Jo Malone Fragrance Bottle Engraving - Houston
It is that time again. I will be engraving for Jo Malone London in the River Oaks District just in time for Valentine’s Day. See you there 9 February 2022 from 12-6pm.
Calligrapher for Team USA - 2016 Rio Olympics
Houston calligrapher and wine bottle engraver
It is that time again. I will be engraving for Jo Malone London in the River Oaks District just in time for Valentine’s Day. See you there 9 February 2022 from 12-6pm.
In the wine and spirit world, there is something that is referred to as “OND”. This stands for October, November, December. For people that work in wine and spirits, it is the busiest time of the year. You figuratively tell your friends and family “good-bye, see you next year”. It is just an insanely busy time as that is when people not only drink and are merry, but they may also very well give wine and spirits as gifts.
When I started out as an engraver, it didn’t really occur to me that that shift in sales involved me. However with each passing year, it became clearer that during OND I was telling my family “see you next year”. My daughter has experienced OND since she was a baby. Funny enough, now she just knows that during November and December she will see a babysitter more than she will see me. It is an insanely busy time for onsite engraving. I usually engrave 2, sometimes 3 events a day, everyday just about 6 weeks straight……and I love it. This year was a first as I am currently in graduate school at the same time. Between grad school, running my business and my daughter, it was ……insane. But it was great and I am grateful. I was able to see clients for whom I have engraved over the years at those wine bottle engraving events. I am honored that they remembered me as I know that I am only a blip on their radar screen of life.
Now in January, life is “normal” again. Normal until OND 2022 :)
As I am often asked what are some of the funniest messages that I have engraved in wine bottles at events around Houston, I thought that it might be easier if I began to show you. Take a peek!
Slinging Ink®
According to Merriam-Webster, the name Carmen means an incantation, a song, a poem. In my view, fragrances behave in a similar way from a seductive standpoint. Incantations are seductive as we can lose ourselves in them and we are never quite certain as to the reason why. The psychology behind it is a mystery to us. Jean Baudrillard believed that the immediate attraction that we have to a song or scent lies behind the annulment of meaning. A scent does not explain anything or express anything. It just is. However in that ambiguity, our minds create meaning through our lens of experiences, hopes etc, etc. We, in a sense, make it seductive in our minds without realizing it and place the object of that attraction externally. I digress….
When I engraved this bottle at a Neiman Marcus event, it was actually for a client for whom I have engraved many bottles over the last few years. This particular bottle for Carmen seemed just perfect as her name reminded me of Baudrillard’s thoughts on the attraction of fragrances..
Fragrances are seen as frivolous by some. I can understand that sentiment on some level. At the same time, fragrances can be intoxicating and have the power of seducing us into mindless submission without one word spoken. That is powerful. That is something that is so incredibly powerful that it should not be ignored. That may be one reason that fragrance is a multi-billion dollar industry.
My role as a glass, fragrance bottle engraver in that industry is honestly minute, but I’ll take it. The day that I etched this bottle was honestly so busy that I did not have an opportunity to enjoy its scent. However, if its presence on my table was any indication, it must be quite popular as I engraved quite a few of these Tory Burch bottles that day. Cheers!
To many people, anniversaries are a pretty big deal. I am not genuinely one of those people, but I do however understand the sentiment. They are a benchmark, if you will. A way of marking the amount of time that you have been with someone that is significant to you in your life. In our culture, anniversaries and libations go hand in hand. Anniversaries are to be celebrated so marking the event with an engraved bottle of wine simply makes sense.
While engraving these wine bottles, the sentiment was punctuated as these wine bottles were engraved before the marriage even took place. I absolutely love forward thinking and placing positive vibes into the universe. Cheers!
While engraving at Neiman Marcus in the Houston Galleria a few weeks ago, this gorgeous fragrance set arrived at my table for etching. I am not incredibly familiar with Maison Francis Kurkdjian as a company however, I love their aesthetic. Every thing from this company appears to be elegant and nicely done. Clean lines and simplicity. Obviously, the glass on the bottles was simple to engrave with the requested “D. W.” as the glass was courtesy of Baccarat crystal. Crystal nearly ALWAYS engraves beautifully. It is so smooth that it requires minimal effort. While etching it by hand, you literally just go with the flow. Like silk…. Cheers!
Chanel is one of those brands that just stays with you. It is not ostentatious. It is not overstated. It does not apologize for its air of exclusivity. It provokes this slightly elusive demeanor. It just is….and everyone knows.
I have worn fragrances from Chanel for as long as I can remember…since my 20’s for sure. At this point in my life, it is the only brand that I wear. I’m a creature of habit. I have an affinity for Chanel Beige during the day and Chanel Gardenia at night. They have definitely become my signature scents. So when a Chanel fragrance arrives at my table for an engraving event, it holds a special place in my psyche.
There are 2 aspects (as far as I know) that can instantly transport a person to particular memories: music and scents. When I smell honeysuckle, I am immediately transported to my grandparent’s farm as that was where I first remember experiencing that scent. Scents transfix our minds in a way that no other concepts have the capacity to do. I digress…
This fragrance bottle of COCO Mademoiselle is nearly an engraver’s dream. It has a flat surface (like most of the Chanel bottles) and the glass is nice to engrave…minimal resistance. I hope that Charlotte is pleased. Cheers!
I have been engraving for Jo Malone for years now and it is always a pleasure. On this particular day, a beautiful lady walked into the boutique in need of a gift for her mother for her birthday. However this was more than just an ordinary birthday. This was for her 50th birthday! She had the idea of giving her 2 candles. One with the garden variety “Happy Birthday” and another with “Congratulations” on enjoying life and all that it offers. This was the “Congratulations” candle that was engraved for her. This particular candle has a metallic ombre look that is absolutely gorgeous in person. Unfortunately, I can not recall the particular scent for this candle but it was beautiful. Cheers!
Interestingly enough, I have engraved a fair amount of bottles from Maison Francis Kurkdjian during events at Neiman Marcus here in Houston. However, it has always been so busy that I have not yet had the opportunity to enjoy scents from this company. What I have, however, enjoyed is the ease with which these bottles are etched or engraved by hand. It is so evident that the glass is crystal by Baccarat. It engraves like silk. There is no resistance and it does everything that you want it to do. Nonetheless, here is little information about this scent:
Baccarat Rouge 540 eau de parfum is born from the encounter between Maison Francis Kurkdjian and Baccarat to celebrate the crystal manufacturer’s 250th birthday. The woody scent releases a poetic alchemy, a highly condensed and graphic olfactory signature. Breezy jasmine facets, radiant saffron boost the ambergris mineral notes and the woody tones of freshly-cut cedar. Bright and sleek, Baccarat Rouge 540 eau de parfum caresses the skin like an amber and woody floral whisper.
Once upon a time when I enjoyed whiskey, I was introduced to bourbon. I quite recall enjoying it immensely. However, interestingly enough, I don’t believe that I had ever had Maker’s Mark. In my 20’s, it seemed to be one of those drinks that you had to mentally prepare for on some level. In my 30’s, I had become enraptured in scotch so it wasn’t on my radar so much. By my mid 40’s, nothing was on my radar anymore :-). With that said, I have engraved a fair amount of Maker’s Mark over the last year. It’s really a cool bottle to engrave…especially the “46” bottle. For us engravers, it’s almost a gift. The bottle designers have graciously provided all of this empty real estate and these particular bottles were presented with the labels removed. Even better.
On this bottle, I was asked to etch first and last names for an event. I had initially planned to go with my usual size of script lettering on wine & spirit bottles with the x-height at roughly 1/6”. However with all of that space dead center in the middle of the bottle, I thought “no, if we are going to do it, then let’s do it.” I decided to make the x-height closer to 1/4”. I think that that was the right call. It gave the lettering a slightly bolder look to go with the feeling that this brand evokes.
So of course, I knew nothing about the Private Selection prior to engraving these bottles. I found a little information about it on their website:
At Maker's Mark, our wood-finishing series was created to explore new, unique expressions of our signature whisky. Beginning as fully matured Maker's Mark® at cask strength, Private Selection is created by adding 10 custom wood finishing staves to each barrel. It's then aged in our limestone cellar to extract a unique, flavorful taste profile. Participants in this special barrel program get their say in the selection of these wooden staves. The finishing staves can be any combination of five flavor profiles chosen especially for this program. With 1,001 possible stave combinations, each expression of Private Selection has a customized finish and taste profile that is unique, yet undeniably Maker's®.
Oftentimes these days if I am writing, it is actually engraving in glass, wine bottles, fragrance bottles, spirit bottles, mirrors etc. However, this is how it all started. I simply wanted my written correspondence on paper with friends & family to be beautiful. I began to take calligraphy & Spencerian classes around the country like an obsessive along with becoming curious about engraving and here we are….. a full-grown calligraphy & engraving business.
It is so easy to fire off a text, a tweet or an Instagram post. The recipient reads it and understands the message as it is conveyed. However when you send an actual handwritten letter, there is a shift in the perception of the recipient. That person understands that time was set aside specifically for them to convey this message. It doesn’t have to be written in calligraphy for the recipient to love it.
Are my letters perfect? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I am not nor have I ever been that type of penman. I’m a practical penman and there are no calligraphy & lettering police. However, I do have standards and try to observe them. At the end of the day though, it’s not about the technicality of the lettering. It is about the feeling that you evoke in the reader. THAT is paramount.
I have a neighbor who has become a dear friend. He has no cell phone, let alone a smartphone. All of our correspondence is outside as neighbors, via his landline telephone or (yes, you guessed it) mail. Actual letters in the mail. He will send a note simply to tell me about someone he met while walking or the happenings of his day. There is something nostalgically beautiful about that that I absolutely adore.
Next time that you want to say hello to a friend, take the time to write a letter. Obviously not everyday, but just try it. They will love you for it. Cheers!
I have engraved a fair amount of Maker’s Mark Bourbon bottles over the years. The glass bottle itself is really simple to etch as the bottle is made of solid quality glass and poses minimal resistance. The label designers were also kind enough to provide plenty of space for engraving. However, I stumbled across the website and learned a bit about the brand and their mantra. We have something in common. We both believe in quality over quantity. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Here’s how they put it:
There's an old joke at the distillery that goes, "If we could make it any faster, we wouldn't." Because at Maker's Mark, it's one bottle at a time. Every time. That's as true today as it was when our founders filled our first bottle. And since then, it's been a widely held belief around here that character isn't made by machine.
Love it. Cheers!
This bottle of Austin Hope has a mildly funny story behind it. I was engraving at an event and interestingly enough and a wine company representative that was working in the store at the time mentioned that he had a family reunion approaching and how it would be great to give his siblings Austin Hope bottles with the location of the reunion engraved as keepsakes. This sounded like a great idea so we etched the wine bottles with the message. Later that night, I received a text that he needed another wine bottle engraved with the same message as he sent a picture of the wine bottles to his wife and she reminded him that he was a sibling shy in his count. Oooops…. So the next day he met me at a completely store that happened to have the same bottle and we engraved a few more. I love it. Cheers!
The wine bottle that I engrave in this video is by JNSQ. This bottle is honestly one of the most beautiful bottles that I have seen along with being an engraver’s dream. The shape of the bottle makes it easy to maneuver for engraving. The near flat & wide surface is incredibly close to the same feel that you would experience with engraving on flat glass. There is not much to it. Cheers!
When someone offers Cartier, the answer is always yes. Fragrance bottle engraving and etching Houston
Engraving fragrance bottles onsite definitely provides a different feel than engraving wine and spirit bottles. With that said, I genuinely enjoy both. I find that the mood at a wine or spirit bottle job is pretty laid back and fun. Oftentimes, it can be relatively hardcore due to volume which can provide a little adrenaline rush. Fragrance bottles jobs are generally more luxurious so to speak. Who doesn’t love that? I feel so fortunate to have turned what began as a hobby into my career. I remember when I thought that no-one would. pay me to write. I learned that EVERYTHING has a niche. Thank you, Houston.
As life returns to normal, friends and family are returning to events such as graduations, weddings, birthdays etc. We are finding more reasons to say “congratulations”. This was one of the bottles engraved at an event at the Cartier boutique. As I understand it, this bottle will be retained by the client in preparation for future events as there are always reasons here and there for a “congratulations gift”. How smart! I love planning ahead. Cheers!
There are companies for which I engrave that are just always a pleasure. Cartier always proves to be an exquisite pleasure. All of your senses are piqued upon entering the boutique. The scents, soft music, the detail to positioning every item….
The bottle: Pasha
Pasha: the first fragrance from Cartier that stunned the olfactory world with its elegant fougère accord, fusing the incomparable freshness of an oriental fragrance with the green note of galbanum.
Engraving the fragrance bottles for Cartier is simply a pleasing experience. The glass alone engraves smoothly with minimal resistance. I have often said that “glass is glass” when it comes to engraving however it is true that some glass is smoother than others. The glass used for these perfume bottles is genuinely a delight to etch. Cheers!
During the Father’s Day holiday and the weeks leading up to it, I engraved wine and fragrance bottles for a number of various brands. One of them was Cartier, a company for whom I have engraved for years. This particular bottle was engraved for a client that was unsure of specifically what to have engraved and decided on the simple “Happy Father’s Day & Love you”. I hope that his Dad enjoyed it.
Cheers!