Released once a year · Never repeated · Paris, 1643

Trudon Christmas

Every Christmas Trudon hands the glass to an artist. When the season ends it does not come back, which is why people keep the empty ones.

The Amelie & Frank's shop window at Christmas, white gift boxes tied with black ribbon stacked as a tree, Trudon constellation candles beside them

From our edit

The one collection that never returns

Trudon has been making candles in France since 1643. Wax for the churches of Paris, then for Versailles, then for Napoleon's household, and it has never stopped. Everything is still made in Normandy, in vegetal wax, with cotton wicks woven for each vessel rather than bought by the roll.

Once a year the house does something it does nowhere else in the range. It gives the glass to an artist, builds a world around it and then retires the whole thing. New artwork, new gilding, new story. When the season closes it does not come back, and it is not reissued the following year in a slightly different colour. That is the entire reason this collection behaves the way it does.

This year the collection is called Enchanted Night. Deep celestial blues under gold, and four symbols that turn up across the range. A nutcracker out of Hoffmann's tale. A clock about to strike midnight. A treasure chest. And the bee, which has been Trudon's emblem for centuries. Two of the four scents are returning icons and two are new.

Fir is the one people mean when they say a Christmas candle. Composed by Emilie Bouge, it runs resinous conifer through myrrh and smoky incense absolute, and it does not smell like a pine air freshener at any point. Nazareth is the historic one, by Emmanuel Philippe, clove and orange zest over Bourbon vanilla, and it is the smell of a house at the end of December. Luna is the departure, white flowers and cold night air, cool where a Christmas candle is normally warm. Libra runs amber.

Last year was a different world entirely. The 2024 collection was made with the artist Serdar Gulgun around the Bal des Ifs, the masked ball held in the Hall of Mirrors on the night of 25 February 1745. Louis XV and seven of his courtiers came dressed as clipped yew trees, identical, so that no woman in the room knew which one was the King. One of them worked it out. She was presented at court that September as the Marquise de Pompadour. Those vessels are lined on the inside with twenty-four carat gold leaf.

We hold two of the Fir Great candles in that 2024 livery. Same scent, entirely different object, and there will not be another one.

Three sizes. The 270g Classic burns fifty-five to sixty hours and is the one to start with. The 800g Intermezzo carries three wicks and a hundred and ten to a hundred and twenty hours, made for a long table. The 3kg Great carries five and runs past two hundred, and it is bought for a staircase or the end of a room, and it is still going well after the tree has come down.

They come in ones and twos and they go out the same way. Everything leaves Red Hill wrapped, with a card written by hand if you would like one.

Emma Phillips · Founder and Creative Director

The Label

Trudon at Christmas, in short

What is the Trudon Christmas collection?

A limited collection released once a year by Trudon, the Paris house making candles since 1643. Each year the house works with an artist on new vessel artwork and a new theme, produces it for the season and then retires it. It is not reissued. The 2025 collection is called Enchanted Night and comprises Fir, Nazareth, Luna and Libra.

Why do people collect them?

Because the artwork changes every year and never returns, the glass becomes the object rather than the packaging. The vessels are kept and used long after the wax is gone, and empty Trudon Christmas glasses are resold second hand. It is the only part of the range that behaves this way.

Where can you buy Trudon Christmas candles in Australia?

At Amelie & Frank's, online with complimentary shipping on orders over $100 and in person at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula. We carry the current collection alongside a small amount of the previous year, which no longer exists anywhere else.

Questions, answered

Which scent should I choose?

Fir if you want the room to smell like Christmas without any sweetness. Nazareth if you want warmth, clove and orange over Bourbon vanilla, and it is the one most people mean by a festive candle. Luna if you want something cool and floral that will carry on well past January. Libra for amber, which is the most enveloping of the four.

What is the difference between the 270g, the 800g and the 3kg?

Wicks and hours. The 270g Classic has one wick and burns fifty-five to sixty hours, enough for a room. The 800g Intermezzo has three and runs a hundred and ten to a hundred and twenty, made for a long table or a large space. The 3kg Great has five and burns past two hundred hours. The Great is a piece of furniture as much as a candle.

Why is the 2024 edition cheaper than this year's?

Because it is last season's vessel, not last season's wax. It is the same Fir composition in the 2024 artwork, which was made with the artist Serdar Gulgun around the Bal des Ifs at Versailles and is lined inside with twenty-four carat gold leaf. It is not reduced and it is not archive stock. There are two and there will not be more.

Will this collection be available again next year?

No. A new one arrives each year with different artwork and often different scents. Fir and Nazareth return regularly as compositions, but never in the same glass. If you want a particular vessel, this is the only window.

How do I make a Trudon burn properly?

Trim the wick to about five millimetres before every burn and give it two to three hours the first time you light it, so the wax pool reaches the edge. If you put it out early the first time it will tunnel and never recover. Trudon weaves the wick for each vessel, so a candle burned correctly will not smoke or leave wax up the sides.

What do I do with the glass afterwards?

Keep it. Freeze the last of the wax and it lifts out, then wash the glass in warm soapy water. People use them for brushes, pencils and flowers, and given the artwork changes every year, the empty ones hold their value.

Can you gift wrap and send it?

Yes. Everything is wrapped by hand at Red Hill with a handwritten card if you would like one, and shipping is complimentary on orders over $100 Australia-wide. Order early. These come in ones and twos.