Spoutnik Lune en Croissant Presentation (1959)

One of the most extraordinary limited-edition perfume bottles ever produced by Lancôme is the “Lune en Croissant”—French for “Crescent Moon.” Released in 1959, this flacon was created in only 100 numbered examples and has since become a legend among collectors of rare perfume bottles. Designed by Georges Delhomme, Lancôme’s longtime artistic director, the bottle was conceived not merely as a vessel for fragrance but as a sculptural objet d’art. Delhomme designed it to commemorate the historic launch of Sputnik 3, the Soviet satellite sent into orbit in 1958, symbolizing a fascination with space exploration that captured imaginations around the world.

The bottle, created by the Georges Parant Glassworks, itself takes the form of a stylized crescent moon, executed in bluish opalescent glass that glows with a luminous, ethereal quality. The moon is not abstract, but rather personified with a gently sleeping face, evoking the mythic “man in the moon.” This serene expression imbues the piece with a quiet dreamlike charm, drawing from folkloric imagery and lending the flacon a surrealist touch that feels both poetic and imaginative.

The crescent moon is perched upon a sturdy oval-shaped base of deep cobalt blue glass, which visually anchors the bottle and reinforces its celestial theme. The base is adorned with a metallic gold label embedded into the glass (“titré dans la masse”), adding an element of luxury and permanence. The bottle is crowned with a brass atomizer cap, which is itself hidden beneath a matching opalescent glass cover, a detail that preserves the visual continuity of the moon’s silhouette while protecting the mechanism.

Standing 25 centimeters tall (approximately 9.8 inches), the “Lune en Croissant” bottle is strikingly tall and elegant. Its exaggerated height and slender profile add to its theatrical presence, making it not only a perfume container but a dramatic sculptural centerpiece. It was produced specifically for Lancôme’s Magie, one of the brand’s most iconic fragrances, thus marrying technical innovation with olfactory prestige.

A particularly notable episode in the bottle’s history occurred on March 25, 1960, during the official state visit of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to Paris. To honor his presence and the shared moment of space-age optimism, five examples of this exceptional bottle were presented to Khrushchev and the Soviet delegation. In this way, the “Lune en Croissant” not only celebrated a technological milestone but also became a unique artifact of Cold War-era diplomacy.

This was a limited edition of only 100 examples, created to house various Lancôme perfumes rather than one specific fragrance. That versatility, combined with its rarity and unusually large size for a perfume bottle, has made the “Lune en Croissant” one of the most coveted pieces among collectors. Few examples surface on the secondary market, and when they do, they are admired as much for their artistry as for their connection to mid-century French perfumery.

Delhomme’s “Lune en Croissant” flacon is a masterful blend of fantasy, design, and delicate glasswork. It reflects a time when perfume bottles were not only containers, but sculptural statements—artistic objects meant to stir the imagination as much as the senses.