Fine scents are like fine wines. But the bottle is almost as important as what is inside. Many, like Ernst Beaux’s Chanel No.5 bottle, have become design classics.
The story of perfume contains a few surprises. Russian astronauts went into space with phials full of perfume and essential oils to remind them of home. From its earliest documented use perfume has put man in touch with the heavens. The word “perfume” derives from the Latin “per fumum” meaning “through smoke”, The ancient Greeks and Egyptians burnt aromatic substances in their temples to placate the gods and mask the smell of burning flesh during human sacrifices.
As Christianity spread perfume was frowned upon as a vanity until it was revived by the Crusaders returning from the Middle-East. In Tudor times, Europeans sprinkled pleasant-smelling love-in-the-mist seeds into their hair to prevent lice.
Perfumes fall into three basic categories – floral, orientals and oceanics. The top sellers include Chanel’s “Chanel No. 5” which Marilyn Monroe wore (“and nothing else”), “Gucci’s “Envy”, Givenchy’s “Organza”, and Calvin Klein’s “Obsession”.
Paris perfume makers Lubin make Black Jade, said to be based on a perfume recipe loved by Marie-Antoinette, entrusted to a friend, passed down through the centuries...