Marquis
Anglia Perfumery (1928)

This falls somewhere between the buzzing metallic lavender and mossy ambrox of GIT and the soapy sweetness of CK One. This is the kind of aquatic I actually like - there's no dumb bleach notes or anything, and they don't skimp on the relatively expensive ambrox, so it has a decent richness to it, but in the end it basically smells like salty soap on a hot beach. I don't have a real historical context for this so I'm not offended by the use of the old name for something that's clearly not from 1928, so I'll just say it's not bad, but not really necessary either. Thumbs up just for smelling decent, though I'll admit I've smelled this done with more panache elsewhere.

Got a Sample of the anglia version. A bit of disappointment, I must say – there were really no pronounced "notes" at first, it's much more generic and harsh than I expected, an ozone-laden kind of aquatic, with a huge synthetic feel, reminiscent of the mid to late 90's. Very linear; although there is a dry-down, it's mostly just sweet and toned-down, with the different notes becoming slightly more pronounced.

In it's worst moments, it's a mixture of cleaning agent and a 3€ supermarket-brand deodorant. At it's best a blanket of chemicals over sheets of bitter herbs and sweet citrus, all drowned out by an ozone-aquatic clatter.


(Actually, the first generation of men's toiletries by Finland's Lumene was really similar, I had the misfortune of receiving a gift set for christmas in eh… ´97, I think.)

This fragrance seems to have been years ahead of its time. To my nose, the lavender stands out prominently from first sniff; it dominates the accord and the citrus and conifer take on a supporting role. I've smelled pretty much this same accord in dozens of those late 80s – early 90s fragrances, and as often as not, I do not enjoy them. In the 90s fragrances the opening is often followed by a combination accord that is chock full of every green and herb (in this case) under the sun. I think this one is much better than most of the ‘90s reincarnations, but I still am not a major fan of the opening accord or the conglomeration that follows. Okay…this is a pleasant fragrance with high quality ingredients and a very nice progression. The olfactory combinations that Marquis presents just do not enchant me…it's an “ehh.”

Originally submitted 12 April 2008

My comments are based on the current, Anglia version. I suspect that this is a pale rendition of a once-good scent. Gary Cooper may have said that this was the best green fragrance ever, but I don't find it to be particularly green and it certainly is far from the best. Knowing and owning several vintage Crown scents, I characterize the house as offering substantial (at times powerful) classic style scents at what was then good value.This is a somewhat faint, fresh sort of scent. Very wispy green notes of mint and herbs can be detected, if you look hard for them. Mostly the scent seems shallow, generic, and somewhat irritatingly ozonic. A parallel might be drawn between the original Casswell-Massy Greenbrier, and the reformulated version which sacrifices greenness for ozonic freshness (to its deteriment).Eventually some of the somewhat cheap fresh notes burn off, and a few more herbal notes emerge. Still nothing to commend here.

This is a review of the Anglia version. Starts off similar to GIT/Cool Water/Floris JF, et al. Becomes more herbal/green as it progresses, but the similarity to those others remains, and I can't say it's better than any of those. These types of fresh fougeres just don't do it for me. They're pleasant enough, but something about them feels too rigid for my tastes. I will say that if this is actually what the Crown version of Marquis smelled like, then it's pretty remarkable for something coming from the 1920's (that is, if the Basenotes date above is to be believed). Somehow I doubt that the formula is the same, as I smell something aquatic in Anglia's Marquis that leads me to believe the formula was altered, at least somewhat. Or, perhaps my nose is just being fooled into smelling an aquatic note where there is none by some combination of other notes. At any rate...it doesn't smell bad, it doesn't smell great, and it doesn't really impress with any sort of originality, hence the neutral rating.

Nothing remarkable. More of a clone of Floris JF, Cool Water, and even Acqua di Gio. I would go with any of the former before coughing up the cash for this one.