See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Sandringham Crown Perfumery 1873

8.7 / 10 26 Ratings

A popular perfume by Crown Perfumery for men, released in 1873. The scent is citrusy-woody. The production was apparently discontinued.
Compare

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Citrus

Woody

Green

Fresh

Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Vanilla

Citrus notes Neroli

Neroli

Heart Notes

Lily of the valley

Base Notes

Moss

Woody notes

Perfumer

William Thomson

Ratings

Scent

8.726 Ratings

Longevity

8.020 Ratings

Sillage

7.318 Ratings

Bottle

8.421 Ratings

Submitted by Profumo · last update on 02/22/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Sissinghurst

1872 for Men

Bois du Portugal

Reviews

3 in-depth fragrance descriptions

01/26/2021

Bigsly
35 Reviews

Bigsly

1

Old world meets "modern man?"

With neroli and citrus listed, and based upon other scents I've tried from this company, I thought this would be sharp, but it's actually quite soft. Some (younger people, most likely) may say it's at least a little musty, but certainly nowhere near so many other vintage scents. The vanilla is not obvious at all, but that's true of the other notes too (though the mossy quality is clear), as this is apparently meant to be an appealing blend, sort of like the grandfather of Dior Homme type scents. While it's quite pleasant, my guess is that some will find it on the boring side. It's not sweet nor floral enough to be "dandy"-ish, but rather more suggestive of an "older gentleman" of a comteplative nature. It's totally natural smelling and lasts well, but unless I found a bottle at a great price, I'd pass, because I don't envision myself wearing this often. Venezia Uomo is probably a better choice, as it's a bit more interesting and the prices are still not outrageous.

12/20/2017

9Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Maggy4u
369 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Maggy4u

Very helpful Review 6

Sandringham House for Christmas

The fragrance Sandringham from Crown Perfumery is inspired by the namesake estate of the Royal Family in Norfolk. Appropriately for the time of this article, it is an old tradition of the Royals to reside in Sandringham House between Christmas and New Year. A lovely occasion to comment on this scent.

Sandringham opens with a wonderfully green and bitter Neroli note that carries the charm of bygone times. The green is primal, herbal, and rough, almost untamed, allowing me to glide back through time. After all, the estate has been in the possession of the Windsors since the 1860s and is part of their private property, not the actual Crown Estate. The fragrance has existed in this form since 1873 - almost simultaneously after the extensive renovation of the castle by the Windsors in 1870. There was much hunting, and the family came together. In addition to a vast park estate, there are also forests that belong to the estate. And this backdrop is captured by the fragrance for me.

Wet wood, venerable trees, lined with moss and punctuated by bitter green. Strips through nature. On a winter evening. Let’s set aside the Royals' hunting desires and perhaps just take a walk. On private property that no one else is allowed to enter. It is quiet, and only nature makes its presence known. It is cold, and the "family" schedule dictates that we must return for dinner soon. The dogs frolic in the freshly fallen snow, and everywhere - at the House and in the woods - everything has that special and unique scent.

A fragrance that is likely to be uniquely associated with Christmas and family, especially for the Prince of Wales and the entire royal family. So when it comes time to say goodbye again on New Year's Day, Crown Perfumery has created a kind of olfactory memory of Sandringham House with its scent. A talisman in a bottle. One that can bring back the rugged and quintessential scent of this area, its history, and the feeling of family at any time throughout the year.

Sandringham is, as Parfumo knows, still available under the name "Sissinghurst" at Anglia Perfumery. Thanks to a generous Parfumo member, I was able to test the original and now discuss it here. A wonderful artifact from another time, full of magic, individuality, and, above all, longing - even after hours, as it fades on the wrist.

12/04/2010

10Scent 7.5Longevity

Apicius
1328 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Apicius

Very helpful Review 19

A Poison!

Profumo presented me with a certain problem by sending me the sample of Sandringham. For I had actually decided to steer clear of the perfumes from Crown Perfumery. The perfumes of this brand have all been discontinued - presumably because they no longer comply with legal regulations and contain prohibited ingredients. With a bit of luck, one can still find some remnants here and there.

Most often, the IFRA regulations are viewed critically on Parfumo, and their purpose is doubted. Since my tests of Crown Fougère and especially Buckingham, I see it differently. I think it was Buckingham that landed me in the hospital for a day - allergic reactions can be quite severe. I suspect real oak moss as the culprit.

Therefore, a clear warning to all readers: Crown Perfumery is harmful to health!

There are thousands of great perfumes. Spraying oneself with such stuff is irresponsible and unreasonable - but on the other hand: being reasonable is also boring! So I took another risk...

...and I find it all the more annoying that Sandringham turns out to be perhaps the best chypre perfume I have ever encountered. Rarely have I found such class and complexity in a men's fragrance.

I really like chypres, especially the characteristic dark-bitter base of labdanum, oak moss, and possibly patchouli. In addition to this wonderful base note, a "real" chypre requires a three-tier structure: with citrus top notes and floral heart notes. Subtle flowers give a men's chypre its individual character - especially in the middle part, the perfumer must demonstrate taste and class. The flowers must not appear indecent but still radiate considerable depth. In my opinion, the floral heart is successful when it contains a certain complexity. A clearly identifiable rose, for example, would rob the fragrance of its mystery, making it ordinary and interchangeable.

What the citrus top note in the chypre structure is supposed to do, I have - until now - not understood. Often it simply seems to be slapped on. A particularly bad example would be the otherwise excellently made Chanel pour Monsieur. There, the lemon is so brutal for half an hour that you can't smell anything else before the perfume suddenly changes character and becomes beautiful.

Sandringham is the first men's chypre to which I attribute an independent value to the citrus top note. The above notes also indicate the rare case of vanilla as a top note. With a dialogue of subtle citrus notes and vanilla against a woody background that is already perceptible, we are almost casually offered an entrée that constitutes the main theme, the substance of the perfume, as seen in the new Arsène Lupin Voyoou by Guerlain. The vanilla is masterfully subtle. Any fears of vanilla-oriental opulence prove to be unfounded.

But then comes the irritation. Instead of straightforwardly progressing through flowers to the typical chypre base, woody notes now come to the forefront and temporarily change the character. One wonders, is this still a chypre? Yes, it is, but Sandringham has indeed been developed in different directions, and not just in the woody one. It should already be clear: Sandringham is not a simple lentil dish, but the arranged aroma explosion of a top chef.

There is a bit of back and forth, then the chypre character again prevails over the woods. The floral components are as required above. Lily of the valley is already rare, and the floral aspects do not exhaust themselves in the coolness of this single note.

After a while, a strange picture emerged. Sandringham became somewhat earthy. For a time, I had the olfactory association of rain-soaked sand - a childhood memory!

That was still far from everything! A vague herbal aspect was added. That Sandringham would now also develop fougère qualities was almost to be expected. But suddenly I recognized it: tarragon! And not only that - through tarragon, a bridge developed for me to one of the formerly best and most characterful men's perfumes - I mean Givenchy's Gentleman. What a great fragrance it was before it was muddled by reformulation! Givenchy darkened it with incense-like notes, which completely missed the mark. Givenchy transformed the arrogant, blasé dandy into a stubbly taxi driver with a migration background - unfortunately without renaming the fragrance in a coherent way.

But in Sandringham, it becomes clear that this gentleman note - present here in traces - can indeed be "darkened," namely through a chypre base!

Ultimately, plenty of musk comes into play. Not exclusively the often horridly depicted "White Musk," but a variant that I perceive as rather masculine and archaic. There is a bit of soapiness, but much more restrained than, for example, in Yves Saint Laurent's chypre fragrance "Pour Homme."

However, the subtle soapiness builds another bridge - namely to the fragrance character that we refer to as the English barber shop style. Here, the fragrance development finds its conclusion and determination - in the end, Sandringham clearly points to English perfume tradition.

It's great what Sandringham has to offer. Of course, one can and should enjoy such a perfume primarily - not just analyze it. With Sandringham, one surrounds oneself with a fragrance that I perceive as noble, masculine, and in the best sense conservative - an exceedingly pleasant and solid affair.

But where to get it? I would doubt the above note that Anglia Perfumery has reissued this fragrance under another name. This brand does make good, but otherwise rather simple and affordable fragrances - I will look into it!