It’s not just Chanel, L’Oréal, or LVMH that take the mantle for “French Luxury Brands.” Although they might be the ones extremely popular around the world, a lesser-known French company produces the world’s most expensive product of its kind, one that we all have utilized.
Trudon is a company founded in France in 1643 and is one of the world’s oldest candle manufacturers. Its candles lined Marie Antoinette’s bedroom before the French Revolution, and also adorned the churches of Paris at one point.
Today, we are diving into the lasting allure of the Trudon candles and figuring out why some of them cost as much as $660.
Cire Trudon is a luxury French candlemaker and fragrance brand headquartered at Rue de Seine in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. For nearly 400 years, they have been making special candles that sell for anywhere between $48 for a taper candle and $660 for a large jarred candle. Each of these candles is meticulously handcrafted with high-quality materials, and it comes right down to the glass jar it comes in.
So what makes these candles so good? And why do they cost hundreds of dollars? Let’s find out.
To find out this answer, we have to go back 383 years in pre-Revolutionary France and learn about its origins. Back then, when electric lights weren’t a reality, Trudon quickly became the “Light Bulbs” of the time. They provided illumination in royal courthouses and other palaces. The basics of candlemaking are simple, and the same goes for Trudon. But making a luxury candle must require so much more. It elevates those experiences.
Many cheaper candles use a petroleum-based paraffin wax for their base, whereas Luxury candles tend to opt for natural waxes. Up until 2018, Trudon used blends using beeswax in its mixture. This obviously stopped because it is an animal-product wax, and it prevented them from making vegan products for people. Today, Trudon uses some paraffin wax, but relies mostly on vegetable oil for most of its candles. They are mainly from rapeseed oil and sunflower oil, mainly because they have high melting points.
The wax melts overnight, and fragrances are added in the morning, right before pouring. The most popular scented candles of Trudon are filled by machines. But its highest-end offering, aka the $660 great jarred candle, is filled by hand. The worker glues five large wicks to the bottom of the jar, with a tad bit of silicone. Then they attach something called ‘Stop Wicks,’ which ensures that the candle doesn’t explode. The moment the wick dries up, the melted wax is poured inside. It often requires two pours of wax to fill the void.
But before they proceed with the second pour of wax, there is an intermediary step that requires “pinching the wicks.’ A very important step before the second pour, a worker pinches each wick individually to center it on top of the wax, as best as possible. Only when the wick is placed straight and centered will it burn the entire wax. There won’t be any sideburn.
Trudon also makes elaborate, decorative pieces that aren’t meant to be burned. They just act as showpieces. You can even see Trudon’s elaborate set pieces in certain French museums. Such is the luxury value and allure associated with this brand that even today, after 383 years, people from various countries like to visit Trudon’s factory in Normandy, France, just to see and feel these iconic candles.
