Eau d'Hermès was the house's first fragrance. It was composed in 1951 by Edmond Roudnitska, a few years after Jean-René Guerrand set up the Comptoir Nouveau de la Parfumerie in 1947, and it was his only creation for Hermès. Christie's places it in the early 1950s, alongside the first Hermès silk ties, as Robert Dumas took over the company in 1951.
Hermès describes the scent as evoking 'the inside of a Hermès bag in which the aroma of a perfume lingers'. It is a spicy citrus eau de toilette built on lemon petitgrain, cardamom and cinnamon, with a note recalling leather, a nod to the house's origins as a harness and saddle maker. Wikipedia notes that its smell recalls leather.
The bottle is inspired by the lanterns of horse-drawn carriages, with a black cap reminiscent of a riding hat. Eau d'Hermès is still made today as part of Hermès' Parfums-Fondateurs collection.