Yuri Gutsatz was one of the first perfumers to enjoy complete independence in sourcing his ingredients. His suppliers were all personally selected by him, from the growers he met in India to the respected Grasse based company of Argeville. The photo above shows an original invoice to Yuri from Argeville, dated 1983. You can see his “shopping list,” including pure lavender essence, distilled cistus (also known as rock rose), neroli, two types of jasmine, vetiver, patchouli and ylang ylang. In some cases, Yuri was ordering up to two kilograms of these exquisite perfume materials. One can only imagine the sensory thrill of opening such beautiful ingredients from the fields of Grasse.
Not only do the descriptions of the materials seem to bring scent alive on the page, but the beautifully created logo is a pleasure to behold. It’s changed now to something a little more modern, but we still value Argeville as one of our trusted expert suppliers. (and we secretly prefer the 1983 logo!)
