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Anyone has experience with Russian/quasi-Russian frags?(Help me identify this one also~)

post #1 of 18
10/10/10 at 8:47pm
Thread Starter 
I've only heard of Kpacha Maskva(Red Moscow), Zevs and Dzintry, but there's almost NO info online about these.

This morning I received a sealed 4 oz bottle of Prince Alexis Romanoff 'Lublu':


I bought it only because there were no bidders at $15 and the seller funds animal rights.


The only info I have on this is that it came out in 1953 and has since been discontinued.

And apparently, the Prince was a descendant to the murdered Tsarist Romanov royal family before emigrating to the U.S and becoming a perfume salesman.

Any help is appreciated!
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post #2 of 18
10/11/10 at 3:52am
Have no ideas about the fragrance, manufacturers and its story. Does not look like it has been made in Russia -- Stalin times did not respect Tzarist influences, US would be my guess as a country of origin because of New York on the label.

The name means "I love".

Overall, I think it is a good find for the money. Any plans on breaking this seal and giving it a good sniff?
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post #3 of 18
10/11/10 at 4:18am
I don't know anything about it, but it looks wicked cool.
Break the seal ... please, and report back to us!
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post #4 of 18
10/11/10 at 4:42am
Thread Starter 
Whaat? Don't you guys know that breaking a seal sounds the death knell to the bottle's value??

Let me ask around in other places to establish its likely value before I do that...
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post #5 of 18
10/11/10 at 4:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by domperrier View Post

Whaat? Don't you guys know that breaking a seal sounds the death knell to the bottle's value??

Let me ask around in other places to establish its likely value before I do that...

But, my dear Dom, you got it cheap as trash.
The ultimate luxury within the world of fragrances,
is to break the seal on a vintage bottle, and actually
wear the juice.
It's not like it's a 1919 bottle of Mitsouko ... go for it!
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post #6 of 18
10/11/10 at 4:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Grand Duc View Post

But, my dear Dom, you got it cheap as trash.
The ultimate luxury within the world of fragrances,
is to break the seal on a vintage bottle, and actually
wear the juice.
It's not like it's a 1919 bottle of Mitsouko ... go for it!

What if, by dint of rarity, it's worth more than a bottle of Djedi??

Who's going to comfort me then, wise Ducky??
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post #7 of 18
10/11/10 at 4:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by domperrier View Post

What if, by dint of rarity, it's worth more than a bottle of Djedi??

Who's going to comfort me then, wise Ducky??

Weeell, you have a point there,
even though the chances are slim
to none ...
But, you must admit, that using
rare vintage goodies is the best!
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post #8 of 18
10/11/10 at 4:56am
Thread Starter 
Yes, I agree!

It's like time travel...without a time machine.
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post #9 of 18
10/11/10 at 5:42am
Looks interesting, but what is a demi-parfum?

A half-perfume? Like a cologne, an EDT, or what?
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post #10 of 18
10/11/10 at 7:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by noggs View Post

Looks interesting, but what is a demi-parfum?

A half-perfume? Like a cologne, an EDT, or what?


No idea. Wierd name for a concentration,no?
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post #11 of 18
10/11/10 at 10:17am
Well, he would have been a "pretender" for sure. There were many people who tried to claim relation to the Romanov's but none were proven to be true descendants. My cousin was the curator of the Ukranian museum in Toronto and told me there was a character running around in the 50s trying to pass himself off as Prince Alexis Romanov but he was exposed as a fraud.

The spelling of Romanov as "Romanoff" on the bottle is also a bit fishy...
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post #12 of 18
10/11/10 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jane Daly View Post

Well, he would have been a "pretender" for sure. There were many people who tried to claim relation to the Romanov's but none were proven to be true descendants. My cousin was the curator of the Ukranian museum in Toronto and told me there was a character running around in the 50s trying to pass himself off as Prince Alexis Romanov but he was exposed as a fraud.

The spelling of Romanov as "Romanoff" on the bottle is also a bit fishy...

According to an online source of obscure perfumes, this perfume was indeed launched sometime in the 1950s(with the name 'Romanoff' so I doubt it's a fake)

The Romanovs had an extensive family tree, permeating a lot of European royalty.

I doubt the named person claimed to be the Alexis Romanov executed with his family in Yekaterinburg in 1917, but probably was a distant cousin of some kind.

'Anna Anderson' never launched a perfume as far as I know!
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post #13 of 18
10/11/10 at 11:47am
"-off" at the end of a Russian surname means that people lived somewhere in Germany or had German ancestors. Well, now, everybody knows that every Russian Tzarina was of German origin.
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post #14 of 18
10/11/10 at 5:11pm
Thread Starter 
Interesting.
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post #15 of 18
10/11/10 at 5:38pm
Oh I wasn't saying the perfume was a fake! But I doubt "Prince Alexis" was for real- however, a fake prince could make for an interesting provenance for this perfume and even add value to the story.

My Russian mother says the name is Romanova (her father was in Tzar Nicholas's palace guard and she has several certificates signed by the Tzar) but she recalls Romanoff being a common "English" spelling.

Her and I both want to know what this perfume smells like!
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post #16 of 18
10/11/10 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jane Daly View Post


Her and I both want to know what this perfume smells like!

Haha...I want to smell it as much as both of you!

But I need to establish that it's not worth hundreds or more before I dare to open it...
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post #17 of 18
10/11/10 at 7:52pm
The price would be determined by the market, don't you think? You can probably be rather sure that there is scarce supply of it but you also need to determine if there is any demand at all. It does not help to have an unique object if no one else is interested in buying it.
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post #18 of 18
10/11/10 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkdreams View Post

The price would be determined by the market, don't you think? You can probably be rather sure that there is scarce supply of it but you also need to determine if there is any demand at all. It does not help to have an unique object if no one else is interested in buying it.

Yes. I can only hope.

Actually, a small part of me is hoping it's only worth around the ballpark of the $15 I paid so that I can finally open & smell it!

4 oz....If it's good, that equates to a lifetime of enjoyment!
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