Scented oils, fragrances and ointments have always been a large part of many cultural rituals. Great civilisations such as the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians and later the Greeks and Romans burned incense during various ceremonies and used all kinds of perfumed oils and cosmetics to groom and bathe.
Arabs in particular have always been guided by their sense of smell. Indeed musk and sandalwood are just two examples of the typically rare ingredients used to create the distinctive and famed Arabian spicy scents. These signature elements would later inspire some of the most renowned Western fragrances.
Ever since the creation of perfumes it has been necessary to preserve these precious concoctions in very particular containers. The Ancient Egyptians used pottery or alabaster. The Ancient Greeks and Roman used glass. The English even used delicate porcelain during the 18th century. But fundamentally perfume bottles have always been an outward expression of the complexities and richness of the ingredients within. The containers aimed to complement the rare scents but sometimes they ended up being more precious than the fragrance itself.
The 19th and 20th centuries saw a lull in creativity as the perfume industry exploited mass production, challenging the distinctiveness of the artistically-crafted containers. Assembly lines replaced hand-made artistry and bottles became more uniform and economical. Nevertheless, as of late, there has been a considerable re-emergence of artisanal perfume bottles, created as one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Naturally, collectors are thrilled by such a trend.
The art of collecting perfume bottles is a highly specialised skill. You would have thought that it’d be easier than accumulating vintage cars per se. But that is quite a common misconception. Apart from regular decisive factors such as the bottle’s condition, rarity and aesthetic value, the key is actually opting for a specific category. As any refined connoisseur would know, there will always be a piece more valuable than another. There are in fact, imperative factors which make up the selection process. Factors such as: the material used, such as glass or gold; the period which the bottle emerges from (Victorian, Art Nouveau); the country of origin (France, Czechoslovakia); the size and shape of the bottle; the company which produced it, and of course the fragrance itself.
With all things considered, exclusive bottles range tremendously in their value, from just a few dollars for a small bottle or sample of a fragrance, to thousands of dollars for a gold, crystal or antique container. Take a 1930 Mickey Mouse perfume for example. It was sold for over 800 USD. A Gorham Martelle, on the other hand, was auctioned off at 17,000 USD.
Extreme sums of money perhaps but a true connoisseur would understand. Probably the most extravagant of the lot, is non other than Christian Clive’s perfect collectible piece, the No. 1 fragrance. Two hundred rare ingredients poured into a Baccarat crystal bottle, decorated with 18-karat gold and 5-carat white diamonds. Only ten were ever made and as such you should expect to pay a whopping 215,000 USD for the 17-ounce bottle. Now how about that for indulgence?
