Comments on: No man capable of launching a Chanel No. 5

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:00:22 +0000

Thanks Anya!

By: Anya

Anya — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:22:01 +0000

Hi Everyone:
I just uploaded the second article “Perfumery and Marketing”. Next week will be a Dragoco article for perfumery students.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:55:51 +0000

No worries, and your clarification makes perfect sense to me.

By: AnnS

AnnS — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:07:43 +0000

No, it’s good that you grill – need to keep up the quality discussion. I should have just not commented at all with my head in a muddle – it was more of an incoherent ramble than anything.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:44:58 +0000

LOL…sorry about your cold, and sorry to “grill you” on top of that. Hope you feel better!

By: Robin R.

Robin R. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:47:52 +0000

Loved that bit too, R. And I am going to bed tonight wearing several generous spritzes of vintage Diorama in dear Ed’s honour.

By: AnnS

AnnS — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:38:08 +0000

I’ve confused myself too! That’s what happens when you take Nyquil during the daytime….Can I blame it on the headcold?

Yes, I agree with him completely, and as someone who “was there”, his insights are invaluable. I suppose my nostalgic hand wringing comment was primarily based on most current justified disatisfaction with the fragrance industry. But it is always easier to think things were easier to get done in the past, that being said things seem to have degenerated a lot all these years. Still no clarity. Sorry.. I can sign off now. Gak.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:17:17 +0000

It’s an almost amazingly prescient article. I loved “Heads of firms, who do not understand this and think that by increasing the attempts they automatically increase their chances, are acting against their interests and do wrong to the whole profession”. That could have been written yesterday.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:13:27 +0000

I’m sort of confused…you object to what he was saying because it is hand-wringing & nostalgia? I mean, he *was* in the industry, and he was trying to convince others in the industry that they needed to slow down, give adequate time to fragrance development & less attention to quantity, more to quality.

By: Robin R.

Robin R. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:30:38 +0000

I am so grateful to have had the chance to read this. Thank you very much for the link, Robin. The genius of Roudnitska’s insights and the correctness of his observations have stood the test of 42 years.
Roudnitska really brings home the point that for great, enduring, original fragrances to be made, there must be the freedom for perfumers to pursue innovation for beauty’s sake alone. First comes the art; then and only then comes true artistic achievement and then, possibly, commercial success on the scale of Chanel No 5.

He maintains that it is completely misguided to apply the same formula used to create and manufacture a new cold cream to the production of a new fragrance. “If this is not realised, the splendid perfumery industry will be finally condemned,” he writes, “and this will be the death of the goose that laid the golden eggs, whose sole desire is to lay them.”

It is sad that the perfume industry hasn’t understood or acted on Roudnitska’s reasoning. It’s becoming more and more clear how right he was.