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Help Needed From Vintage Experts - Should I Buy This Old Mitsouko Bottle

post #1 of 8
8/10/10 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
Hi everyone,

I'm on holiday in India at the moment and I came across what could be an interesting find at an antique shop.

It's an old bottle of Mitsouko, still inside its hinged box (see image below). The shop owner thinks it's from the 50s.

I was wondering if any of you might be able to shed some light on what would be a reasonable price to pay for it.

The box isn't in great condition. The hinge is still absolutely fine, but the images on the outside are tatty and worn and the inner lining is heavily spotted and marked.

There is no fragrance in the bottle, although the glass itself is in excellent condition. The ribbons/frills around the neck are present, but looking rather old and faded.

The base of the bottle features an original Guerlain sticker.

What's most exciting is that the box is filled with the gorgeous smell of oakmoss, a scent which you can feel even more intensely when you open the bottle's stopper and take a sniff.

So... what do you think? What would be a reasonable price?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Please note the image below is NOT of the actual box I saw in the antique shop; it's just a picture I'm including to show you the style of the box I'm referring to.

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post #2 of 8
8/10/10 at 10:33am
I like a good smell, from an empty bottle or a scratch-n-sniff spot, but I want fragrances I can wear from a bottle of fragrance. I'd say skip the purchase if there's no juice.

Otherwise I have no idea of a value to put on a bottle. It would be a curiosity object, something to smell to get a glimpse of what something once smelled like, but only have that value. I was once offered an empty bottle of Aramis Havana, before it was re-issued, for ten US dollars. I thought that about nine dollars and fifty cents too high.
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post #3 of 8
8/10/10 at 9:20pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks DustB, but yes, as you say, this wouldn't be a purchase for the juice. I was just wondering if anyone knows what the bottle and box are worth. I got very excited when I saw it and thought I'd stumbled upon a real find, but perhaps old, empty Mitsoukos are actually not hard to come by.

Can anyone else shed any more light on this?
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post #4 of 8
8/10/10 at 9:51pm
Hahahaha. Oooh too bad it's empty. =( Haggle!
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post #5 of 8
8/10/10 at 10:55pm
There is no fragrance in the bottle, the box is not in mint condition so bargain like hell for it IMHO. It would be worth a lot more if it had scent in it, full or at least three quarters full and even more if the seal was intact and box was less tatty.
You can find these 'rose stopper' extrait bottles on Ebay if you look for them .
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post #6 of 8
8/11/10 at 8:10pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks to both of you. It's becoming clear that this is far from being the find of the century ;-) I think the seller wants quite a bit of money for it, so perhaps I'll give it miss. And as you say, similar items - in better condition - do pop up on eBay every now and then.

Thanks for your help.
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post #7 of 8
8/11/10 at 9:18pm
You could try posting this question in the bottle collectors forum. Kumquat and some of the others there are extremely knowledgeable when it comes to these types of questions. I've picked their brains a time or two.
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post #8 of 8
8/11/10 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbthorpe View Post

You could try posting this question in the bottle collectors forum. Kumquat and some of the others there are extremely knowledgeable when it comes to these types of questions. I've picked their brains a time or two.

Thanks very much indeed, I didn't even know about that forum.

I've started a thread there.
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