Futur Robert Piguet 1967 Eau de Parfum

This fragrance had a peculiar life: created, or rather launched, in 1967 and already discontinued seven years later, in 1974. The reason for the fragrance's short lifespan eludes me, but it was also the time when the house of Piguet was in the process of dissolving - only the fragrance business survived Robert Piguet's death for a few years, albeit not very successfully.

Anyway, in 1974, Futur was taken off the market and has remained missing since then. However, some bottles circulated for years through the hands of many fragrance enthusiasts, fueling the legend of the greatest of all green scents. After Parfums Piguet was revived a few years ago and the old classics, especially Bandit and Fracas, reclaimed their rightful places in the phalanx of masterpieces in their field, it was only a matter of time before Futur would also be relaunched, following Visa and Baghari (Calypso is said to follow, and the unfortunately mishandled Cravache is awaiting its reworking to approach the original).

The team that was to bring Futur back to life consisted of perfumer Aurelien Guichard, Robert Piguet Parfums president Joe Garces, fragrance critic Luca Turin, and a bottle of the original Futur from the 70s, which miraculously survived the test of time in a curious location in Mexico. Together, they set to work and created the new Futur. They were mighty proud when they presented it in the spring of 2009 at Harrods in London - and they truly had reason to be proud. The new Futur does not disappoint in any way and finally fills the old legend with content that is comprehensible to everyone. The participants claim that the new fragrance comes astonishingly close to the old one, that it is, so to speak, the perfect reincarnation, created with the possibilities (and limitations) available to a perfumer today, and simultaneously equipped against future challenges from the IFRA.
Now it is back and confidently stands on the shelves alongside its big siblings Bandit, Fracas, Visa, and Baghari - what a magnificent lineup!

And rightly so, Futur stands alongside these greats: barely sprayed, a fresh, slightly soapy aroma of silky-fine green notes unfolds, brightened by a hint of bergamot and neroli. This bright opening is followed by subtle floral accords of violet, indolic jasmine, and sharp-edged ylang-ylang, on a base of slightly bitter galbanum, mossy notes (not oak or tree moss!), leathery isobutyl quinoline (a nod to Bandit), a bit of smoky vetiver, powdery coumarin, as well as polished cedarwood and creamy, soft patchouli. Everything is so well interwoven and blended that isolating the individual notes is very difficult, and one must rely on the statements of the perfumer and the manufacturer, as one's own nose proves to be rather unreliable. Nevertheless, I believe I can recognize the mentioned notes - surely there are many more. In any case, they make up the character of this fragrance for me, a truly unique character. Because although there are many green chypres - Futur has such a peculiar texture that the fragrance simply stands out from the crowd of its peers, as if a completely new texture, a wholly novel substance had been created for it - just like so many new materials were developed in the space-age times of its inception. And indeed: one might get the impression that Futur was not composed in one of the venerable institutes in Grasse or Paris, but rather in a lab aboard the spaceship 'Discovery' from Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey', on the way to Jupiter - assuming, of course, that the new Futur is indeed as close to the old one as claimed.

In any case, a green chypre fragrance with leathery-animalic undertones in the tradition of the galbanum-rich Vent Verts and the legendary Miss Dior was created, with reminiscences of the aforementioned in-house Bandit by Germaine Cellier. Cabochard and Ma Griffe also resonate here, so to speak, preparing the ground for Futur to emerge. However, unlike the aforementioned fragrances, which all aimed to create either the natural, the salon-like, the cosmopolitan, or the erotic-abyssal moment, Futur remains consistently abstract: its floral nuances seem at first glance to have no natural counterpart, nor does the fine buttery-animalic fabric that runs through all phases of this fragrance: no animal comes to mind from which it could originate.

In this way, Futur is somewhat related to the completely different Jicky by Guerlain, which belongs to a completely different olfactory family, for like this fragrance created over eighty years ago, Futur seems to want to elude deciphering. And just as Jicky, through its radical abstraction, made everything that came before it seem dull and old-fashioned, so Futur rises in its modernity in a similar way above its overly prim and proper, and as some say, musty environment of the 50s and early 60s. If I were to imagine an ideal wearer for this fragrance, I would think more of the lanky, thin model Twiggy, or the young Mia Farrow (who also advertised the fragrance!) than Grace Kelly or even Doris Day. Because with a Pepita dress and a wavy steel helmet hairstyle, this fragrance is truly incompatible, just as it is with the appearance of a part of today's women: precisely parted, smooth long hair, neat blouses, and handbags à la Queen Mum. No, Futur is the scent of a modern, rather androgynous woman with a tomboyish short haircut and an unconventional worldview - indeed, the scent of Mia Farrow, or her modern reincarnations, of which I hope there will soon be more, so that Futur can find many ideal wearers and not meet its end again in seven years.

To men, including those who are skilled in - as the modern term goes: 'gender bending' - that is, who occasionally know how to wear androgynous women's fragrances successfully, I would rather advise against this scent. Unlike Bandit, Futur, although the fragrance is not sweet or overly floral, lacks any truly recognizable masculine substance - it simply lacks the male chromosome.
Nevertheless, I love - as a man - this fragrance, I just don’t wear it. Every now and then, however, I spray it on and enjoy the magnificent aroma - completely privately and all alone.

By the way, the fragrance has perfect projection: it is noticeable but not loud, and lasts quite a long time. However, one should be warned against overly generous application - the fragrance is too good and its character too friendly and reserved. It cannot handle an offensive appearance, nor does it need to.