Ernest Daltroff

France Born 1867 Parfums Caron

Known for early 20th-century innovations that combined synthetic floral materials with rich natural florals, often built around Laire bases like Mousse de Saxe. His work for Caron favors plush, slightly dark florals and orientals (Narcisse Noir, Nuit de Noël), tobacco-leather accords (Tabac Blond) and refined aromatic lavender-vanilla structures in masculine perfumery (Pour Un Homme de Caron).

About

Ernest Daltroff (born 17 November 1867) was a French perfumer of Russian-Jewish origin and the founder of Parfums Caron. After working in the clothing trade and visiting the Exposition Universelle in 1900, he decided to become a perfumer despite having no formal training. In 1903 he and his brother Raoul set up a workshop in Asnières-sur-Seine in the former perfumery Emilia, and in 1904 he established Parfums Caron at 10 rue de la Paix in Paris, adopting the name from a small Mercerie Parfumerie Caron he had bought the previous year. Around 1906 he began collaborating with milliner Félicie Wanpouille, who introduced clients and designed Caron’s bottles. Between 1904 and 1941 he created dozens of perfumes for Caron, including early works such as Royal Emilia (1904) and Belle Amour (1906), and later landmarks like Narcisse Noir (1911), N’aimez Que Moi (1917), Tabac Blond (1919), Pour Un Homme de Caron (1934) and Nuit de Noël. Daltroff was noted for pioneering blends of synthetic and natural florals and for his use of Laire bases such as Mousse de Saxe. He fled occupied France for the United States in 1941, leaving Caron in Wanpouille’s hands, and died in 1947.