Finally, it went through. Sometimes it is amazing how long things can take, because you are not certain, fiddle with things, weigh ideas and pros and cons and pros again, and discuss and then when you move on and start getting serious, then things get on so slowly.

When I got the envelope from the Swiss Institute for Intellectual Property last week I checked back in my blog archive when I have talk about the concept for the first time and was amazed. February 2009. Time passes by. Fast. The first post was here, followed by a post there in April, 2009. As the idea and the concept behind the pentachords was important to me, I wanted to wait before I continue talking more about it. I wanted to create a few pentachords to see whether a perfume built around 5 ingredients makes sense,  and whether this reduction can lead to beauty and excitement. I feel it can. As I have seen a few ideas of mine copied (no details here) in the past, I wanted to protect my line this time. It is weird, but this is the way things work these days…

In the envelope I got the confirmation that my brand registration for PENTACHORDS (TM) in Switzerland got through, Nov. 9, after a few issues that we needed to fix, in the US it is deposited and in the EU , too. I started working with my designers on the flacon and the packaging concept: The PENTACHORDS line  within my brand will launch later in late summer 2011 but I want to have enough time to produce them and introduce them. Thus, I need to start now.

I have 5 pentachords in my books, and I will present the 3 most diverse ones. The reduction in the composition leads to a challenge in composition. The minimalism brings new fragrant forms. And it does not allow to cheat. You must use the most expensive synthetics that you can get in the highest quality. And the composition must be perfect. I worked for a while on them. Composing with 5 ingredients was one of the biggest challenges and one of the greatest joys in the last year. Also because I kept it a secret. I was worried about many things, also about failing and feeling under pressure by raising expectations.

While working on the composition “PENTACHORDS_white”, think: [-violette blossom-orris root-bourbon vanilla-amber gris-warm wood- ] I learned a lot about the nature of vanilla, and orris root as I was looking at the natural equivalent, thinking about it, like looking into the mirror. It is interesting to see how a limitation can make you think differently. For me, this is art in its purest form: mirroring nature, bringing it into a concept, and by doing so thinking about it and invite others to think about it and enjoy it.

And now, we continue thinking conceptionally on labels and flacons.