Silvestre Victor 1946 Eau de Cologne

Sometimes you wonder what there is that has obviously stood the test of time for decades (in this case: for almost 80 years) - and yet you don't find much about it here or elsewhere. The 1946 Silvestre Eau de Cologne (not!! to be confused with Pino Silvestre Eau de Toilette !!!) has been in my possession for about half a year because I thought its big - no, sorry: little - brother (because 3 years younger) Acqua di Selva Eau de Cologne was so great. So I had to find out what else the unknown master, who composed THE old Italian perfume per il Signore back then, had created. At the time, I thought to myself: hey, good! Very good indeed! But it fits in with spring or summer. So I mothballed it - and now that the days are getting warmer, I'm looking forward to unpacking it again.

Citrus! That's it for a start, simply a rich bergamot, gently surrounded by a few herbs. The pine and Mediterranean spices quickly join in, but the fresh citrus never quite fades into the background. It continues to follow a fairly linear but recognizable path. The Italian signore, who enjoys his martini with Acqua di Selva Eau de Cologne in his jacket at the bar on colder days, takes his drink outside on hotter summer days, unbuttons his shirt and sits in the piazza, while Silvestre Eau de Cologne convincingly underlines his gentlemanly aura even on balmy evenings.

OKAY, enough of the pseudo-prosaic images... sure, you have to paint pictures for fragrances (Club10: you know what I'm talking about), because fortunately we're not just made up of noses, receptors and synapses. But to break it down to the technical details again:

What do I get? - Measured against what it can do, in my view a mysteriously underrated Cheapie that can really do something. However, not the often cited "monster" in terms of performance, sillage, compliments etc., but an all-day signature for the warmer seasons, which you should like more than others - because the others might not notice it so much anyway.
For whom? - More for boys, but I think brave ladies can wear it too.
For when? - I like to wear it at work in summer, but it's certainly not wrong in the evening either.
How does it compare with others? - It's just a cologne... in the classic sense: applied directly after shaving, it gives you an aura for 2 hours, which you definitely have something of. That's okay, I think. (You don't necessarily have to measure fragrances by whether you're still making people happy 10 hours later.)
Who is it not for? - Off the top of my head, I would say: for people who expect a perceptible 1m aura and a scent trail through the stairwell from a fragrance, for lovers of the notes that have been popular since 2000 (it's really out of date), for people who expect a "killer fragrance". It is fine and subtle. So subtle, perhaps, that some might think that you could do without it. But, in my opinion, somehow you can't. Because, as is so often the case, subtlety makes all the difference.