Most expensive perfumes

[Cyra]

#1

Clive Christian's Imperial Majesty: $215,000 (16.90z)
Australian dollar: $285,000
Canadian dollar: $245,846
Euro: €177,727
Pound: £115,000
Rupee: Rs9,496,550


Only ten of these collectors' edition bottles were made: they're Baccarat crystal with a solid, 18-carat gold collar with a five-carat, brilliant cut, white diamond. The bottle is filled with nearly 17 ounces of No. 1, Clive Christian's signature scent, which has been widely marketed as the world's most expensive perfume.


Imperial Majesty, which costs $215,000 [] a bottle, is the most expensive perfume in the world. Would it smell as sweet at any other price?

Actually, yes. Imperial Majesty is a limited edition of a Clive Christian signature scent. Sold simply as No. 1, the fragrance is priced at $2,150 an ounce. But the reason Imperial Majesty costs so much is that Christian, a British designer-turned-perfumer, poured 16.9 ounces of No. 1 into a Baccarat crystal bottle, stuck a five-carat diamond into the 18-carat gold collar and unveiled it at Harrods in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York City this past holiday season.

Of the five bottles released for sale (the others were kept for Christian's archives), three have sold.

[Cyra]

#2

Clive Christian's No.1: $2,150 (1oz)
Australian dollar: $2,851
Canadian dollar: $2,458
Euro: €1,777
Pound: £1,208
Rupee: Rs94,966

The bottle for No. 1 isn't as spectacular as its big sister, but it's no stinker, either. It's hand-made lead crystal with a .33-carat diamond in the neck. Production of No. 1 is limited by the scarcity of its ingredients, which include ylang ylang specially grown in Madagascar, vanilla, orris, natural gum resin, sandalwood and bergamot.

[Cyra]

#3

Caron's Poivre: $2,000 (2oz)
Australian dollar: $2,652
Canadian dollar: $2,287
Euro: €1,654
Pound: £1,123
Rupee: Rs88,340

Caron was established in Paris, and the company today is 101 years old. Poivre, which was originally created in 1954, means pepper in French. The scent lives up to its name: It's a lively blend of red and black pepper, cloves and other spices and can be worn by either ***. The bottle below is limited-edition Baccarat crystal.

[Cyra]

#4

Chanel's Chanel No. 5: $1,850 (15.2oz)
Australian dollar: $2,452
Canadian dollar: $2,117
Euro: €1,530
Pound: £1,039
Rupee: Rs81,715

Chanel No. 5 is perhaps the world's best-known fragrance, the first perfume to bear a designer's name and the benchmark for elite perfumes ever since. The oversized crystal bottle pictured above is parfum, the purest form available, and has 15.2 ounces of the fragrance, so you won't keep running back to Chanel for refills.

[Cyra]

#5

Baccarat's Les Larmes Sacrées de Thebes: $1,700 (.25oz)
Australian dollar: $2,253
Canadian dollar: $1,944
Euro: €1,405
Pound: £955
Rupee: Rs75,089

Baccarat, better known for its pure and high-quality crystal, decided to get in on the fragrance act in the late 1990s, with three limited-edition fragrances of its own. There are only six bottles of Les Larmes Sacrées de Thebes left at the Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie at Harrods, in London. The price is largely due to the pyramid-shaped bottle, made of Baccarat crystal, and the fragrance, which includes frankincense and myrrh, is meant to evoke the ancient Egyptians.

[Cyra]

#6

Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien: $1,500 (3.4oz)
Australian dollar: $1,989
Canadian dollar: $1,715
Euro: €1,240
Pound: £843
Rupee: Rs66,255

Annick Goutal is a European perfumer, former model and prize-winning pianist. Her Eau d'Hadrien is a fresh, citrus-y blend of Sicilian lemons, grapefruit and cypress. The limited-edition bottle pictured below is Baccarat crystal and was released in 2005.

[Cyra]

#7

Hermès' 24 Faubourg: $1,500 (1oz)
Australian dollar: $1,989
Canadian dollar: $1,715
Euro: €1,240
Pound: £843
Rupee: Rs66,255

24 Faubourg is a classic Hermès scent, a feminine floral containing rose, iris and orange blossom. There were only 1,000 of these limited-edition bottles released worldwide; the one below is St. Louis crystal.

[Cyra]

#8

Shalini Parfums' Shalini: $900 (2.2oz)
Australian dollar: $1,193
Canadian dollar: $1,030
Euro: €744
Pound: £506
Rupee: Rs39,753

Shalini was created by Maurice Roucel, the perfumer behind Hermès' 24 Faubourg and Tocade. Neroli, ylang ylang and coriander are the high notes of the fragrance, with tuberose, tiare, vanilla, sandalwood and musk rounding out the base. The image above is of a limited-edition Lalique crystal bottle, exclusively available at Bergdorf Goodman and introduced for Valentine's Day. Only 900 bottles were produced.

[Cyra]

#9

Jean Patou's Joy: $800 (1oz)
Australian dollar: $1,061
Canadian dollar: $915
Euro: €662
Pound: £449
Rupee: Rs35,336

Bulgarian rose, tuberose and jasmine form the base of Jean Patou's Joy, but the concentration is higher than most commercially available perfumes: 10,600 jasmine flowers and 336 roses go into every ounce of the fragrance. When Joy was introduced in 1930, it was marketed as the costliest fragrance in the world. The bottle pictured below is Baccarat crystal.

[Cyra]

#10

JAR Parfums' Bolt of Lightning: $765 (1oz)
Australian dollar: $1,014
Canadian dollar: $875
Euro: €633
Pound: £430
Rupee: Rs33,790

The world-renowned jeweler Joel A. Rosenthal has ventured into the realm of perfume-making, and his Paris boutique is a testament to his sense of drama and style.Hand-painted lightning bolts decorate the ceiling, and the store itself is as small and intricate as one of his jeweled creations. Bolt of Lightning is an extrait de parfum, and comes in a hand-etched glass bottle designed by Rosenthal himself. The fragrance is available at Rosenthal's Paris boutique or at Bergdorf Goodman.