Hubert de Givenchy, one of the most classy and elegant men in the world, founded his own fashion company in 1952, and "Parfums Givenchy" in 1957. During early years Givenchy perfumes were produced at Balenciaga factories, then, since 1968, produced in its own facilities.
In 1981 Givenchy company entered in "Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin" industrial group, then, in 1986, LVMH acquired the entire VC-P group (and Givenchy, too).
About the batch codes: GIVENCHY perfumes use the traditional numbered code, with or without letters. The first number is the most important and means "the year".
Please note: during the Seventies many perfumes were "blended" in USA and sold under the denomination "Parfums Givenchy, Inc., New York". These U.S.-made perfumes had different batchcodes, and datation could be empirical.
Regarding traditional "Made in France" bottles, batches from 1980 until 2001 sport 4, 5 or 6 numbers and, in some cases, one letter.
Since 1979-1980 all Givenchy boxes sport the EMB code, and since 1990 the traditional barcode.
Since 2002 you will find the traditional 4-digits LVMH code : from 2002 to 2008 , using the first half of alphabet (letters A-M); then since 2008, using the second half (letters N-Z).
However, especially for older, vintage bottles, you should check other clues. I strongly suggest to check tutorial pictures for better understanding.
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CLUES for GIVENCHY Perfumes
(only for "Made in France" bottles):
(First thing to do: you should know the year of launch)
(First thing to do: you should know the year of launch)
EMB code : if you see the EMB code on the box,
it means = after 1978.
BARCODE : if you see the barcode on the box, it means
= after 1990
"BEAUVEX": if you notice -rarely- this word,
it was used in 1993-2002.
ALLERGENS LIST ("long list of ingredients") : if you see it,
it means = after 2005
Need more help? see tutorial pics below
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TUTORIAL PICS
(remember: the first number is the year)
 |
| The EMB code, used since 1979-1980. Lower box is without EMB code, so you date it roughly around the Seventies |
 |
| Monsieur Givenchy, (without barcode on the box) batch F51474 = year 1985 |
 |
| (without barcode) Batch F60062 = year 1986 |
 |
| WARNING: Xeryus (without barcode) on box F71042, but on bottle 71042 ( letters sometimes are missing ) = year 1987 |
 |
| Eau de Givenchy (no barcode) batch F81821 = year 1988 |
 |
| Givenchy III (no barcode) batch F92565 = year 1989 |
 |
| (from Ebay) Hot Couture (launched in 2000) batch 009090 = year 2000 |
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SINCE 2002
traditional LVMH 4-digits batch code
(2002-2007 : letters A-M)
(2002-2007 : letters A-M)
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SINCE 2008 : 2nd half of Alphabet (letters N-Z)
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....and...
Batch-codes
Year-of-production,
all-you-need-to-know
about vintage perfumes in the following pages:
-GUERLAIN perfumes ( here )
-YVES SAINT LAURENT perfumes ( here )
-CHRISTIAN DIOR perfumes ( here )
-GIORGIO ARMANI Perfumes ( here )
-VAN CLEEF et ARPELS perfumes ( here )
-CHANEL perfumes ( here )
-BVLGARI perfumes ( here )
-HERMES perfumes ( here )
-VERSACE perfumes ( here )
-GIVENCHY perfumes ( here )
-GUY LAROCHE perfumes (here)
-CACHAREL perfumes ( here )
-ROCHAS perfumes (here)
-GUY LAROCHE perfumes (here)
-CACHAREL perfumes ( here )
-ROCHAS perfumes (here)
-JEAN PATOU perfumes (here)
-LANCOME perfumes (here)
-CARON perfumes (here)
-CALVIN KLEIN perfumes (here)
-RALPH LAUREN perfumes (here)
-JEAN PAUL GAULTIER perfumes (here)
-SERGE LUTENS perfumes (here)
-GUCCI perfumes (here)
Plus:
Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent, visual guide (here)
Fahrenheit by Christian Dior, visual guide (here)
Azzaro pour Homme by Azzaro, visual guide (here)
Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche, visual guide (here)
Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, visual guide (here)
Samsara by Guerlain, visual guide (here)
and others..