How it all started.

They’ve pointed out to me that no one has ever introduced this blog or explained the reasons why it was created. Well, maybe it’s time to do that?

Foreword: 

I come from a family with a longstanding passion -on a professional level as well- for perfumery. My great-grandfather opened his first perfume shop in Italy in 1919, shortly after the end of World War I. In addition to selling major international brands—I recall seeing old receipts from Bourjois, Guerlain, Coty, and others—he also crafted his own fragrances, a practice he pursued for many years. Although the business eventually came to an end, our family’s deep affinity for perfume endured. In this sense, I can say that I have been surrounded by fragrances all my life.

How this site was born.

At the end of 1999, I went to purchase a bottle of one of my favourite fragrances: "Ettore Bugatti pour Homme". Released in 1992, it was a relatively little-known scent but, in my view, among the finest men’s fragrances ever created—somewhere between Guerlain’s Habit Rouge, Chanel Pour Monsieur, and Tiffany for Men. It was remarkable, and at the time it served as my signature scent. And besides being gorgeous, women liked it a lot as well. On that occasion, I bought a new bottle from a perfumery near my workplace. I did not even open the box, as I was waiting for my previous bottle to run out; I simply assumed that the new one would be identical to the old.

When I finally opened it, however, I immediately noticed a few discrepancies: the bottle itself and even the colour of the juice differed. My disappointment was profound when I realised that the fragrance had been altered. It was no longer the perfume I knew; it was something entirely different—and, in my opinion, markedly inferior. This would not have been an issue had it been a new perfume under a different name, but it bore the exact same name as the original, leading me to believe I had purchased the same product. I had not. It had been changed, and for the worse. This was my first serious encounter with the phenomenon of “reformulations.”

What did I do? While visiting other perfumeries, I noticed that all the available Bugatti bottles were of the new version, so I began searching every shop I could, hoping to find any remaining stock of the original. In doing so, I managed to recover a few bottles and some aftershaves from the earlier formula, which I now use sparingly and only on special occasions.

From the 2000s onward, I began hearing people remark that “...perfumes are not what they used to be”—and they were not referring to differences between new and discontinued fragrances, but rather to the same perfumes, which now smelled noticeably different. We understand the reason: the well-known (and often terrible) reformulations that alter the original composition. Some people asked me, “How can I buy the original versions without any changes? We certainly cannot go into a store, open sealed boxes, and test the perfume to determine whether it is the old or the new one!” I knew there were empirical ways to distinguish earlier versions. I knew there had to be a way to tell the old from the new: small differences between bottles, labels, boxes, barcodes, inscriptions… At first, I thought about photographing every detail of the boxes and bottles so the differences would be clear. Later on, I realized there was another detail that could shed even more light on the age of the bottles: the famous ‘batch code.’ It was something almost no one had ever paid attention to—a small, overlooked clue that could reveal the true age of a perfume and show which one had come first, and which had followed. Thus, around 2010, I decided to create a blog explaining how to identify original versus reformulated fragrances.
And that's how "Raiders of the Lost Scent" was born. 

Aftermath #1

To be honest, I do not claim any particular credit for this. Some of what I know came from years of personal observation, while other insights were gained through conversations with individuals working in the perfume industry. By bringing all of this information together—and with considerable patience and effort—the blog posts gradually took shape. I will be equally honest in saying that I never expected the blog to receive hundreds of thousands of visitors, nor did I imagine that terms such as “pre-barcode,” “long list of ingredients” and “batch code” would one day become so widely used. 

While writing the blog articles, together with my friends and collaborators, I observed three notable phenomena. The first was an unintended side effect that I could not have anticipated at the time and that I fully recognize only now. Some individuals have become preoccupied—indeed, excessively so—with "batch codes" and the “production year” of a perfume. In certain cases, this focus has even become a source of heated debate. 
My original intention was simply to provide a practical means of determining whether a perfume was generally “old” or “new.” In other words, it is of little consequence whether a bottle was produced in 1984 or 1985; what truly matters is distinguishing a bottle from 1985 from one produced now in 2015. I merely sought to offer as many useful indicators as possible.

Aftermath #2
A second phenomenon then emerged: perfumes gradually became highly collectible items. This occurred not because of the blog, but as a natural consequence of evolving tastes and an appreciation for objects that are both beautiful and historically significant. I vividly recall seeing magnificent vintage perfumes in shops being placed in bargain bins at the absurd price of ten euros each (or ten US dollars "for tourists"). I also remember bottles of various brands—Extraits and Parfums—selling for fifteen euros or dollars simply because “no one wanted them.” It was sheer madness.Those days are long gone; vintage perfumes have now become luxury collectibles and, in some cases, I would even venture to say, investments. People have begun using "batch codes", "barcodes", and every possible clue to determine the production date of an older perfume, thereby attributing to it a greater value. Although I’m not professionally involved in the world of perfumes (in fact, I do something completely different for a living), this pleases me for two reasons. First, I’m glad to see that perfumes are gaining more and more value and recognition; second, that in assigning value to perfumes people are using all the techniques and tricks presented on the blog "Raiders of the Lost Scent". And that was, quite frankly, a very unexpected outcome.

Aftermath #3
A third phenomenon then emerged -the most troubling of all- the proliferation of fake and counterfeit vintage perfumes. Let us be clear: perfumes have always been subject to counterfeiting, and any cautious buyer is aware of this risk. One can encounter counterfeit modern fragrances commonly found in shops, typically sold at lower prices. However, this is an entirely different matter. Dishonest individuals have begun attempting to sell fake and counterfeited vintage perfumes. I’ve lost count of how many people come to me saying, "This unusual perfume—what year is it from?" And it breaks my heart to have to say: I’m sorry, it’s fake. On this topic, one could write entire books. But it’s enough to know that whenever any object starts to gain value, fakes and counterfeits immediately begin to appear—becoming more and more sophisticated. Do you know what the worst part is? That you can no longer tell what’s real and what’s fake just by looking at a photograph. Some counterfeits are so perfect that you only realize it when you hold them in your hand and examine them from every angle.

When all is said and done, some people—quite a lot of them, to be honest—have pointed out that it’s foolish of me to leave so much information freely available to everyone, but this blog was created ‘by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts.’  What I love most is seeing more and more people fall in love with the magical, wonderful world of perfumes. And that's all.

If the information provided by "Raiders of the Lost Scent" has helped you in any way over the years, then we warmly invite you to consider making a small -completely voluntary- donation. 

"Raiders of the Lost Scent" is 100% free, and always will remain. 

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Vintage and Modern Batch-Codes

Year-of-production, 

Boxes, Bottles, Labels

EdTs, EdPs, Colognes,

all you need to know about vintage perfumes 

for vintage enthusiast fragrance collectors

in the following pages:

-CHANEL perfumes ( here )

-GUERLAIN perfumes ( here )

-YVES SAINT LAURENT perfumes ( here )

-CHRISTIAN DIOR  perfumes  ( here )

-GIORGIO ARMANI Perfumes ( here )

-VAN CLEEF et ARPELS perfumes ( here )

-BVLGARI perfumes ( here )

-HERMES perfumes ( here )

-VERSACE perfumes ( here )

-GIVENCHY perfumes ( here )

-GUY LAROCHE perfumes (here) 

-CACHAREL perfumes ( here )

-ROCHAS perfumes (here) 

-JEAN PATOU perfumes (here)

-LANCOME perfumes (here)

-CARON perfumes (here)

-CALVIN KLEIN perfumes (here)

-RALPH LAUREN perfumes (here)

-JEAN PAUL GAULTIER perfumes (here)

-SERGE LUTENS perfumes (here)

-GUCCI perfumes (here)

-THIERRY MUGLER perfumes (here)

-CARTIER perfumes (here)

Plus:

Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent, visual guide (here)

Fahrenheit by Christian Dior, visual guide  (here)

Azzaro pour Homme by Azzaro, visual guide (here)

Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche, visual guide (here)

Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, visual guide (here)

Samsara by Guerlain, visual guide (here) 

and others..