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Signoricci: Which version is the best version?

post #1 of 15
1/27/11 at 5:13pm
Thread Starter 
I keep seeing around the forums that Signoricci by Nina Ricci is one of the best citrus fragrances ever made, and I also see praise for Signoricci 2.

My question is, which Signoricci/Signoricci 2 is everyone raving about?

Is this the "Signorrici 2" that everyone talks about,


Or is the praise more regarded towards the original 60's version? Have any drastic reformulations taken place?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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post #2 of 15
1/27/11 at 6:23pm
I have both. The bottles are the same, but one has a 2 in a circle on the gold part at the top. I can't discern the main differences if there are any. Others I'm sure will chime in with better info.
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post #3 of 15
1/27/11 at 7:52pm
Okay.. I once asked the great scentemental in a PM about this scent, and I shall try to relate his answer as best I can.

The original Signoricci was a smoky sweet Oriental, very rich.

Signoricci 2 came out in the 70's and was an unparalleled fresh, chypric men's scent, in the vein of early Eau Sauvage. I have this one; it's incredible.

In the eighties, the original Signoricci was was discontinued, and Signoricci 2 dropped the '2' at the same time, becoming simply Signoricci! How confusing is that??!

Finally, Signoricci (formerly Signoricci 2) was reformulated drastically in the nineties!! These reformulated bottles are easy to recognise, though. They come in the plain grey boxes (no houndstooth). I do not care for this version at all.

Harder to differentiate are the bottles of eighites-era Signorrici (formerly Signorrici 2) from the original Sigonoricci bottles (I am sure some know the tricks). That is why I look for the ones that are called Signoricci 2, in the houndstooth-decorated boxes; at least this way I know what I am getting.
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post #4 of 15
1/27/11 at 8:01pm
Grottola, I have owned both the one in the bottle you show in your post, and the one I believe is the current one, which looks like this:



Both versions are OUTSTANDING dry citrus chypres, very Mediterranean and very unique. This new version IS IN NO WAY A BOTTLE OF SWILL. If you like citrus chypres, I would not hesitate for a second in buying either version.
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post #5 of 15
1/27/11 at 8:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamu1 View Post

Grottola, I have owned both the one in the bottle you show in your post, and the one I believe is the current one, which looks like this:



Both versions are OUTSTANDING dry citrus chypres, very Mediterranean and very unique. This new version IS IN NO WAY A BOTTLE OF SWILL. If you like citrus chypres, I would not hesitate for a second in buying either version.

I am sorry to be offensive in my terminology. Forgive me, please. I am pretty passionate about the whole reformulation issue, and I react to the reformulations of my favorites pretty harshly. I changed my post.
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post #6 of 15
1/27/11 at 8:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hillaire View Post

I am sorry to be offensive in my terminology. Forgive me, please. I am pretty passionate about the whole reformulation issue, and I react to the reformulations of my favorites pretty harshly. I changed my post.

No offense taken - everyone's entitled to their opinion. I'm passionate about good reformulations of my old favorites!
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post #7 of 15
1/27/11 at 8:34pm
Hillaire is a great friend here, and I'm sorry to go against her judgment. Let me beg her forgiveness before I even get going on this post.

When I was a bit older than a little kid my grandfather gave me the Signoricci 2 which had been re-labeled Signoricci. It was fantastic and I used it up. Five years ago I got the same bottle that Shamu shows in his post. Reformulated as it might be, it has the same magic for me. It recalls all the wearing long ago. If it's a reformulation, all reformulations should be this good. It DOES NOT turn my stomach and make me wonder how "they" could do something so wretched to something so good. I love the stuff, it last a long time, it's ideal, and it's available.

Grottola, get it. Get any version available to you if you can get other ones, but the easily available one depicted by Shamu gives me all the delights the old one did.
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post #8 of 15
1/27/11 at 8:50pm
Well, if it's any consolation, my BF likes it, too -- the new stuff that is.
I went out of my way to find him a lovely old bottle of Signoricci 2, only to discover he already had the latest version (the grey-box stuff). We agreed that the new version had lost some 'depth' and creaminess... in contrast to the old (If it makes sense, the older formulation strikes me as totally more unisex with its lactonic and almost-sweet aspect as well as almost animalic in its base so many vintage citrus scents had [As I conjure this kind of vintage-animalic-in-citrus element, I am thinking of so many vintage Roudnitskas in contrast to their reformulated counterparts]. The new one is categorically a 'fresh scent' to my nose, and it does not hold the magical, mysterious nuance the older version did.) But my BF likes the new version well enough to wear it, too, and he owns both.

You know, they come up in new and older formulations pretty often ebay -- at a good price. Buy both.
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post #9 of 15
1/27/11 at 9:04pm
I'd used up two full bottles of the one shown in Grottola's post, and very soon thereafter I bought the new version shown in my post. Like DustB, I don't remember smelling much if any difference at all. I still feel the same way I did with my old bottles - that it's probably the best masculine citrus scent in the world (right up there w/Eau Sauvage and Monsieur de Givenchy). A 10/10 fragrance in my book.
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post #10 of 15
1/27/11 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 
How's the longevity?
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post #11 of 15
1/27/11 at 9:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grottola View Post

How's the longevity?

I get all-day longevity - about 8 hours - which is incredible for a primarily citrus-based scent.
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post #12 of 15
1/27/11 at 9:16pm
Opinions vary on Signoricci. I like the newer one (black cap) a little more than the older. It is crisp, clean and drier and I like that effect more than the older silver cap version. I have had bottles of both but have a different view of it.
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post #13 of 15
1/27/11 at 9:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamu1 View Post

I get all-day longevity - about 8 hours - which is incredible for a primarily citrus-based scent.

That sounds awesome. Thanks for the info, everyone!.

P.S. Shamu your reviews I've seen on some fragrances are among my favorites - they inspired a couple blind buys of mine, actually. Good taste, my man.
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post #14 of 15
1/27/11 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shamu1 View Post

I get all-day longevity - about 8 hours - which is incredible for a primarily citrus-based scent.

Same here. The woody base carries the central citrus elements through the full day easily.
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post #15 of 15
1/28/11 at 12:51am
I too have the current version and I like it despite not being a citrus enthusiast...

The projection is modest, after the first few hours it turns into a skin scent ,discreet and fairly positive in old-fashioned style.

The longevity on my skin 8+
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