Why the high price tag? The principle ingredient of IRISSS (that’s not a typo, it really does have that many sss’s) is Florentine Iris butter, the perfumers equivalent to diamonds. Lush, expressive and costly, the buttery oil is made from iris roots that are harvested, perfectly cleaned, cut, dried and aged for 3 to 5 years, then steam-distilled.
Encapsulated in an attention-grabbing bottle that’s been hand-crafted from a single piece of Amethyst Quartz, the Italian perfume house says it “uses nothing but the most luxurious materials to befit the most affluent lifestyles”.
Despite the nostalgic theme, IRISSS is resolutely modern and vibrant. The very first collection from Xerjoff, JX17/17 is made up of six scents, inspired by the window cabinet of the Minerals and Semi-precious Stones area in London’s Natural History Museum. The range encompasses everything from a Quartz Collection with handcrafted quartz flacons embossed with 18-karat gold and decorated with rubies, to a Murano Collection finished in 18-karat gold and presented on an ebony base with each crystalline flacon numbered and crowned with Xerjoff’s signature stopper.
Coco Chanel once quipped, “A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future”. If the lady in your life doesn’t remind you of this at least twice a year, then she’s definitely missing a trick. Certain well-heeled women might not need to of course: at £32,000 a bottle, purchasers of the latest Xerjoff fragrance would probably say the future’s smelling just rosy.
Available from Fortnum & Mason and Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie, Harrods. www.xerjoff.com.