Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Grossmith Bethrothal: new fragrance

A beautiful fragrance revival in time for a fairy tale wedding...the one of Prince William and Kate Middleton. But the lineage goes far, far back into the Royal family of England. The original Betrothal perfume was made by the vintage British Grossmith perfumery, established in 1835, for Princess May (Mary of Teck), on the occasion of her wedding to King George V. Then the princess became the newly crowned Queen Mary, the very one who happens to be Prince William's great-great grandmother! History is very much present in Betrothal’s revival in time for today’s royal wedding of William and Kate Middleton.



Bethrothal is a floral fragrance, a "floral bouquet" (i.e. a fragrance comprised of several flowery essences) with a citrus opening which blooms into the floral heart of Rose de Mai and jasmine. Working closely with Roja Dove, much like he did for Hasu no Hana, Shem el Nessim, and Phul Nana, Simon Brooke, the owner of the old Grossmith brand, zeroed into the finest ingredients for their relaunched perfumes and therefore on ‘Rose de Mai’ which is the official name of this rose variety which is specifically grown in the tiny town of Grasse, in France. Heliotrope mixed with ylang ylang and neroli, clean and yet sensuous notes, which recall powder puffs of yore, yet with a modern feel. The formula was inspired by the ingredients and ratios found among the archives of the brand, but the composition is revived to follow modern exigencies.

The modern bottle follows the elegant Baccarat crystal design of the rest of the Grossmith line. In the pic you can see the vintage bottles.
Grossmith Bethrothal will be exclusively made available after the Royal wedding, in either 10ml or 50ml bottles, and may be purchased from Grossmithlondon.com.

10ml: £195
50ml: £375

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Grossmith news & reviews

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous21:22

    Love those vintage bottles! They should have used those, bet it would have been good for sales!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous03:25

    It sounds very lovely - but there's no way I'd pay... what is that, $250 for 10ml? Not happening.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anon,

    yeah, I love them as well, this is why I preferred to picture those than the newer ones (although those are beautiful too). They have a nostalgic air that I bet would bear well in today's retro-loving and Victoriana nostalgizing market.
    But...they chose differently. Oh well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. V,

    judging by the previous trio it must be, I suppose. Although I assume that this blend is more modern, the other ones were very much retro.
    I think you're paying (well, not you, or me, but someone else who might be bent to get this) for the Baccarat crystal too and the fact that this is extrait. Great ingredients too (this the case with many all naturals lines as well, so you know that)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stephan06:00

    After having read this and two previous posts from 2009 about the perfumes of Grossmith, I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy and admire your use of language. It just gives the subject matter a fitting , luxurious feel, in the same way as smelling a fine fragrance. Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete

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