Watch the film
Series #1
The Patina Bottle
The story of the bottle’s material, from the first day to today. Opens on YouTube, in a new tab.
Chapter VI · Spicy Amber
Béton Chaud Patina on Brass, 50 ml
Where Summer Felt Like Freedom
Ký ức mùa hè tự do
Béton Chaud in Patina on Brass, 50 ml, is a spicy amber by Rei Nguyen of R Parfums, an independent fragrance house from Saigon, Vietnam. Its three hand-finished brass pieces wear the house’s Brown Blue Patina. 4.860.000 ₫US$195, incl. 8% VAT. Smell it first at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City.
4.860.000 ₫US$195
Incl. 8% VAT
Pay in USD by credit card — the amount in USD is shown before you pay.
1
Payment · Bank Transfer by VietQR (VND) or Credit Card (USD)
- Delivery We currently deliver within Vietnam only. Visiting from abroad? Collect your order at any of our three houses.
- Returns Terms
- Smell first At our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day. Addresses and hours
- Plate Brown Blue Patina, hand-finished. How it is made
The Patina bottle
Three pieces, three moments of the same brass
Patina is the thin film that forms on brass in air and moisture. It looks like corrosion; in fact it shields the metal beneath.
- I Brass The metal as it was before the air reached it.
- II Turning Caught halfway when the plate was set, and still turning, very slowly.
- III Patina The colour the brass settles into.
- One bottle, its own plate
- The pieces are hand-patinated, so no two bottles are alike and yours will differ from the one photographed. There is no choice of plate: each bottle arrives with its own.
- For Béton Chaud
- Béton Chaud wears the house’s Brown Blue Patina, as do 221B and Shadow Éclat, the three more inward scents. “This shade is like smoke over fading memories.” The Art of Patina · R Parfums Journal · July 2025
- Care
- Keep the bottle out of direct sunlight, and close the cap after use.
The making · Series #1
Twelve months of research and development
The idea came from relics in Huế; twelve months of research and development went into the Patina line.
Watch the film
How a plate is made
- Warmed, then coloured by hand Thin washes of oxides and metal salts, by brush, spray or sponge. The chemistry gives the colour; the hand gives the pattern.
- Filed and polished Each piece is filed down until it sits exactly in its place on the glass.
- Three pieces set on the glass One left as brass, one fully patinated, one caught midway; each with its own surface, shape and shade.
- Sealed under a UV-resistant coat It shields the patina from hard light. The coat slows the change; it does not stop it.
Between the plates, the perfume glows gold through the glass and holds the three together.
The Patina craft, in fullBéton Chaud · Patina 50 ml 4.860.000 ₫US$195
Incl. 8% VAT · Bank Transfer by VietQR (VND) or Credit Card (USD)
The scent · Chapter VI
Where Summer Felt Like Freedom
In the early 2000s, on red-hot summer days, Rei Nguyen and the children from her street sat inside concrete pipes in an empty lot and watched kites cross the sky. The scent keeps the heat of that concrete, and the freedom of those afternoons.
- Top notes
- Juicy Peach, Sweet Orange, Pink Grapefruit Bright, but dry rather than fresh, as if the ground were giving off heat.
- Middle notes
- Cumin, Caramel, Damask Rose Dry cumin, scorched caramel and a deep rose rise like hot air off bare concrete.
- Base notes
- Cinnamon, Star Anise, Frankincense, Cardamom, Vanilla Concrete at the end of a day of sun. The warmth leaves the nose and settles on the shoulders and the sleeves.
Key note · Cumin
Cumin gives Béton Chaud its first burst of heat.
Five times the cumin
Rei’s first version of Béton Chaud held five times the cumin it holds today.
No colourant
Nothing is added for colour. The amber you see is the colour of the raw materials.
“In those red-hot summer days, the children from my neighborhood and I would sit inside concrete pipes in an empty lot, watching kites spread their wings across the sky. Looking up at them, I thought I was flying too. And inside those sun-warmed circles of concrete, we truly believed we were the freest creatures in the world.”
“Trông lên chúng, tôi nghĩ, mình cũng đang bay.”
Béton Chaud · hot concrete
A concrete pipe, defined twice
From our Journal story “Tìm về ký ức tự do”, September 2023. The originals are in Vietnamese, beneath our English.
Definition I
As grown-ups define it
A concrete pipe is a rigid pipe that provides both structure and a conduit on a construction site.
“Ống bê tông là một loại ống cứng, cung cấp cả cấu trúc và đường dẫn tại công trường.”
Definition II
As children define it
A place to set up base or build a fort; to shelter from the rain; to hide my secret toy gun; to post letters; to play hide-and-seek; to make new friends… (the list goes on)
“Là nơi để cắm căn cứ hay xây dựng pháo đài; trú mưa; giấu khẩu súng nhựa bí mật của tôi; gửi thư; chơi trốn tìm; làm quen bạn mới… (danh sách tiếp tục kéo dài)”
Béton Chaud was made from the second.
In 2022 R Parfums made a short film for five of its scents. In this one the bottle lies on a bed of brown seeds, then stands on driftwood and stone, lit low and warm.
All five films, 2022
Ceramic · 50 ml
Béton Chaud, under a ceramic cap
A round cap fired at 1000°C, in a glaze that recalls Chu Đậu ware and shifts with the light. The kiln decides the glaze and the maker’s hand the tassel, so each Ceramic bottle comes to you as it was finished. Every bottle carries a ceramic charm engraved with R.
How a Ceramic cap is made
4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November
Incl. 8% VAT
See it in Ceramic
Smaller sizes 12 ml · 1.285.200 ₫US$50 2 ml sample · 224.640 ₫US$9 Discovery Set, five 2 ml vials · 918.000 ₫US$35
The Patina line
The other five scents, in Patina
All six scents come in the Patina bottle, 50 ml. Verde Patina for Eau de Hajime, Pluviophile and Nostalgic March; Brown Blue Patina for 221B, Shadow Éclat and Béton Chaud.
See the Patina collection
Chapter I · Chypre Floral
Eau de Hajime
4.536.000 ₫US$180
Chapter II · Green
Pluviophile
4.212.000 ₫US$170
Chapter III · Floral Fruity
Nostalgic March
4.536.000 ₫US$180
Chapter IV · Woody Leather
221B
4.860.000 ₫US$195
Chapter V · Modern Leather
Shadow Éclat
4.860.000 ₫US$195
At a glance
- Scent
- Béton Chaud, Chapter VI
- Family
- Spicy Amber
- Plate
- Patina on Brass: three hand-finished brass pieces, corroded, filed and set on the glass, under a UV-resistant coat. How a plate is made
- Shade
- Brown Blue Patina, shared with 221B and Shadow Éclat
- On film
- Series #1, The Patina Bottle
- Volume
- 50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz.
- Concentration
- Eau de Parfum
- Notes
- Top: juicy peach, sweet orange, pink grapefruit. Middle: cumin, caramel, Damask rose. Base: cinnamon, star anise, frankincense, cardamom, vanilla.
- Key note
- Cumin
- Colour
- Amber, from the raw materials; no colourant added
- Inspired by
- Childhood summers inside concrete pipes in an empty lot, early 2000s
- Perfumer
- Rei Nguyen
- Price
- 4.860.000 ₫US$195, incl. 8% VAT
- Also as
- Ceramic 50 ml, 4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November · 12 ml, 1.285.200 ₫US$50
- Where to smell
- Three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day
- Delivery
- Within Vietnam only
- Made in
- Vietnam
- Sold by
- NOTE CO., LTD, Ho Chi Minh City
Questions about Béton Chaud
What does Béton Chaud mean?
Hot concrete, in French. The name comes from Rei Nguyen’s childhood summers in the early 2000s, spent inside concrete pipes in an empty lot, watching kites. The scent is a spicy amber: cumin, caramel and Damask rose over cinnamon, star anise, frankincense, cardamom and vanilla. Read the chapter
What gives Béton Chaud its heat?
Cumin, among the middle notes, gives the scent its first burst of heat. Rei’s first version of Béton Chaud held five times the cumin it holds today. Nothing is added for colour: the amber is the colour of the raw materials.
Is there a smaller size?
Yes. Béton Chaud comes in 12 ml, in a slim glass bottle of its own, at 1.285.200 ₫US$50, and as a 2 ml sample at 224.640 ₫US$9. It is also one of the five vials in the Discovery Set, at 918.000 ₫US$35. Smaller sizes
Before you choose
Smell it, and hold the bottle
Béton Chaud opens like a collision, then settles slowly into warmth. Wear it for an hour before you decide. Each house has all six scents to try on skin.
Open daily · 8:00–18:00
Inside NOTE – The Scent Lab
Open daily · 9:00–22:00
Inside Saigon Scent Lab
Open daily · 9:00–22:00
Time leaves a fingerprint.