L'Artisan Perfumes was created by Jean Laporte (formerly of Maître Parfumeur et Gantier) in 1976 as one of the first niche perfume lines, and their headquarters are located in Paris, France.  While they have created some beautiful soliflores as well as other perfumes based on travel or other themes, their overarching philosophy is to create perfumes based on nature, and their olfactory interpretation of a particular moment or place.

L'Artisan has worked with some of the world's perfumes perfumers, like Bertrand Duchaufour (Seville a l'Aube, launched in 2012, a collaboration with Denyse Beaulieu recreating a memory scent, and easily one of the most beautiful orange blossom perfumes in existence), Anne Flippo, Olivia Giocobetti (the stunning Passage d'Enfer, lillies and incense and Dzing!), and many others.

Grand Cru editions of their perfumes started in 2005, geared toward a particular flower harvest for that year - orange blossom or narcissus or iris pallida.  They would issue a limited number of bottles from that harvest, and when they were gone, they were gone. The last L'Artisan Grand Cru was issued in 2007.

The fragrances L'Artisan created based on travel were Dzonghka for the Bhutan, Bois Farine for Reunion Island, and Timbuktu for Africa.

The L'Artisan fragrances that are probably best known are Premier Figuier (a gorgeous fig fragrance) and Mure et Musc (blackberries and musk) and La Chasse Aux Papillons (chasing butterflies is what it means, a gorgeous white floral perfect for a wedding perfume is what it is).

One of the weirdly most beautiful fragrances is Olivia Giacobetti's Dzing! - themed around the circus, it is all cotton candy, peanuts, elephants.  Don't go ew, it is the best memory of your childhood, just go with it.

L'Artisan has grown widely since its launch, carried worldwide, with an impressive and expansive range of perfumes. This is a perfume house that has produced some of the best niche perfumes in the world and is well worth your attention.