels like a warm embrace. Let me look up its notes: Civet! I was right. Bergamot. Oakmoss, Incense, too. Lots of flowers; Jasmine, rose, lilac, carnation, yang ylang, Iris? And Styrax? What is that??? Oh, it’s where benzoin resin comes from. Smells like vanilla. In youth, I never tried to emulate my mom, principally because my head was always in a book. Only now, late in life, do I treasure her passion for gossamer scarves and unforgettable perfumes. To be in the presence of the grand gal who raised me, I must only wear this.

Nov 10, 2014
I still feel this way about Chypre de Coty. Just sprayed it on left hand and my nose wouldn’t let me type for a good while. For me it’s a deeply resinous, deeply evocative, familiar scent. I still consider it one of the great perfumes. A year later, I am more aware of the civet, made alluring by the rest. Oakmoss is haunting, labdanum narcotic. Only last week did I realize I’d hunted down vintage Mitsouko, but not a vintage of this! Hubby, learning, came to the rescue.

Jan 15, 2015
It's among my top 5 favorites, this tremendous, generous, sophisticated, velvet perfume.
0 Comments
10Scent
Tinctureall

94 Reviews
Tinctureall
Tinctureall
3  
This Queen is still supreme
Not for nothing is this perfume the mother of all chypres. I never tire of this lovely classic perfume. Revisited from an immaculate bottle in near mint condition. All the classic perfumes you know the names of so well are all encapsulated here in one bottle as germinating ideas. A green and bitter, yet so very soft and gentle, powdery yet still with an edge. Wearing this is like the caress of a dearly loved mother or grandmother. The sparkle of life, lived to the full is within like a bright jewel, but the edges have been eroded by time until it feels like the smooth tumbled glass that you find on the beach. None of the harshness left around the edges but it still sparkles from within. I will always hold this as my ultimate icon of perfumery. Like a true matriarch, none of her great family have got the better of her yet. One to smell before you go.
0 Comments
Bassavina

25 Reviews
Bassavina
Bassavina
1  
Ancient, Iconic, Archaeological
Receiving a decant, then scoring two vintage bottles on ebay, Chypre de Coty is for me a history lesson in perfumery, especially in cracking the code of the chypre genre.

As a word, "chypre" has always held me. It's anagram is "cypher", a codes to be cracked, a template perhaps. Chypre de Coty is the genre's Rosetta Stone, it is an a way blunt and bare compared to its successors. I did a side-by-side sniff with Mitsouko vintage EDT (decant TPC). Coty is a parched outdoors to Mitsy's cushioned indoors, marmoreal to her flesh and blood, a rose to her peach, a big picture to her details. It's the missing link that informs me, "so THAT's what I've been smelling all these years," an accord I know best as mom's scarf drawer. Just lovely.
0 Comments
Jjcolbourne

1567 Reviews
Jjcolbourne
Jjcolbourne
0  
80s version.
It wasn't the first, but it put the genre on the map. What I have in my possession isn't even by far the first iteration and argued to be quite dissimilar to the original, but I'd be damned if no one else found this version of Coty Chypre as glorious as I do. The 80s generation I own is stellar, opening with intact bergamot underlined with mildly indolic jasmine and orange blossom, but it is the rooty, earthy, mossy core that steals my heart here.

This is the moss that covers stones and fallen limbs, lichen covered boughs and the smell of slender saplings close to the earth, ghostly mist over vernal pools, forest understories dappled with club moss that look like tiny pine trees. The orris reminds me of latest winter and earliest spring, when you get this vaguely sweet, powdery, root vegetable aroma in the air. The musk skin scent is the last decay of the past season warmed by the now higher arching sun, making room for new growth.

Let's face it: I am a man of the woods at heart, so my interpretations will lean in a certain direction. It would explain why so much of what is modern mainstream seems alien to me, especially in their dry downs. Chypre Coty 1986 is a dry down that feels very much like home, real, palpable. It's wild to think that this probably could be purchased at a CVS at the time. Something to ponder...
0 Comments
Medusa00

846 Reviews
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Medusa00
Medusa00
Very helpful Review 27  
1917 or Born as a Legend!
In 1917, Francois Coty (how do you get the hook under the "C"?) created the first Chypre fragrance. The first Chypre was made from ingredients primarily sourced from Mediterranean countries. Coty named his creation after the island of Cyprus, hence Chypre. The Chypre concept is/was characterized by a bergamot-aldehydic opening and a base that always consisted of moss and patchouli, often accompanied by cedar and pine accords.
Gradually, Chypre fragrances developed into the largest group of perfumes. They exist in both women's and men's versions, with the latter being somewhat lighter, as the ladies were subjected to fruits, leather, greenery, smoke, haze, and animalic notes with a lot of cat pee. Back then! Today, all the old thunderous Chypres would be considered unisex and very much niche! Unless one dares to try!
Chypres have experienced revivals since 1917 and then disappeared again - but only for a short time - back into obscurity. Users thought so! Because every house has created Chypres at all times, sometimes more, sometimes less thunderous. Many of you may have Chypres at home and don’t even know it. Well, newer attempts are often rather unsuccessful.
Ah, I could write for hours about Chypres. Swoon! But I don’t want you to fall asleep.
I doubt that I have the original from 1917 under my nose with my sample, but at least, and even if.....
The top note is powerful, and here we have a Chypre as it should be, as it must be, and that should never change! Bergamot oil.
The big, peeing kitty, that is civet, which is already present in the top note, only pees on me much later and gives the fragrance depth.
Powdery fairy Iris appears and wafts a considerable amount of dust. There are many more other, unsweet, somewhat strange flowers present, and yes, that is also what defines a Chypre: No matter how many flowers are in it, a Chypre is never sweet! Never!
And of course, moss, lots of moss. Something velvety glimmers, which I cannot identify. But not cozy panne velvet; this is heavier, more expensive velvet from the curtains of old castles, where the house spirit Balduin still haunts!
Thank you, Fhfhfh, for the journey into the past.
13 Comments
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Statements

5 short views on the fragrance
45
40
Warm, animalic citrus opening, later slightly powdery floral. Very beautiful floral duet. The base is perfectly mossy resinous.
Foundation *
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40 Comments
26
23
The primal beast
howls at the Hesperides moon.
Powdered shooting stars
burn out,
turn into resin drops.
They fall on velvety
soap moss ...
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23 Comments
21
6
Here it is: the legend and mother of all subsequent chypre fragrances, distinctly different: spicier, more animalistic, darker.
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6 Comments
3 years ago
19
18
Deep, warm, rounded
Green-fresh notes blend with subtle flowers that grow from spicy moss, earth, and golden resins
Magical
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18 Comments
3
1
Incredible classic from the modern "master of scents." THE real deal! Smells exactly as it should. Citrus-floral-mossy-green-animalic!
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1 Comment

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