Chanel No. 19 Chanel No. 19 Chanel No. 19 perfume was first marketed in 1971. The number 19 was chosen to commemorate Coco Chanel's birthday, 19 August. The perfume was launched a year before she died. The scent was created by Henri Robert. No. 19 is a balsamic-green scent, compared to the aldehydic Chanel No. 5, the floral Chanel No. 22 and ambrette-green Chanel No. 18. The pure perfume and eau de parfum have a slight greenish tint, and the eau de toilette is pale green. In a recent (c.2000) revamp of No. 19, Chanel has drastically reduced the products available: in the
Chanel textile businessman Étienne Balsan, of whom she was the mistress. Because the Balsan flat also was a salon for the French hunting and sporting élite, Chanel had the opportunity to meet their "demi-mondaine" mistresses, who, as such, were women of fashion, upon whom the rich men displayed their wealth — as ornate clothes, jewelry, and hats. Coco Chanel thus could sell to them the hats she designed and made; she thus earned a living, independent of her financial sponsor, the socialite Balsan. In the course of those salons Coco Chanel befriended Arthur 'Boy' Capel, an English socialite and polo player