From time to time, a few people ask me why anyone would collect perfume nowadays. But I think the real question they're asking is different: does it actually make sense to collect perfumes today? People collect all sorts of things -trading cards, stickers, vintage video games- so why should collecting perfume be any stranger?
However, I find myself instinctively drawn to the scents of bygone times, even though some may accuse me of being anchored to the past and incapable of appreciating the present. This is not the case, and I will attempt to explain why.
Luxury items.
Perfumes -especially those created by major houses- have always been seen as luxury items and true “mirrors of their time.” They were expensive, intentionally so, and aimed at a small, discerning audience with refined taste. A great deal of care went into their creation: no one could afford to release a perfume that was poorly made or doomed to fail from the outset. A sophisticated customer would have noticed immediately. The big-name fragrances were meant to be the best. Not just a fragrance, but a high quality product. The perfume, the bottle, even the box had to be the best there was to offer. In this case, collecting an old perfume means owning a high-quality testimony of times gone by.
From this perspective, I completely agree with critic Luca Turin when he noted that major houses used to launch perfumes sparingly and with careful timing, “...because they wanted each fragrance to be memorable” - and to stay that way for a long time.
How many perfumes?
There’s another crucial point to consider: there were simply far fewer perfumes than there are today. Now we’re flooded with an overwhelming number of releases and endless flankers. In 1982, roughly 70 new perfumes were launched. Thirty years later, in 2012, that number had jumped to 1,530. Today, it’s even higher. How is anyone supposed to keep up with that pace? Quite simply, it’s impossible.
Mass-marketing.
Furthermore, until shortly after the year 2000, the perfume market was far smaller than it is today. Now it is fully global. The rise of the internet has made information about every new release instantly accessible worldwide, while advances in logistics and international shipping have made those products available almost everywhere.
In short, perfumery has shifted from being a largely luxury-driven phenomenon to a predominantly mass-market one.
Dupes? Fakes?
And that’s not all. The rise of so-called “dupes” -fragrances designed to closely resemble others, often at a much lower price- has gone from a marginal practice to a widespread and influential force, profoundly reshaping the market.
Then there is the issue of counterfeits. Fake fragrances have always existed, but today the scale of the phenomenon has become enormous.
Changes.
There is another, deeper change to consider: perfumes themselves have evolved in their very essence. This is, to some extent, obvious: fragrances have always reflected the era in which they were created. What we are seeing now, however, is something different. Perfumes are increasingly being shaped by markets rather than by creative vision. Launching a mass-market fragrance today is impossible without taking into account the tastes and sensitivities of individual countries, each with its own preferences. What is the result? In trying to please everyone, perfumes are becoming more “neutral”, "suitable for everyone", and increasingly similar to one another, unless we turn to the niche segment, which is an entirely different story. Sometimes I can’t help thinking that, compared to today’s mainstream releases, fragrances of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s were, in fact, true niche creations: rich in character and unmistakably distinctive.
Costs.
Another key factor is the steadily decreasing cost of perfumery chemicals, the so-called aromachemicals. Their growing affordability has dramatically lowered production costs (and vice-versa) : today, creating a perfume can require very little financial investment. These ingredients are not only cheaper than ever, but also far more numerous and widely available, effectively accessible to anyone.
Perfume houses.
This shift is clearly reflected today in the explosion of perfume houses. In the past, fragrances were created almost exclusively by major brands. Today, virtually anyone can produce and sell a perfume. And if traditional distribution is out of reach, there is always the internet. On one hand, this democratization is positive: it allows anyone with an idea to create a fragrance. On the other, it leads to severe market saturation. Consumers are confronted with thousands of new releases and are left genuinely unsure of what to choose. And this is precisely the first question a potential collector/investor asks: among all these products, which ones will still have value in a few years’ time?
Saturation.
The most troubling aspect is this: years ago, when the number of perfumes was relatively limited, it was possible to try most of them and develop a clear understanding of their quality and diversity. Today, faced with thousands of launches, that possibility no longer exists. Truly high-quality fragrances risk going completely unnoticed, lost in a sea of mediocre or low-quality products. Excellence still exists, but discovering it has become increasingly difficult.
Bans.
Much could also be said about the ongoing restrictions on certain raw materials due to their alleged harmfulness. These bans have led to continuous reformulations and, ultimately, to profound changes in how perfumes smell. What we call a chypre or a fougère today bears little resemblance to the chypres and fougères of the past; they are fundamentally different creations.
Considerations about "vintage".
Let us return, then, to the original question: does it make sense to collect perfumes today? My answer is unequivocal: yes, absolutely. But with a particular focus on perfumes from a few decades ago: those now commonly referred to as vintage fragrances.
And without explicitly setting out to do so, I have just outlined the reasons why.
Yet there are further reasons that lead me to believe perfume - especially "vintage perfumes" - collecting has a solid future ahead. And not simply because perfumes of the past are often said to be better or more distinctive than contemporary ones (after all, those are personal judgments and open to debate) but precisely because the perfumes of the past were fundamentally different from those of today, from their conception to their introduction to the market.
Scarcity.
A far more compelling factor is scarcity. The vintage perfumes that still exist today represent only a small fraction of what was originally produced. Most have been used, and those in truly mint condition—still sealed or preserved in their original boxes—are exceedingly rare. There are simply very few left. And scarcity, as we know, is a fundamental prerequisite for collectibility.
Similarities with..
Some have argued that vintage perfumes could follow the same (sad) path as stamp collecting, which until the 1980s was often viewed more as an investment than as a true collecting activity. Stamps declined sharply for a simple reason: at a certain point, they began to be produced in tens of millions of copies. How can something manufactured in such quantities ever become genuinely "collectible"? Perfumes, by contrast, were produced in far smaller numbers and, in most cases, were meant to be used. What remains today is a very limited residue.
At this stage, I fully acknowledge that, after considering all these points, one might disagree with certain aspects of the argument. Yet the final conclusion remains the same: vintage perfumes were fundamentally different from modern ones. And, in many respects, they are impossible to reproduce.
For this reason, they naturally lend themselves to high collector value. I cannot say with certainty whether perfumes will become true “investment assets,” with prices destined to rise steadily over time. But it is likely that some will—particularly those from major houses, preserved in condition as close as possible to how they left the factory. Collecting vintage perfumes is not much different from collecting art.
A good reason to love vintage perfumes.
I would like to underscore the pleasure inherent in collecting itself. Holding a 50-year-old perfume in your hands, still sealed and untouched, is a deeply rewarding experience. There is something extraordinary about possessing an intact object from another era: something no one has ever handled before. You are the first to open the box, to touch the bottle, and to experience the fragrance after decades. In essence, you are able to smell what perfumery was like many years ago.
At the same time, should you choose not to open it and instead preserve it in your collection, you are aware that you own an object whose value is destined to appreciate over time.
For all these reasons, I am absolutely convinced that perfume collecting- and especially the collecting of vintage perfumes- is destined for a bright future.
Because some scents are too precious to forget.
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| Luigi Russolo, "Profumo", 1910. |
(For the avoidance of doubt, Raiders of the Lost Scent does NOT sell perfumes, whether modern or vintage and all the information provided in the blog is free)
-GUY LAROCHE perfumes (here)
-CACHAREL perfumes ( here )
-ROCHAS perfumes (here)
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Keep in mind that it is nearly impossible to determine whether a perfume is authentic or fake, based on the description alone. It is extremely difficult to tell, even with photographs. Fake or counterfeit perfume manufacturers have reached such a high level of sophistication that it is impossible to determine the authenticity of a perfume without actually holding it in your hands.