Domenico Caraceni 1913 Eau de Parfum

Domenico Caraceni has reissued their beautiful men's rose 1913 EdT (which used to be available as an EdT--now discontinued?) as an equally gorgeous, more potent, more contemporary, and more expensive Eau de Parfum. This is still as lovely as can be, and has (like the original) perhaps the most elegant men's rose I've ever smelled, edged delicately and sumptuously by guaiac, petitgrain, and the tiniest amount of incense. You'll smell like a movie star (I keep imagining this is how Cary Grant might have smelled), if the price is worth it to you.

Rose is very prominent upon first spraying. This note is supported by a classic fougere backbone. Someone mentioned it smells like a rose-scented luxury soap. I can’t disagree. This fragrance has a bit of a retro feel. Therefore, it won’t appeal to everyone. But, if you want a fragrance that’s versatile, dapper, and mature, give 1913 a try. Domenico Caraceni makes suits, and I think this fragrance wears well with a suit. I’m glad this is the fragrance I chose from my 200th review.😃

I've smelled nothing like this one before. Yes, there is rose in there, and a very pronounced one, but, just as Royal Mayfair did, Domenico Caraceni 1913 EDP manages to be a masculine scent. Soapy, clean, refined, elegant and, overall, a sophisticated scent.

Smelling this, I'm picturing a handsome Italian man dressed in linen sitting in a cafe drinking an Aperol spritz.

This is a unique fragrance. But it does smell exactly like something ... the guest bathroom in my grandmother's house, circa 1985. Where she kept "the fancy soap" for guests to use, shaped like beautiful, delicate rose buds. I applaud the perfumer's ability to masculinize the extremely dainty, feminine, posh rose soap from my grandmother's bathroom, and make me want to wear it 40 years later. This smells luxurious, elegant and expensive. This is what I picture I smelled like on the day of my First Communion. This smells more like expensive rose soap than expensive rose soap smells like expensive rose soap. I would really have to be in a unique mood to want to smell like this for more than an afternoon. Maybe if I had done something really, really naughty and I wanted to smell extremely innocent. If I had a bottle, I would use it, but not very often. A 10 ml decant should last me another 40 years. 8.75/10 7/19/25 .... an update. Guess what? Two months later and I was still thinking about this fragrance and I ended up getting a bottle lol. The juice in the bottle is slightly more masculine and spicy than the sample I originally had. It is really classy and elegant. The bottle is really good looking to me. It looks like it should have a heavy, metal magnetic cap. The cap does not fit the elegant smell of the fragrance and the beautiful bottle. The cap is cheap and really lightweight, it clicks into place but it does not fit securely on the bottle. But I am happy that I got it. Even though I have a massive collection, I can't think of anything I have that is similar to this. One of this fragrance’s most appealing qualities is its uniqueness. A Fragrantica score of 4.35 from me.