1903 Spray Cologne
$45
1903.
I was browsing in a Paris antique shop one winter afternoon when a fitted leather train case caught my eye.
It contained silver-handled brushes, boot hooks, a straight razor, several silver-stoppered glass bottles.
Inside a bottle, there was still the faint aroma of a gentleman’s cologne. Custom-made for a rich traveler a century ago.
Curiosity was eating at me. I bought the case and sent the bottle to a laboratory for analysis. They broke down the residue by gas chromatography. Identified its fingerprint through spectrophotometry.
The report said: an “old woody fougère.” Clean citrus notes, bergamot, “green notes.” The middle notes: clary sage, cardamom. The dry-down: leather notes, smoky labdanum… elemi, tabac, frankincense.
The detective work was impressive. So is the thing itself. Women like the way it smells on a man. Like a symphony that begins loudly, then soon slides into subtle, entangling developments that grow on them.
Or so I’ve been told.
1903 Spray Cologne (No. 1401). In travel-size spray bottle with a clean Edwardian look; toss into briefcase or overnight bag along with emergency flask of favorite unblended scotch. 3.4 fl. oz., 100 ml.
Check out the rest of The 1903 Collection
(No. 1401). In travel-size spray bottle with a clean Edwardian look; toss into briefcase or overnight bag along with emergency flask of favorite unblended scotch. 3.4 fl. oz., 100 ml.