LES NÉRÉIDES | A Jewelry House in Nice and the Story of Patchouli Antique

The Les Néréides Patchouli Antique bottle with gold plants and insects, against an illustrated background of mimosa and other flowers.

For us, detail is what moves people.

— Bianca Amaddeo, who oversees the brand’s visual identity

Gold plants and tiny insects surround the black label on the current bottle of Patchouli Antique. Follow the pattern and a garden takes shape on the glass. The fragrance first appeared in Nice in 1980, the same year Les Néréides began making jewelry that took its forms from flowers and animals.

Basic Information

Founded: 1980
Founders: Pascale Chavepeyer (later Pascale Amaddeo) and Enzo Amaddeo
Place of origin: Nice, France
Official websites: Les Néréides and Les Néréides Japan

The Founders and the Beginnings of Les Néréides

From Art School in Belgium to Nice

Pascale Chavepeyer and Enzo Amaddeo met at art school in Belgium in the early 1970s. Pascale came from a family of artists, and her father was a painter. Their son Pier Paolo recalls the discipline his parents were pursuing at the time.

They started out at a photography school.

— Pier Paolo Amaddeo, artistic director

Their sketchbooks filled with plants, animals, and landscapes from walks and travels. Jewelry gave them a way to turn what they had seen into small objects that could be worn. They moved to France and opened their first shop in 1980 at 12 rue Paradis in Nice. The name Les Néréides came from Pascale’s grandfather and refers to the fifty daughters of the sea god Nereus in Greek mythology.

Patchouli Antique and the First Jewelry

A flower or a tiny creature fashioned into a piece of jewelry could bring a landscape or sensation to mind. To evoke that kind of memory through scent, the house released its first perfume, Patchouli Antique, in the year it was founded. Other fragrances went on to draw on materials such as mimosa from Nice, pink pepper from Réunion, and orange blossom.

Patchouli Antique also became a link between the shop and the things it sold. A case study of Les Néréides describes the perfume being sprayed into the air and onto jewelry packaging. The scent that greeted customers in the shop could thus travel home with the jewelry.

A Family at Work and the Return of the First Perfume

The four Amaddeo children took on different parts of the business. Pier Paolo directed the collections, Bianca shaped the way the stores and products looked, and Valentina worked in design. Nina set up the British operation. In one period of the family’s working life, Pascale and Pier Paolo leafed through old children’s books for ideas, while Enzo made sure the pieces would be sturdy before the team drew up technical plans.

In December 2018, Les Néréides relaunched Patchouli Antique under the name of its first perfume. Around the house’s fortieth anniversary, a new group of fragrances centered on plant notes followed. One of them, Rue Paradis, took the name of the street where the first shop opened.

How Les Néréides Creates

Enamel Colors and the Botanical Bottle

The jewelry begins with painted designs. Artisans apply color to the details of petals and animals by hand. A single flower can call for several enamel shades, which Valentina and the team work out with the workshops. Ideas can start close to home, in her father’s garden or with one of his favorite flowers.

It all starts with a story.

— Valentina Amaddeo, jewelry designer

The current Patchouli Antique bottle sets fine gold drawings of plants and insects against clear rectangular glass, with a black label and gold cap. Incense gives the opening a suggestion of smoke, and patchouli and Texas cedar form the woody core. Amber and benzoin bring warmth around the woods. The reissue pairs the minute detail of a garden on the glass with the depth of woods and resin in the perfume.

A Morning in Nice, in Rue Paradis

Rue Paradis imagines a summer morning as the cicadas begin to sing and yellow mimosa glows in the distance. The fragrance pays homage to the first shop through a combination of mimosa and sandalwood. Star anise opens the composition with a spicy edge that gives the soft floral center definition. The name carries the address, while the perfume draws its scene from the city outside the shop.

The Nutcracker in a Necklace and a Perfume

Les Néréides chose the ballet The Nutcracker for a Christmas jewelry collection. On a statement necklace, a hand-painted ballerina appears alongside the Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Casse-Noisette, the perfume inspired by that collection, tells the story through candied chestnut.

Neroli and jasmine accompany the sweetness of marron glacé, while cedar and an ambergris accord give the composition a woody finish. The necklace turns the characters into small figures. The perfume finds its way into the same story through the memory of a childhood sweet.

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