A gift to last, well until the bottle runs out.
Earlier this week, the committee of Guinness World Records crowned Clive Christian No.1 the most expensive perfume in the world.
How rare is this perfume? According to fwd, the perfume is composed of the rarest ingredients found in the world. Two ingredients in particular that make this perfume so expensive, is the natural aged sandalwood from India and Tahitian vanilla. Also what makes this Clive Christian No.1 perfume a hot item, is that they only pop out a limited stock of 1,000 bottles per year for each of the men’s and women’s line. Each retail out to $2,350 for 30ml and can be found at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Of course once you are done misting yourself with C.C.’s No.1, don’t forget to pucker up with Guerlain KissKiss Lipstick.
The most expensive Clive Christian No.1 to date, (see the pictures above,) is the bottle made of Baccarat Crystal and inset with a white diamond on the neck, which was on display for the Guinness World Records party. Valued at over $200,000, only 10 bottles were ever produced.
This is what the creative genius, Clive Christian had to say to FWD:
“The brief that was given to them for No. 1 was that they had to produce the best possible perfume that was known to mankind, and they were to ignore all costs and buy whatever they considered would produce the best results, even taking into account that it might not be sustainable,” said Christian. “In other words, next year, we may not be able to do it. Nobody has ever done that. No. 1 does change, year by year.”
“The by-product of that is that it became ridiculously expensive to actually produce that,” continued Christian. “We didn’t expect it to be as well-received as it has been, which goes to show that if you produce something so well, the world will respond well to it.”
Christian said the two ingredients in particular make this perfume so expensive. Natural aged sandalwood from India, for example, which is so prized it is regulated by the Indian government, is an ingredient in No. 1.
Tahitian vanilla is another, which Christian explained goes through a labor-intensive process to procure.
“The vanilla pods ferment, and then tiny crystals form on the outside of the pod, and we actually reap the perfume of the vanilla, from those crystals - not actually from the pods,” said Christian.
Though Christian may be the man behind the world’s most lavish scent, one of his favorite scents doesn’t hail from an exotic locale or rare flower, though you might be hard-pressed to find such a smell today.
“A great smell and sensation was when I was a child,” said Christian. “They used to have over a railway line, those metal bridges that you don’t have any more. And when they had a steam train, if you stood, directly above it, as the steam train went through it, you were covered in steam, so it was quite an experience. You had the smell of the steam, and of the carbon, and the different goings on, and that was a powerful, energetic smell.”
“So get a steam train, stand underneath it, and it will curl your hair!”
- Jennifer
January 30th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I never really liked the scent of Clive Christian perfume.
February 1st, 2008 at 3:00 am
I’ve never tried it, and I don’t think I will. I can think of millions of other ways to spend my $