Tag Archives: Style

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Cartier JUMBO Tank MC ref. W5330003 w/B&P

Contact me here to make this cool Cartier yours today SOLD

On offer is this modern, handsome Cartier Tank MC ref. W5330003 in stainless steel with stunning silver guilloché Roman numeral dial and high-grade in-house automatic caliber 1904-PS MC. This model is part of the now discontinued line of watches that featured Cartier’s first true manufacture-developed & produced caliber after years of relying on other suppliers. For whatever reason, Cartier abandoned this concept after about a decade and took an abrupt U-turn back to almost exclusively outsourcing Piguet and ETA movements again. But it makes for a very interesting chapter in Cartier’s history and who knows what the future will bring for these models in terms of collectibility down the road? This Tank MC also comes with red Cartier box and original papers, including International Warranty Card with correctly matching case serial number, mini instruction booklet, as well as paperwork & purchase receipt from Birks Montreal from 2019, confirming original purchase for $9,700 Canadian. 

The Tank MC is by far the most classical and, to my eyes, most handsome of these “Manufacture Cartier” models, with its oversized but still recognizable Tank proportions and design, albeit a bit of a hybrid between the classic Tank Louis and the Tank Americaine. Make no mistake, this is a large rectangular watch at 34mm wide x 44mm long lug tip to lug tip that wears big for sure. But with its ergonomic curved case and the thinness of the movement, it is still only around 9mm tall at its highest point. And with its gorgeous “wave” pattern silver guilloché dial, bold Roman numerals and sunken, engine turned sub-seconds register, not to mention the oversized blue sapphire cabochon-set octagonal crown, it is absolutely stunning on the wrist, as well as being unmistakably Cartier stylistically.

The 27-jewel caliber 1904-PS MC is nicely decorated — if also a bit noisy — and easy to admire through the display back. It comes on its original black Cartier alligator strap with the patented adjustable steel Cartier deployant buckle, which makes proper fitting a breeze for any wrist size just by sliding the strap and then locking it down it via the U-shaped tines.

This classic oversize men’s dress watch has been worn and not stuck in a safe — if you want NOS, look elsewhere — and so, is in overall Very Good+ to Excellent pre-owned condition. It has never been polished and there are some small scratches to both factory-satined sides, especially the non-crown side, and one significant ding to the bottom right lug, which is quite hard to see when on the wrist (please refer to the pictures). The high polish tubular tops of the sides of the watch have numerous superficial swirlies but no major marks. Both sapphire crystals on the face and rear are undamaged and without chips or scratches. The dial and hands are obviously Mint. 

All in all, a fine Swiss watch from the great maison of Cartier with a lot of wrist presence and style that certainly represents in a casually elegant style. Very easy to dress this Cartier up or down if you’ve got the wrist for it!

Contact me here to make this cool Cartier yours today SOLD

Watch Collector’s Notebook: Three Special Dial 1960s Omega Seamasters

Arguably more than any other of the great Swiss marques, Omega has always been daring, experimental and graphically innovative in their dial designs. And one could make a very strong case that they were at the peak of their powers in this regard in the 1960s. I first became aware of Omega’s penchant for creativity and purpose built “tool” dials on what would ordinarily have been standard dress models by way of having a Seamaster “Railmaster Official” passed down to me by my father. It, along with his Speedmaster Mark II racing dial, is what got me into vintage Omega, and ultimately vintage watches and watches more generally, in the first place.

Seamaster “Railmaster Official” ref. 165.002, cal. 550, 17 jewels, adjusted 3 positions, circa 1966:

I’m not sure if you’ve ever experienced this with an heirloom-type watch, but I’ve always felt not only grateful to have it but also, I have to admit if I’m being honest, slightly constrained by the aesthetic. While Omega designed this watch (with no small copying of Ball’s famous layout) to sell to the very specific railroad worker market, as well as those who value maximum legibility at a glance (something I do appreciate more as I get older), this dial is not quite my personal style. In other words, if it hadn’t been in the family, I don’t think I would have sought it out and bought it on my own despite its very attractive glossy white “porcelain” finish and bold black enamel numerals.

So, I recently decided to acquire what are essentially the same models of Seamaster but with very different dials that are a bit more in my design wheelhouse. The first is the semi-famous “Speedy Companion”, which might more properly be called the “Soleil Companion”, due to the fact that it not only mimics the legendary Speedmaster Professional’s characteristic luminous plots but also the very uncommon lustrous blue-gray soleil/metallic dial finish very rarely found in certain highly desirable ’60s Speedys.

Seamaster “Speedy Companion” ref. 166.002, cal. 565 (quickset), 24 jewels, circa 1966:

Being a compulsive sort of collector, I was not only thrilled with the Speedy Companion but also left wanting one more from this special era of Seamaster dial designs. The scarce “Albino Technical” really spoke to me, with its hyper-attractive matte white dial, non-luminous black “Speedy” markings and punchy red crosshair and Omega logo. It kind of screams “NASA UNIVAC technician”, at least in my imagination.

Seamaster “Albino Technical” ref. 166.002, cal. 562, 24 jewels, circa 1966:

All three watches have pretty much the exact same, rapidly coming back into fashion 34.5mm cases and yet represent completely differently on the wrist, a delightful tribute to a time when creativity in the Swiss watch industry generally, and Omega in particular, was really at an impressive and perhaps all-time high.

I’ll always be proud and honored to have my father’s “Railmaster Official” and look forward to always keeping it in the family, as it has been for some 58-years and counting. But I’m also really pleased to have now added two other very special and distinct 1960s Seamasters that are truly reflective of my own personal tastes and my pleasure in Mid-century modern design language.

You never know where your collector’s journey will take you in this hobby. But it’s certainly a lot of fun following the various tributaries that spring from the main river of your passion!

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage SS Longines ref. 6536-1 w/Breguet Numeral Dial & Bombé Lugs

 

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS GREAT VINTAGE LONGINES  SOLD

On offer is this great looking circa 1950s Longines reference 6536-1 in a very cool all-stainless steel Bombé lug case and featuring a beautiful all-original Breguet numeral dial with wonderful eggshell patina and café au lait aged radium luminous. This great vintage Longines is in overall Excellent original condition and sports the terrific in-house caliber 19AS full rotor sweep seconds movement under the hood.

At 35 mm wide, this beautifully proportioned mens watch with attractive Breguet dial wears wonderfully well on the wrist and is a really fine example of mid-century Longines design. To my eyes, this case is like a hybrid of a Rolex Bombé with its twisted, sweeping lugs and then a Patek 565, with the very distinctive flat, “non-bezel” bezel.

Makes for some very interesting and eye-catching effects on the wrist, to be sure, and just a super pleasing case shape that works in wonderful harmony with that handsome ivory Breguet dial. Fully serviced in the middle of last year, this classic Longines is running well and ready to be enjoyed by the lucky new owner. Make it yours today!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME FOR MORE INFO ON THIS GREAT VINTAGE LONGINES  SOLD

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Vintage Favre-Leuba Square Steel BLUE Daymatic “Cioccolatone”

SOLD

Up for sale is this very cool and highly uncommon vintage Favre-Leuba Daymatic with beautiful blue dial and impressive square “Cioccolatone”-style all steel water resistant case. Like most rectangular and square watches, this wonderful late-1960s/early-1970s model wears larger than its 33 x 37mm dimensions might indicate and delivers great wrist presence, as you can see from the photo of it on my 7-inch wrist. The rather heavy and ingeniously engineered steel case features wide, downward sloping beveled edges for a distinctly muscular feel not unlike a smaller version of Heuer’s famous Monaco.

I haven’t seen more than a handful of these “Cioccolatone” Daymatic models and never with this exact case design or a blue dial, making it highly unlikely that you will run into anyone else wearing this watch in the wild. The stunning vertically brushed cobalt blue dial with original luminous also happens to be in Mint condition.

The watch itself appears unpolished and is in Very Good to Excellent overall vintage condition, showing honest wear commensurate with having been worn and enjoyed for most of its long life. The rather over-engineered and quite substantial case design features, I believe, some sort of split-crown method for removing the dial, movement and back from the top case in one piece once the locking ring has been unscrewed and thereby gaining potential access to the movement.

In addition to the signed dial, case and crown, this sporty yet elegant Favre-Leuba also comes with its likely original and period correct signed steel buckle, a nice bonus for the attentive collector. Though increasingly difficult to find, there are still some vintage watches out there where you don’t have to spend crazy money to get a ton of style on your wrist. I’d say this striking Daymatic “Cioccolatone” is proof of that.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME ABOUT THIS SUPER COOL FAVRE-LEUBA DAYMATIC

SOLD

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage 1970s Audemars Piguet Royal Oak JUMBO 5402ST B-Series

SOLD

Up for sale, a watch that needs no introduction — Gerald Genta’s all time design classic, the original, legendary all-steel Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo reference 5402ST. This coveted and rare Royal Oak is from the second B-series produced in the mid-1970s and is in Excellent vintage condition overall with a stunning original deep gray Petite Tapisserie dial in absolute Near Mint condition. Featuring all its original case parts as far as I can tell, this Royal Oak 5402 still has its correct second generation signed bracelet clasp, correct unsigned octagonal crown, correct original date wheel and original matching Tritium slim paddle hands. The amazing integrated bracelet has minimal stretch for its age and will fit up to a 7 1/4” wrist comfortably.

This ultimate cult Royal Oak features AP’s revolutionary JLC-derived caliber 2121 ultra-thin automatic-winding calendar movement, a technical marvel with recessed rotor that enables the brilliantly engineered case to remain so thin. This magical caliber was also used in the original Patek Phillipe Nautilus 3700 and the Vacheron Contsantin 222 among others. I had wanted to send this watch to AP for a service but their new policy is to make any 5402 “like new” cosmetically, replacing crown, hands, etc and thereby destroying the vintage originality for us true collectors. So you know going forward unmolested examples like this one are going to become harder and harder to come by. In any event, instead I just had this Royal Oak fully overhauled by my watchmaker, including the installation of a new mainspring, while allowing no other cosmetic work. 

While not a safe queen, the case of this Royal Oak still has sharp chamfers & bevels that appear to me to be unpolished, while the bezel has either softened from years of cuff wear or has been lightly polished at some point in the past (never by me). The watch shows minor wear commensurate with semi-regular use over its nearly 50 years of life, though it’s still in Excellent vintage condition. To my mind, that means you don’t have to worry about babying it and can just strap it on and go when the mood strikes, which is what I’ve done for the eight or so years that I’ve owned this beauty.

The star of the show is the magnificent original Petite Tapesserie dial, which has not gone tropical as so many have and retains its original deep metallic charcoal gray color, with notes of blue in the sun. There are a few very subtle speckles showing in places from the brass beneath under magnification, an effect more noticeable by far in these macro photos than to the naked eye. The original slim hands match the dial perfectly and the appearance is absolutely stunning, looking just about like it came out of the factory yesterday save the pleasingly warm lume patina and the slight “sparkle” effect.

On the wrist, this classic ultra-slim Royal Oak is simply magic. You’ll understand all the hype once you’ve put one on and they don’t come up for sale in this sort of condition too often. Think about making this piece of watchmaking history yours today!

SOLD

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Heuer Camaro 7220NT Exotic CHOCOLATE Dial

Up for sale is this absolutely stunning vintage Heuer reference 7220NT Camaro chronograph featuring a beautiful Near Mint+ Third Execution Exotic pure Chocolate dial with stunning red Tachy track and orange chrono hands. This example is in overall Excellent original vintage condition for a 50+-year-old watch and, along with its pristine dial, also retains its original brushed sunburst finish on the top of the iconic cushion-shaped Camaro case.

 SOLD

This 7220 Camaro, which Heuer heads more knowledgeable than I have dubbed the 7220NT Third Execution Exotic, has the correct 174,xxx case serial number for this specific iteration of brown dial, which was only made for a very short time.

I have also just had its famed Valjoux 72 column wheel movement fully overhauled for the convenience of the next owner, including replacement of the mainspring, so it’s good to go with all timekeeping and chronograph functions operating as they should.

Everyone seems to rave about the Panda versions of Camaros as the ne plus ultra but having owned both, this stunning and uniformly “tropical” brown dial blows them away, IMO. In fact, the dials on these are not actually “tropical” per se, as the consensus opinion of the experts is that these were born brown… and I’d have to agree!

Personally, I call this one King Camaro and I think when you peruse the pictures in different lighting conditions you’ll see why I do. After all, you find Panda dials on Carreras and Autavias but nothing as unique as this. There is just something so appropriate to the funky Camaro case shape and the late-60s/early-70s ethos that makes a deep brown dial with a red Tachy track and orange chrono hands totally work. And I know the lucky next owner will enjoy the one-of-a-kind style of this cool brown beauty as much as I have. 

 SOLD

Men’s Cologne — Pasha de Cartier by Cartier

Pasha de Cartier is a very interesting, reasonably daring but, at its core, classic and conservative men’s fragrance. Created in 1992 by famed nose Jacques Cavallier, auteur of such varied artistic and commercial successes as Bvlgari’s Aqva Pour Homme, L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme and a yin-yang duo for Yves Saint Laurent, the archetypal male oriental, Opium Pour Homme, and the throwback wet-shaver fougère, Rive Gauche Pour Homme (among many others), Pasha is variously listed as a Woody or Fresh Aromatic but is more of a typical fougère top grafted onto a somewhat Oriental-style heart and base. That twist is where the interest lies for this yellow juice in the ornate, ribbed, bullet-shaped flaçon. As others more knowledgeable than I have noted, Pasha seems like a kind of bridge between old school barbershop scents and the last gasp of pre-aquatic, spicy masculine semi-but-not-really-powerhouses like the boozy Ungaro pour L’Homme III and the spice-rack-in-a-bottle that is Halston’s Catalyst. Pasha is frequently compared to YSL’s much admired Jazz from 1988 and I can see that — they both share a very classic citric/lavender opening zipped up by spices. But Pasha is altogether sharper, with Cavallier favoring a more focused and pared down offering of mint and mandarin orange to mate to the bracing lavender, as opposed to Jazz’s very busy mix of bergamot, artemisia and basil plus several more culinary spices like coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. The spices in Pasha are also not so well behaved and gentile as they are in Jazz, with caraway seed paired with anise giving a hint of licorice skank playing just below the surface of the brighter top notes for a classic dirty-clean trick of the nose. I also get just a hint of the notorious Kouros in the far dry down for what that’s worth, which may be due to a still-present oakmoss note laying down the bass for those aforementioned high notes. But Pasha is definitely more well behaved and user friendly than the famously difficult and iconoclastic Kouros, so no need to steel yourself for decidedly mixed reactions to that extent when you apply the Cartier.

I also hear Pasha described as sweet an awful lot but I don’t really get that in any honey or fruity sense of the word. In fact, there is a bit of austere dryness to the heart of aromatic rosewood and coriander that seems to suck out any of the juiciness of that initial burst of mandarin orange rather rapidly, leaving just the more bitter and oily peel. By the time this fine eau de toilette evolves into its base of labdanum and a creamy but not cloying sandalwood, buttressed by rather faint hints of patchouli and that fizzy and genuine-smelling oakmoss, you’ve experienced the sort of pleasant olfactory journey of something akin to a good amaro, with pronounced natural citrus fruit and sharp mint melded to slightly funky herbal-spice-woody accords. Pasha also gets compared frequently to Van Cleef & Arpel’s formerly cheap but now discontinued and coveted classic, 1989’s very forest green Tsar, perhaps due to both scents’ perceived “soapiness”. But that seems like more than a stretch to me, as there are no evergreen notes in Pasha whatsoever and it is far more refined and less in-your-face than the rather prickly, pine-juniper/oakmoss bomb that is Tsar. I’d say a more apt analog would be Dunhill’s Edition, which mines a similar hybrid aromatic fougére vein to Pasha in the way they meld traditional bright lavender-citric tops with heavy doses of spiciness, nutmeg and clove in Edition’s case, caraway, anise & coriander in Pasha’s. So, if you like the style of Edition you’ll probably also enjoy Pasha.

Pasha is strong but it’s not loud, screechy or overbearing by any means a la today’s Sauvage EDT, which could actually be considered a descendent if you squint real hard. Somewhat laughably, the famed Leffingwell/H&R Geneology chart of masculine perfumes puts Pasha in the “Fresh Fougére” category in essentially the same column as the key exemplar of that style, Drakkar Noir. Maybe in 1992 Pasha could register as “fresh” compared to, say, bruising chypres like Anteaus, Yatagan and the original, ominous Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme. But nobody in 2022 is going to think you smell particularly fresh per se when you’re sporting Pasha. Well-groomed certainly, but Pasha completely eschews any airy aldehydes, florals or really any green, forest notes whatsoever, not even coumarin, which is how you know you’re dealing with an unusual take on a fougère. In fact, it’s a little challenging to contemporary tastes upon the first few wearings, the well blended but diverse notes a bit difficult to get a handle on, not to mention its rather unsmiling and all-business manner. But the quality of the ingredients, the refined nature of its composition and its overall hearkening back to classic masculine tropes in perfumery with a creative twist should win over anyone not solely addicted to ambroxan or vanilla-laden modern “freshies” or ” blue” scents.

There’s none of that contemporary style in Pasha and it definitely skews more old school formal regarding the situations where one might wear it, be that at the office or for a fancier night out at a fine restaurant. But I also feel it works particularly well in cool weather and in outdoor situations due to the bracing nature of its overall citric spiciness and warm, creamy woodiness, both of which frankly make it unsuitable for warm weather. As mentioned above and as with so many iconic men’s fragrances, one definitely can get a “soapy” vibe off of Pasha, which perhaps is where the misguided comparisons to Tsar come into play. But for me, Pasha is the sort of luxury soap found in a fine English hotel; Tsar is a pine resin soap at a lumberjack’s camp. Both have their merits but they’re really nothing alike. Wear time is quite impressive on my skin at a solid eight-plus hours with, like Edition, notable development throughout. Projection is moderate but its subtle sillage is certainly consistently noticeable from about two feet away at its peak and you will get wafts of this from beneath your shirt until the bitter end. At the price point, about $85 on the secondary market for the larger 3.3-ounce bottle, Cartier’s Pasha is not cheap but you get what you pay for quality-wise and it’s pretty much a no brainer for the fan of traditional men’s fougères with just a bit more going on than simply lavender-bergemot-coumarin-oakmoss. While I haven’t tried any of the myriad flankers, I don’t think you can go wrong sampling the original. Pasha is a bit of an acquired taste in today’s world but one that many mature and secure guys will have no problem getting into, even if it should take a little time to do so. The potential rewards from Pasha are essentially too good to pass up giving it a few cool weather wearings to see if you can connect with it.

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Mido Multifort “Extra-Flat” Gloss BLACK Radial Dial

SOLD

Newly on offer — and now newly REDUCED — is this handsome and uncommon late-1940s/early-1950s Mido Multifort “Extra-Flat” manual winder with wonderful original gloss black dial in classically sized 34mm all-steel FB/Taubert et Fils case.

This lovely midcentury Mido is powered by their high quality caliber 1200A. This cool Multifort “Extra-Flat” also features an all-stainless steel screwed case manufactured by the famed case makers, FB/Taubert et Fils, which also made cases during this era for Patek Phillipe, Vacheron and Movado.

But the main attraction is the glossy black sub-seconds dial with “copper gilt” print and original radium radially positioned Arabic numerals showing lovely patina. Overall, this great little Mido is in Very Good unpolished vintage condition with a black dial that really pops on the wrist and a wearable size that a lot of vintage Midos don’t possess (it’s the same diameter as a Rolex Date for comparison).

A really nice bit of genuine vintage style & quality for not a lot of money in today’s market. Jump on it now before its gone!

 SOLD

Men’s Cologne — Explorer by Montblanc

First off, let’s discuss the elephant in the room when it comes to Montblanc’s Explorer, namely that it is widely considered one of the best “clones” of Creed’s genre-defining blockbuster, Aventus. That’s certainly part of the reason I bought it blind: because I wanted something more economical than Aventus. I enjoy that high-end fragrance but seeing as Aventus retails for somewhere north of four hundred bucks for 100 ml and Explorer can be had for around $100 (and often less than that via discounters like Fragrancenet.com) it seemed like a no brainer to give the Montblanc a tumble. But now having tried them both, applying the Aventus clone label to Explorer seems a bit damning with faint praise in a snobby kind of way. Yes, there are certainly similarities between Explorer (created 2019) and Aventus (2010). But there are enough differences for me to say that Explorer is not so much of a clone per se but rather a designer offering that utilizes the same modern and somewhat minimalist style that has essentially redefined masculine perfumery the way the inexpensive Davidoff Cool Water and the pricey Creed Green Irish Tweed did for the “aromatic aquatic”/”fresh fougere” in the late 1980s (although those two really do smell virtually identical).

From the Montblanc Explorer ad campaign

Instead of the rather heady and photorealistic sweet pineapple top notes of Creed’s Aventus, Explorer opens with a more astringent but still slightly sweet bergamot note which is much more fleeting than the lush tropical fruit of the Creed. It is paired with that ubiquitous pink peppercorn note now found in virtually all flagship masculines like Bleu de Chanel and Dunhill’s Icon, putting Explorer firmly in the same easy to reach for, easy to wear category as those two modern classics. They say there’s clary sage at the top, as well, but I don’t really get a lot of that and Explorer will never be mistaken for classic sage-heavy ballbusters like Antaeus and Maxim’s Pour Homme. Rather, Explorer is always a very polite and office friendly offering. Some have even claimed that it’s a more versatile cologne than Aventus, since it lacks the smoky birch tar/incense note that certain batches of that endlessly fetishized juice seem to emphasize more than others (trust me, you don’t want or need to go down that rabbit hole of Aventus batch micro-analysis — that’s its own weirdly obsessive demimonde). Instead Montblanc and the trio of perfumers who apparently worked by committee to develop this Eau de Parfum opt for a very pleasing vetiver in the heart to pair with the rather seductively salty ambroxan/Ambrofix/ambergris note that also makes Aventus such a joy to wear and such a consistent compliment getter. In some ways, I actually prefer the vetiver-ambergris pas de deux in Explorer, as it comes across like a real exotic beach experience with both the smell of the ocean and the fizz of Haitian vetiver — the coming together of the sea and the land — complimenting each other marvelously. So kudos to the creative team at Montblanc for pairing these two classic notes and blending them so well.

Where Explorer is decidedly inferior to Aventus is in terms of performance. While it gets knocked a lot for smelling “synthetic,” this is a facile criticism to make because Explorer proudly touts the use of artificial scent molecules like Ambrofix and Akigalwood. In fact, Explorer smells just as “natural” as the Creed icon and is never screechy or loud in the vein of another ambroxan-laden poster boy, Dior’s polarizing Sauvage. But frankly Explorer could use a bit more of Sauvage’s swagger because, while it is altogether classier and easier to wear, this “eau de parfum” concentration struggles to perform like even a decent eau de toilette. It could be the way it wears on my skin or perhaps I become anosmic to its scent molecules but I get only about four hours of noticeable wear time and the latter half of that is pretty much entirely as a skin scent. The promised patchouli-Akigalwood base sadly never really materializes, at least from the brand new bottle I have, making this purported “woody aromatic” actually fit the mode of an aquatic aromatic instead with a slightly soapy a very faint finish. I don’t think it is peculiar to me, though, as I can’t really smell it in on my clothes the following day when my nose has been refreshed, a test nearly all colognes that I’ve owned usually pass with flying colors.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Explorer. I think it’s not so clone-like that if you already have Aventus you would never need or want the Montblanc, especially if you’re particularly fond of this modern style of men’s scent but don’t feel like burning through the high end Creed quite so rapidly. But Aventus thrashes Explorer in terms of longevity and sillage, as do such other modern pillars of perfumery like the aforementioned Bleu de Chanel and Terre d’ Hermès. And while the price is easy enough to afford a backup bottle since you’re going to need to reapply a couple times of day if you want it to stick around, that’s still disappointing. For something that should be an ideal work or casual scent, good in all weather except the very coldest and a definite compliment getter, the poor performance really lets this juice down in the end. I keep waiting for the aeration of the recently acquired bottle — which is a really beautiful flaçon, by the way — to bring a little more punch and power to Explorer, much as time seems to benefit Aventus’s complexity and performance. But I have my doubts. Maybe you’ll have better luck, though, and on just pure wearability and enjoyment of the overall fragrance I still have to highly recommend Explorer to any guy out there looking for a can’t miss crowd pleaser at a fair price. The brief top and heart is so pleasing and frankly addictive you’ll probably forgive Explorer’s rather anticlimactic disappearing act.

Men’s Cologne — Invasion Barbare by MDCI Parfums

I don’t often write outright negative reviews — what’s the point in that there is usually something to enjoy in most offerings out there so why take time to dwell on the negative? But for Invasion Barbare, I’ll make an exception. Because anything both this hyped and this expensive should be exceptionally good and it just isn’t to my nose. I’m not even going to go with the damning with faint praise “it’s solid but nothing special.” I’m saying that I do not like the way Invasion Barbare smells at all. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this reaction places me in the extreme minority of opinions about this highly regarded niche fragrance from the very lux MDCI Parfums. Perhaps swayed by the retail price of $250 per 75ml via Lucky Scent ($375 if you spring for the over-the-top Roman bust flaçon) or grand guru of perfume reviewers Luca Turin’s 5-star rave, people can’t seem to help gushing about this 2006-created “oriental fougère.” But I really don’t like it. For all the talk about the incredible blending of ultra-natural ingredients, IB smells highly synthetic to my nose, as well as unbalanced and flabbily “spicy” until the reasonably pleasant woody dry down. There is a notable lack of greenness in the composition with a lavender that is barely there, subsumed by violet, ginger, cardamom and vanilla notes that provide an almost oppressive warmth and sweetness. I suppose this is what makes Invasion Barbare skew “oriental” but simply put this is not how I like my fougères.

Invasion Barbare starts out with a very heavy violet accord — a note I don’t dislike at all in a many classic men’s scents from Grey Flannel to Morabito’s Or Black — but here it is somewhat flaccid/withered and paired pretty much instantly with ginger, cardamom and a very persistent vanilla, which I admit is a note I usually don’t love and I certainly don’t love it in this. If this parfum-strength juice did actually have more of that promised lavender — or more kick and brightness from the very fleeting grapefruit/bergamot top notes — it might rescue it from the claustrophobic feel I get when wearing it. But the “sharpness,” such as it is, comes from a kind of cedar note buzzing in the background through the dry down, which is pleasant enough on its own, paired with a very realistic but incongruous thyme that just adds to the overall sense of a construction out of balance. It’s also not helped by an utterly generic musk in the base that, paired with the persistent vanilla, really clings to the skin for hours on end for a kind of clean laundry meets woodsy-spiciness plus powder effect. How anyone could perceive these accords as “ultra-natural” and “of the highest quality” is beyond me. Frankly, they smell cheap and artificial and that’s with trying it in winter, undoubtably showing this fragrance in its best light. In warm weather I think it could well be unwearable.

If you want something in this vein but one hundred times better and more distinctive (again, my opinion only) search out an original bottle of vintage Gucci Pour Homme. Yes, the cedar, patchouli and general pencil shavings feel that it shares with Invasion Barbare are dialed up way higher in the lamentably discontinued Gucci PH, perhaps due to a greater concentration of Iso E Super (an ingredient I would bet is also in IB in some quantity). But that is a good thing as it doesn’t allow the ginger that they also share to become so stiflingly prominent and more patchouli would, in fact, have really helped Invasion Barbare to counterbalance its cloying vanilla/musk base notes. At least Guccci Pour Homme has a real masculine personality and doesn’t come across like it was designed by committee out of the most clichéd and synthetic aroma chemicals available after being planned on a white board in some conference room, as well as containing no unisex vanilla. Sure, Gucci Pour Homme may also be nearly as expensive on the secondary market as a brand new bottle of IB but I will take the vintage, out-of-print designer frag over this over-hyped niche offering any day of the week. For a more economical analog you could go with the original Burberry for Men, although in its current formulation it is undoubtedly less refined, more minty and less bold than either the Gucci or the IB, but does share a lot of the same general vibe and can be had for very little money.

So there it is — I don’t like Invasion Barbare. A lot of people do, however, and will praise it to the skies as one of the best fougères in the modern firmament. For me it is neither “fresh” enough or “fougère” (i.e., green) enough to be a pleasant wearing experience, much less deserving of a full bottle purchase at that extremely high price point. Worst of all, it lacks cojones and is altogether generic smelling. Your mileage may vary, of course, so I suggest sampling before you buy, as you probably should with any cologne, especially an expensive one like this. You may well like it a lot, as most reviewers seem to, and find it one of the best, most masculine, most gentlemanly scents out there. For me, it served as a fine motivation to have a vigorous workout so I could justify a second shower on the day to wash it off. So I suppose it wasn’t a total loss after all.