“Clients commission us when they require extraordinary products,” said Najim Boundaoui, a maitre cirier (master chandler) at Maison Française des Cires, a four-generation-long family-run candle business in Aubagne (Bouches-du-Rhône).
There are two main variables when it comes to ordering these high-end products: the weight and the number of wicks.
One prince from the United Arab Emirates, in an early commission, asked for a candle weighing one kilogram and requiring three wicks.
“What's interesting about this product is that it pushed us to think about wax differently, to work with it differently, to work on the chemical treatment of the wicks, the cottons, the distribution. That's what’s interesting: research and development,” said Mr Boundaoui.
And this is what the craft of candle-making is about, he continued. “To deliver exactly what the customer asks for.”
The candle weight and number of wicks has only grown over the years.
Maison Française des Cires designed a 15cm-diameter candle weighing 15kg and with as many wicks for the 15th birthday of Colette, a high fashion, streetwear, and accessory retailer in Paris, in 2012.
Designer Marianne Guédin requested an even larger 37kg and 47-wick candle for her 47th birthday.
Every candle is unique, with each order having its own twist, particularities, combination of materials and artistic approach.
It means that there is no specific production prototype or mould, but the creative process remains more or less the same.
Each commission relies on checking whether the scent to be added is soluble, and if the quality of raw materials sustains heating. Does it melt at 50C or 90C?
Many candle-makers do not know the differences between wax and paraffin, said Boundaoui. Within both there are 14 and 18 different types respectively.
Making a candle is like making a mayonnaise, according to the artisans at Maison Française des Cires.
You only need three ingredients for mayo – olive oil, egg and mustard – to be mixed together. The secret lies in knowing in which order they come and how to thicken it. Mix everything wrong, heat it all up at the wrong temperature and the results will speak for themselves.
The candle-making technique has been the same for a century.
Najim BoundaouiMaison Française des Cires
“I stretch each wick of braided cotton, 480 strings, over the candle winder, which I dip in successive baths of wax. I then leave it to cool”, explained Mr Boundaoui.
He repeats the process some 15 times for a simple 14mm-diameter candle.
“The wax settles millimetre by millimetre, thickening the candle.
The candlemaking industry, like so many others, has changed considerably as a result of mass industrialisation, with machines slowly replacing repetitive manual tasks. The number who have resisted this is hard to estimate, but range from one to two dozen, at most.
The majority of firms now just dip wax in large containers and melt it at a set temperature. “Forget about exploring chemical bonds,” said Mr Boundaoui.
It is faster and cheaper but, most importantly, destined for mass market and mainstream retail stores.
This is why French fashion designer Thierry Mugler turned to the Maison to request a complex three-layered candle releasing one perfume after the other over several hours and which required 18 months of work balancing the mechanics of fluids, physics and chemistry.
“A machine has no influence on the quality of your product. What counts is your knowledge of wax,” Mr Boundaoui said.
Maison Française des Cires launched 120 years ago, under a different name, when the great-grandfather of Elisabeth Boundaiou bought the ciergerie (candle workshop) of Frigolet’s abbey, whose production was solely for the monks’ needs.
Antoine Boulaire was given it in 1904 before sons of each generation passed it on to the next. The third generation of owners opened the company to new products, responding to a market need for perfumed and decorative candles.
Elisabeth and her husband Najim, members of the fourth generation, renamed it Maison Française des Cires in 2008, the year Najim joined after spending 11 years restructuring and working at Trudon, a luxury French candlemaker and fragrance brand.
Maison Française des Cires candlesMaison Française des Cires
Along with Colette and Thierry Mugler, the company has worked for Chloé, Cartier, Dior, Éditions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, Dyptique, Guerlain, l’Artisan Parfumeur, Costes, Lola James Harper, Roger Vivier, Astier de Vilatte, Trudon, Kenzo, Amouage, Hermès and Caudalie.
It boasts of having been given the maximum rating of 100 by American multinational cosmetics company Estée Lauder for 12 years in a row.
The next generation of ciriers willing to learn the craft will have to get their hands dirty. No matter the theoretical knowledge of physics and chemistry, it is learned mainly through repetition and observation, said Mr Boundaoui.
Maison Française des Cires occasionally takes trainees, as no university course or training schemes exist to recreate, for example, the smell of old books.
What does it feel like to work for a business that has been going for 120 years?
“It feels good,” said Mr Boundaoui. “The story carries on. It is not your run-of-the-mill candle workshop that is set up simply to melt wax in a saucepan.”
