4 of the most luxurious perfumes ever, from Chanel No. 5 Grand Extrait Baccarat to Louis Vuitton’s The Ultimate Bottle – but would you spend US$127,000 on 150ml of Henry Jacques’ Lune?

Mar 22 , 2022

Henry Jacques’s Renaissance Collection. Photo: Henry Jacques

Henry Jacques’ Renaissance collection comprises six exclusive scents presented in high jewellery bottles, with the Lune fragrance in a crystal flacon with diamonds and 18k gold

Other fine, limited edition scents include LV’s The Flacon d’Exception in a one-litre bottle, Clive Christian’s Imperial Majesty and the hand-numbered Chanel No. 5 Grand Extrait Baccarat

For centuries at least, people have been seeking out flowers, herbs and other ingredients to blend into beautiful perfumes. With just the right ingredients, scents can be so powerful that they can trigger nostalgia, attraction or utter bliss. That, of course, is where long experience comes in, with famous brands honing their perfumery skills for decades to create the ideal aroma to suit their clients’ tastes.

Here is our pick of four of the most luxurious perfumes available today.

1. Henry Jacques Lune perfume from the Renaissance Collection

Henry Jacques’ Renaissance Collection. Photo: Henry Jacques

In today’s world, where a fashion trend can be adopted across the globe in just a matter of hours, having a signature scent is a must. That’s because a trademark fragrance is the most intimate accessory we can call our own, reflecting who we are and what makes us unique without us having to say a single word.

Knowing this only too well, Henry Jacques opened its first experiential boutique for its Hong Kong clientele last year, following in the footsteps of its Singapore and Kuala Lumpur outposts. Although the atelier is well-versed in crafting bespoke scents for its clients, the ready-to-wear perfumes available are anything but your mass-market mix, and that’s redoubled for the fragrances found in the ultrarefined Renaissance Collection.

The collection introduces six exclusive scents, fittingly presented in high jewellery flacons. Specifically, these gold-covered, gem-encrusted flacons were designed by creative director Christophe Tollemer and handcrafted by Parisian goldsmiths.

Tollemer was inspired by Renaissance paintings and the intricate lacework of 16th century gowns, most distinctly reflected in the delicate lattice of coloured gems on the handblown glass of the flacons.

Like all perfumes by Henry Jacques, the scents are composed of pure oils extracted from exclusive ingredients. The haute perfumery never uses an existing blend of ingredients and, in bespoke perfume sessions, clients are invited to explore all the thousands of essentials and absolutes in the Henry Jacques compendium.

The scent christened Lune, for instance, releases a classic fragrance from its crystal flacon, bejewelled with diamonds and 18k gold. Opening with top notes of rose and jasmine, it follows with rose and fruity verbena middle notes. The sillage, or “trail” of the perfume as it diffuses on the skin, is also – what else? – rose.

The price for this single scent? A mere US$127,000 (HK$995,000) for 150ml.