History

The American oil magnate Armand Hammer, a powerful and controversial figure of the early 20th century, was deeply fascinated with Imperial Russian art. During his business dealings in Soviet Russia throughout the 1920s—where he developed close ties with Lenin’s government—Hammer acquired numerous original Fabergé treasures, including intricately jeweled eggs, silverware, and objets d’art once owned by the Romanovs. These items, remnants of a fallen aristocracy, were often sold off by the struggling Soviet state in an effort to raise foreign capital. Hammer’s collection played a crucial role in preserving the Fabergé legacy in the West at a time when the original House of Fabergé had been disbanded following the Bolshevik Revolution.

In 1937, Hammer's personal associate, Samuel Rubin, a businessman who previously operated the Spanish Trading Corporation—an importer of olive oil and soap—was forced to shut down his company due to the disruption of trade caused by the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), a brutal conflict between Republican and Nationalist forces that devastated Spain’s infrastructure and economy. Seeking a new commercial venture, Rubin turned to perfumes and toiletries, and at Hammer's suggestion, named the new enterprise Fabergé, Inc. The choice of the Fabergé name was likely driven by its association with opulence, craftsmanship, and the romance of imperial Russia—qualities that could lend instant prestige to a line of personal care products.

Unbeknownst to the surviving Fabergé family, Rubin registered the name without their consultation. After the war, when the family discovered the unauthorized use of their name, they sought legal recourse. However, the costs of a lengthy legal battle in American courts proved prohibitive. In 1951, they settled out of court for a modest sum of $25,000 (approximately $317,000 in today’s value), allowing Rubin to retain the rights to use the Fabergé name solely in connection with perfume and cosmetics.

Rubin quickly positioned the Fabergé brand within the high-end market, offering luxurious toiletries and cosmetics that rivaled established houses like Coty, Lucien Lelong, Jean Patou, Houbigant, Guerlain, and Elizabeth Arden. His success in establishing Fabergé as a prestige brand caught the attention of larger players. In 1964, Rubin sold the company to George Barrie and Rayette, a Minnesota-based haircare firm, for $26 million (equivalent to over $2.1 billion today). Rayette rebranded as Rayette-Fabergé, and by 1971, the company resumed its original name, Fabergé Inc.

Under Barrie’s dynamic leadership from 1964 to 1984, Fabergé experienced its most ambitious and flamboyant era. Barrie recognized the marketing power of celebrity endorsement and strategically aligned Fabergé with household names—a common advertising tactic that leverages fame to build consumer trust and aspirational appeal. He brought in football stars like Joe Namath and Paul Gascoigne, boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Henry Cooper, and screen siren Kelly LeBrock to promote Brut, a masculine cologne line that became a global bestseller and an enduring classic.

Cary Grant, one of Hollywood's most distinguished leading men, was hired in 1967 as a creative consultant. Though he never appeared in advertisements or endorsed products, Grant played an executive role, visiting plants, attending sales conventions, and joining the company’s board in 1968. He was compensated handsomely—with a $15,000 annual salary (roughly $142,000 today), a rent-free luxury Manhattan apartment, and full travel privileges aboard Fabergé’s corporate fleet of aircraft.

In 1977, Barrie extended this celebrity branding strategy to capitalize on the phenomenal popularity of actress Farrah Fawcett, star of Charlie’s Angels. He developed a namesake fragrance and haircare line, enlisting Fawcett in an iconic campaign that included a now-famous commercial where she shaves Joe Namath. Around the same time, James Bond actor Roger Moore joined the Fabergé board, further cementing the brand’s image as glamorous and contemporary.

In 1970, Barrie diversified the business further by establishing Brut Productions, a media division that produced several motion pictures including the Academy Award-winning A Touch of Class in 1973. Fabergé products even found their way into pop culture through product placement—most memorably when Roger Moore used a can of Brut 33 aerosol spray as an improvised weapon in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.

During this golden era, Fabergé also granted limited-use licenses to names such as Barbie, Limoges, and The Franklin Mint. These strategic licensing deals allowed the brand to expand its visibility and revenue streams without diluting its core product lines, tapping into niche markets and collectors’ circles.

In 1976, Barrie launched Babe, a women's fragrance that quickly became Fabergé’s top-selling scent worldwide. Model and actress Margaux Hemingway—granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway—was signed to an unprecedented $1 million contract (about $5.8 million today) to promote Babe. The campaign was a massive success and earned two Fragrance Foundation Awards. Tragically, Margaux’s mysterious death in 1996 brought renewed attention to the once-iconic fragrance.

By 1982, Fabergé had become the fifth-largest cosmetics and toiletry company in the world. In France, its subsidiary Parfums Fabergé, S.A., headquartered in Chartres (a historic town southwest of Paris known for its cathedral and cosmetic manufacturing hub), accounted for a turnover of $270 million (around $923 million today). The French arm specialized in men’s fragrances and grooming products, which made up 90% of its business. Its manufacturing plant in Chartres produced essential oils and packaging materials (excluding aerosols), and it operated with a dual strategy: luxury lines distributed selectively and mass-market products which composed 85% of revenue in France. This approach allowed Fabergé to maintain prestige branding while profiting from broad consumer reach.

By 1984, the company had diversified into an extensive portfolio including Aphrodisia, Kiku, Tigress, Woodhue, Xanadu, Partage, and Cavale fragrances, alongside household-name products like Aqua Net hair spray, Fabergé Organics shampoo, and Ceramic Nail Glaze. That same year, Fabergé was acquired by McGregor, which immediately discontinued several beloved products. They also introduced clothing and accessories under names like Billy the Kid and Wonderknit—a move that puzzled many fragrance loyalists.

In 1986, business strategist Mark Goldston became president and was instrumental in acquiring the venerable Elizabeth Arden brand from Eli Lilly. Just three years later, in 1989, Unilever purchased Fabergé Inc. for $1.55 billion (over $3.8 billion today). Unilever eventually merged Fabergé with its Lever Brothers and Elida lines in 2001 to form Lever Fabergé. Though the Fabergé name was removed from product packaging, legacy items like Brut continued to be sold under other labels such as Brut Parfums Prestige in Europe.

The story took a dramatic turn in 2007 when Pallinghurst Resources LLP, a London-based investment firm, acquired all Fabergé brand rights from Unilever. The new company, Fabergé Limited, was registered in the Cayman Islands and sought to restore the name’s prestige. Most notably, Tatiana and Sarah Fabergé—both great-granddaughters of Peter Carl Fabergé—joined as founding members of the Fabergé Heritage Council. The company's mission was to return Fabergé to its roots in fine luxury, focusing on ethically sourced gemstones and haute joaillerie.

In 2009, Fabergé relaunched with a couture jewelry collection, but to this day, no new Fabergé-branded fragrances have been introduced. Still, the legacy of Fabergé perfumes—glamorous, accessible, sometimes opulent and sometimes whimsical—remains a vital chapter in 20th-century fragrance history.