Clive Christian is the British house famous for the crown on its bottle — a mark granted by Queen Victoria in 1872 to the Crown Perfumery, whose legacy Clive Christian acquired and revived in 1999. If you've heard of "the most expensive perfume in the world," you've heard of this house: that was Clive Christian's No. 1.
The house style
Clive Christian composes in the grand British tradition: high concentrations (most releases are extrait strength), dense constructions with dozens of ingredients, and a fondness for opulent materials — real oud, orris, aged sandalwood. These are not minimalist fragrances. They're built like the antique furniture the founder made his first fortune designing: layered, substantial, made to last.
Where to start
Art Deco Blonde Amber shows the house at its most luminous — a golden amber with genuine warmth and a wear time measured in days, not hours. The newest release, Strange Heavens Out of the Blue, proves the crown can be playful: coffee, caramel and smoke in a blue lacquered flacon.
Why we carry it
Because when someone asks us for "a serious perfume," this is one of the houses we walk them to. Every Clive Christian bottle at Redolia is 100% authentic, sourced directly, and available to smell at our Somerville scent bar — where the extraits show what British maximalism really means on skin.
Where the crown comes from
The crown on every Clive Christian bottle is not decoration — it traces to Queen Victoria, who granted the original Crown Perfumery the right to use the royal crown on its bottles in the 19th century. Clive Christian revived that heritage when he acquired the house, and the motif became the brand's signature and its claim to British perfume history.
Why Clive Christian sits where it does
The house built its modern reputation on unapologetic luxury — famously marketed at one point as the world's most expensive perfume — with high concentrations, rich materials and heavy crystal-topped bottles. That positions it at the top of the price ladder, and it's fair to say you're paying partly for the presentation and heritage as well as the juice. But the compositions back it up: the extrait-strength lines wear rich and last long, and the house has kept releasing genuinely interesting work rather than resting on the story. If you want British perfumery at its most maximal and don't flinch at the price, the crown is the shorthand for exactly that.
Frequently asked questions
How long do Clive Christian fragrances last? Clive Christian fragrances are built to last, often in high concentrations as extrait strength. For example, Art Deco Blonde Amber has a wear time measured in days, not hours.
What do Clive Christian perfumes smell like? Clive Christian fragrances feature dense constructions with dozens of ingredients and a fondness for opulent materials like real oud, orris, and aged sandalwood. Art Deco Blonde Amber offers a luminous golden amber with genuine warmth, while Strange Heavens Out of the Blue has notes of coffee, caramel, and smoke.
What is Clive Christian famous for? Clive Christian is renowned for its grand British tradition and for having created 'the most expensive perfume in the world' with its No. 1 fragrance. The brand is considered a 'serious perfume' house, showcasing British maximalism in its dense and opulent constructions.
Are Clive Christian fragrances minimalist? No, Clive Christian fragrances are explicitly not minimalist. They are characterized by dense constructions featuring dozens of ingredients and a fondness for opulent materials like real oud and aged sandalwood. The house style is layered, substantial, and built in the grand British tradition.