Narrator: This huge candle of the company Drawon costs $ 660. Sylvie uses this device to make sure that each of the five wicks is perfectly simple when it fills the glass container with a special wax.
Christine Agin, candle manufacturer, Damage: The more the wick is simple and centered, the better the wax will burn.
Narrator: That is why Christine devotes 2.5 hours to straighten 3,000 wicks in these smaller candles manually.
And although they cost less than candles with five wicks, because $ 52. For art, they are still more than three times more expensive than Yankee candles of similar size, which cost $ 17.
Each stage of the process at the French Candle Factory in French Normandy has been improved for over 350 years. All this to create candles that burn evenly and without smoke, and the wax does not splash.
So what made Maria Antonina like these candles? And why are they so expensive?
The beginnings of the Drachon company date back to 1643. At that time, its products served an important goal.
Julien Pruvost, creative director, Damage: Our candles played the role of contemporary bulbs. They were the best at that time.
Narrator: Light -white, purely burning candles could be found everywhere – from the Parisian churches to the chambers of Maria Antonina in Versailles.
Julien: We come from times when this type of lighting was needed. All this was of course completely turned upside down through the history of history.
Narrator: The basics of making candles are simple. You need to pour the melted wax into a glass with a wick. With luxurious candles, however, you need to make these basic ingredients to a higher level.
For the production of many cheaper candles, oil paraffin is used, and luxurious brands choose natural waxes. Until 2018, Damage used mixtures containing beeswax in his candles.
Nathalie Egbert, laboratory manager, Damage: We decided not to use beeswax.
It is wax of animal origin that does not allow us to create vegan products for people.
Narrator: Currently, the company sometimes uses paraffin wax, but most of its candles are based on vegetable oil.
Nathalie: We mainly use rapeseed and sunflower oil, because we need to use those with quite high melting temperatures.
Narrator: The wax melts overnight, and the fragrances are added in the morning, just before pouring. The most popular Rainbum fragrance candles are filled with machine. The most expensive, such as this large candle for $ 660, are filled by hand.
Sylvie Lemore, candle manufacturer, Damage: Wearing buckets is the most difficult.
Narrator: Sylvie Lemore sticks five large wicks to the bottom of the jar with silicone.
Sylvie: Then we put on the limiters for wicks. This guarantees that the candle will not explode. We always have to put them on.
Narrator: When the wicks dry, wax is poured.
Sylvie: We use 7 kg of materials for one candle. We work on one big candle for two days.
Narrator: When the wax dries, it narrows, leaving the space around the edges and deformations that require a second flooding.
Total drying takes many hours, but there is only one way to check it.
Sylvie: It is not enough to look. You have to touch the wax. You have to remember to try to “understand” the candle. She is like us. She is alive.
Narrator: However, before Sylvie is able to finish the second pouring, you need to straighten the wicks. The same applies to small candles.
Christine: We are at the straightening stage. This is the most important step before the second pouring and we need to bestu as much as the wick.
Narrator: Christine attracts and straightens every wick.
Christine: There is still no machine that would straighten the wicks. The goal is that the wick does not shrink backwards. That is why it is so important to straighten it and pull him up.
Narrator: Crooked or fallen dolls can affect the uniformity of combustion.
Christine: Because the wick is simple and centered, it will burn all the wax.
No side will burn more than the other.
Narrator: Not all the wicks are equal.
The laboratory optimizes wick size based on chemical designs of various odors. However, not all Dudchon products are intended for smoking, even if they have wicks.
Sylvia Bernal, candle manufacturer, Damage: The bust would burn very badly, because considering the wick, we could burn our head a little.
Narrator: Sylvia Bernal has been working in Damage for three years, but she has over ten years of experience in creating wax buses.
The bus collection is a unique project for DABLON. It was created in cooperation with the French Council of Museums, which provided the first forms.
Julien: These are full -size reproductions of busts that can be seen in some French museums, and sometimes even abroad.
Narrator: These wax sculptures will not even experience the flame, but they are created with the same attention to detail as more traditional destroy products.
Julien: It's still candles. They all have a wick on the top of their heads.
Sylvia: Now we will add a wick. I take Napoleon from the form. He comes out of “shell”. I will put them here.
Narrator: Preparation of the form is only part of the work.
Sylvia: Now I will deal with finishes.
I improve the bust a bit, because this form is two -piece and excess wax is on the sides. I remove all other traces of form. I try to smooth it as best as possible.
Narrator: Sylvia can also add material.
Sylvia: I fill the hole that I don't like. I hope that the filling will not be very visible.
Narrator: However, if the hole is too large or the bust has a different serious disadvantage …
Sylvia: We throw a bust into this small pot and make it again.
Narrator: Bans are made of paraffin wax, but sometimes a table candle is added as support.
Sylvia: I add a table candle, which will be a “spine” of bust.
Narrator: One of the last steps is flattening the base of the bust by melting it on a hot plate.
Sylvia: Thanks to this, the base is even, stable and smooth.
Julien: First of all, these are items created for collecting, not smoking.
We would not necessarily want to have a Napoleon gypsum bust at home, but the fact that it is made of wax makes the object interesting.
Narrator: Nathalie Egbert is working on further improvement of Waxes. In these rooms, the candles are burning all day. Every now and then Nathalie assesses their smell and tests how well they burn.
Nathalie: We need to judge the candles every four hours. We light them at 8.30, we rate at 13.30, and then at 17.30.
Narrator: The assessment of the smell of new candles is the most subjective part of her work.
Nathalie: Here I evaluate the burning candles, and more precisely the smell that releases from ready -made products.
Currently, combustion has just begun and felt rather volatile notes, such as citrus, orange or fragrant Jagodlin.
Narrator: Nathalie records his opinions and cooperates with various development teams to improve the formula.
Nathalie: Product development includes an evaluation of the smell, but also all features related to combustion, i.e. the height of the flame or wax.
We have quite specific quality criteria here. That is why it will take us almost a month to develop a candle in the laboratory.
Narrator: The laboratory is also responsible for quality control. It is care for detail that distinguishes luxurious candles.
It is expected that the global luxury candles market will be worth over a billion dollars by 2030.
Julien: The demand for luxurious fragrance candles is currently very high. Our best -known candles cost 90 euros.
We could do an analogy to other products on the market, regardless of whether it is bags, leather products or luxurious clothing.
It is about some heritage and respect for what has been done so that the product lives now and in the future.
It is a kind of fundamental respect that is important.
Crowd: Piotr Nazek
