Raiders of the Lost Scent: CALVIN KLEIN (brief notes, unpublished article)

(Here are few notes reported by Andre around 2014. This is a transcript of a phone call to Piatigorsky, who had worked with Calvin Klein perfumes years earlier. These notes were supposed to become a full-fledged article later)

"Piatigorsky appears willing and friendly on the phone -he took pity on my poor English- and has some informations to share about Calvin Klein. He says he worked for many perfume brands, (including Calvin Klein) in Paris and London, during the Nineties and 2000s. Calvin Klein perfume business started in USA in 1978, but arrived in Europe many years later, at beginning of the Nineties. The main remembering he has about Calvin Klein scents is they were "marketing masterpieces".

He says that, basically, the most interesting thing about Calvin Klein are not "perfumes", but the incredible story behind the perfume brand: "Calvin Klein Cosmetic Company". Piatigorsky tells me the story.

Briefly, at the beginning Calvin Klein launched his first women's perfume, named simply "Calvin Klein", which was not successful. Disappointed by this experience, he put the perfume division ("Calvin Klein Cosmetic Company", or CKCC) up for sale, at a very low price. Then, a small Minnesota company called "Minnetonka", which had become famous a few years earlier for the creation of pump-dispenser soap, decided to buy CCKC in 1980, and, a few years later, bet everything on a soon-to-be-released perfume, called "Obsession". (continue...)

Well, Minnetonka spent $18 millions on marketing and advertising, nearly all the money it had. It was a do-or-die story. The advertising began months before the launch. All people in USA knew about Obsession perfume, without anyone having ever seen it. Then, in 1985, the perfume hit the shelves, and it was a success never seen before. Within a year Obsession ended up in the top three best-selling perfumes in America. Obsession for Men followed in 1986, and then "Eternity" in 1988, it was another incredible success. They were completely unexpected successes, having in common a really great and very expensive marketing, resulting in incredible profits.

At this point (year 1989) the multinational Unilever purchased CKCC from Minnetonka, and decided to launch Calvin Klein perfumes outside the USA as well, thus ensuring a large-scale distribution. REMEMBER: until 1989, Calvin Klein perfumes were sold more than 80% in the USA. Elsewhere, they were virtually unknown. Any CCKC product could only be bought thanks to imports: there was no distribution. REMEMBER: before 1989 all CK perfumes are "Made in USA"; since 1989 all CK perfumes were produced both in USA and EUROPE (mainly in France). Keep in mind: from 1990 to 1994, Calvin Klein perfumes were gradually introduced in various European countries, not all together, and not in all countries at the same time, but rather "staggered".

In early 2000, Unilever began to consider selling CKCC, because it wanted to focus more on other sectors, and in 2005, the fragrance division (CKCC) was sold to Coty.

Here the bad news begins. Coty started to *heavily* reformulate all the scents. The reformulations were made gradually for each scent.

Piatigorsky says that anyone who wants to collect CK perfumes must absolutely refer to those produced BEFORE the transition to "Coty" ownership (i.e. year 2005). He admits that he is not a great perfume expert, but believes that the reformulations that have taken place since 2005 resulted in really *different* scents. The most famous example: Obsession for Men, the original scent was a marvel, the reformulated one doesn't even remotely resemble it anymore. What a pity.... So, first rule is: CK perfumes should only be collected if they date back to "before 2005" or with the wording "Calvin Klein Cosmetic Company" (without "Coty"/Coty Prestige wording ).

Brief timeline: just three steps.

Until 1989, CK made his own scents as "Calvin Klein Cosmetics Company". (or "Minnetonka years")

in 1989 UNILEVER bought "Calvin Klein Cosmetic Company"

in 2005, Coty acquired UNILEVER perfume business.

Piatigorsky adds a few important clues. I'll have to ask for more details in the next phone call.

REMEMBER:

1- during "Unilever Age" (i.e: 1989-2005) you will STILL read "Calvin Klein Cosmetic Campany", with or without the word "UNILEVER". During a transitional period, you will read "Coty" too. Then, you will read "Coty" or "Coty Prestige" only.

2- one of the biggest problems is -as usual- that there are different factories, in Europe and in the USA: and they have different labels, and different batch codes, which could refer to the same year of production. You see different labels, and you might be fooled.

3- This is important: many bottles could have "Made in USA" and batchcode PRINTED with ink on the outer wrapping, so when you remove the wrapping, you "lose" the batchcode.

VERY IMPORTANT: batchcodes.

Piatigorsky says that (at least until 2009, maybe even further) there was TWO different batch codes:

1- four numbers in a row, for example: 1234. Now you have to consider this:

if it's "UNILEVER Age" (i.e. = before year 2005, so you should find the "Calvin Klein Cosmetic Company" label), the LAST number is the year (example : 2951 : last number is "1", so, 1991 or 2001.

if it's the "Coty Age" (i.e. = year 2005 and beyond), the FIRST number is the year (example : 6313, so "6" is 2006.

2- one letter plus 2 or 3 numbers (and in rare cases, another final letter) - example E203 (this is usually the American batchcode) , you have to consider the LAST number. in this case E203 means 1983, or 1993, or 2003. Another example is G298B: it's 1988 or 1998. If H156 = 1986 or 1996. F297A = 1987 or 1997,

A GREAT CLUE : "Minnetonka" (1980-1989) and "Unilever" (1989-2005) bottles are really similar. Is there a way to identify perfumes produced during "Unilever" years, from those produced before? Yes, there is, you have to see if -on the box or bottle- there are names of European cities (London, Milan, Paris, Wien, Madrid...); if there are such european cities, then it is a Unilever bottle (1989-2005)

on the contrary, if you read only: "New York", this means it is a bottle produced before (1980-1989 , "Minnetonka")

Very, very early bottles sports "New York 10019", later you will read "New York 10022"

EXTRA CLUES: "FOR MEN" in capital letters, used until 1993 in all perfumes. After 1993, "for men", in lowercase.

Built-in sprayers (in OBSESSION only!) discontinued in 1994-1995.

When you read "cologne"or "cologne spray", these are "Made in USA" bottles (1978-1989).

(on the next phone call he will have to explain better some details, that actually escape me)

REMEMBER "Short list" of ingredients on the box, until years 2003-2004.

since 2005: "long list"

Greendot symbol: after 1992/1993

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Years and Perfumes (date launch)

1978: Calvin Klein (for women)

1981: "Calvin" (for men, in dark box and bottle)

1985: Obsession

1986: Obsession for Men

1988: Eternity

1989: Eternity for Man

(here "Unilever Age" begins.)

1991: Escape

1993: Escape for men

1994: CK ONE

1996: CK BE

1997: Contradiction

1999: Contradiction for men

2000: Truth - CK ONE Red Hot

2002: Truth for Man - Crave - Sheer Obsession - Eternity Rose Blush

2003: Truth Sensual bedtime - CK One Graffiti - Eternity Purple?

2004: Eternity Love - Eternity Moment - CK One Summer

then in 2005 the "Coty age" begins.

TUTORIAL PICS

(all pics taken from the web)

OBESSION FOR MEN, Made in USA, capital letters,
vintage label (1988-1989)

VINTAGE Obsession "Cologne Spray", Made in USA, no european cities reported = years 1988 or1989

VINTAGE OBSESSION FOR MEN, (capital letters) Made in USA,
"Eau de Toilette", Spray Atomiseur", you read "London" too,
it's an early "Unilever" bottle (years 1989-1993)