Photo: Chiwun Smith for The Bermuda Perfumery
by Colleen
The Bermuda Perfumery, the jewel box of a boutique that I visited last year (see here), has unveiled its latest (re)creation, Mary Celestia a perfume that has been waiting 150 years to be worn.
Hidden in the cargo of a shipwreck off the coast of Bermuda, the luxury scent was originally created in the 1800’s by Piesse and Lubin of London and its perfumer G.W. Septimus Piesse, a place sought out by the world’s elite of the time. The precious cargo of perfume was most likely destined for a wealthy woman in the American South as the ship, the Mary Celestia, was en route for Charleston, South Carolina when it sunk in 1864. During this Civil War time period, perfumes would have been smuggled in, making this cargo and its story even more precious.
After the clandestine goods were discovered by a team of international Marine Archeologists, the perfume was scientifically analyzed by Drom fragrances. The 150 year old scent was then re-created in a first-of-it’s-kind process and is now available to be worn.
Revealing sparkling grapefruit notes upon opening the scent develops notes of rosewood complimented by warm amber and finishing with soft notes of rose and orange flower. The timelessly elegant fragrance is presented in a bottle dressed with a medal embossed with the image of the Mary Celestia before she sank. Enveloped in a black velvet bag and packaged in a genuine Bermuda Cedar box, it is sealed with a red wax seal stamped with the ship’s image.
Finally available to be worn after a 150 year journey, Mary Celestia will go on sale at the Bermuda Perfumery’s Lili Bermuda boutiques in Hamilton and St. george, Bermuda and online at LiliBermuda.com starting October 1st, 2014.
As Mrs. Ramsay-Brackstone of Bermuda Perfumery so eloquently says,“This perfume was embargoed during the Civil War but there was such passion to own it, there was an attempt to smuggle it past Lincoln’s Navy and into the American South. This story is about international intrigue and romance, timeless luxury and heritage.”
A fragrance with such history deserves to be worn.
Available at lilibermuda.com
The Bermuda Perfumery (www.lilibermuda.com)
Drom Fragrances (http://www.drom.com)
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