🟢1983 Vintage Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme EDT #S3ET 90ml/3oz Oakmoss formula
🟢1983 Vintage Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme EDT #S3ET 90ml/3oz Oakmoss formula
*1983 Batch First formula!
POUR HOMME | for men | EDT / 'Concentrated Cologne' | Spray
*1983 Deep vintage 'Hand painted' Batch # S3ET ('3' = 198'3')
*Please note regarding bottle dating:
Deep vintage V&A batch codes are VERY unreliable on batch run sites, some only work if you shorten it to 3 digits like vintage TSAR bottles (this one doesn't) or just plain don't work at all. After owning and selling vintage colognes from the 1970s; a sure sign of a fragrance coming out of that era is the 'painted on' batch codes featured in this listing. This quirk on perfumery got phased out of production measures during the cologne production boom of the mid to late 1980s leading to more printed inked or glass etched batch codes. The bottle/ packaging does *NOT* have the spinning arrows 'Green Dot' symbol mandated on cosmetics in 1992 placing the bottle confidently prior to that mandate. To ween down the period of the decade; many companies use the # in the batch code to represent the period of the decade so I am making a well educated estimate of this bottle being from 1983 ('3'=198'3') given the '3' in the batch code.
Please email me if you have further questions or comments about my dating process.
Thanks guardian followers!
-Nathan
I'm proud to present to my shop for the FIRST time,
The OG 1980's - old style box - old style 'VAN CLEEF & ARPELS PARIS' bottle front - '85% vol' - 3 ingredient - hand-painted white batch code - pre-IFRA - early 1980's Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme EDT / Concentrated Cologne!
The holy grail release its nostalgic original formula!
If you know, you know!
Composed PRIOR to the 1980's dark animalics like Oscar Pour Lui, and Chanel Antaeus, comes the one that started it all!
An iconic DNA now heavily gutted in modern formulas, weakened, & highly sought after in its original vintage formula.
Modern iterations have lost all integrity due to IFRA regulations, budget set backs, & to steer focus toward newer flankers. In combination with harsh IFRA demands the last 30 years, companies were forced to stop using naturals, & oakmoss fixatives. This in particular effects Van Cleef & Arpels Pour Homme immensely as it featured a hyper masculine oakmoss base.
As of the first quarter of 2026,
100 ml. / 3.4 fl. oz. vintage VAN CLEEF & ARPELS POUR HOMME EDT / CC bottles sell steady on eBay for $500-630!
A Top-shelf vintage designer collectible!
Fill as shown for fair vintage value of $399.99 ($500 value - 20% off!) with FREE shipping within the USA and a goodie bag of extras!
(See pink note).
(ALL ABOUT VAN CLEEF & ARPELS POUR HOMME EDT / CC)
They don't make them like they used to.
Newer formulations of V&A are flatter & weaker with a generic vibe to it - lacking the potent oakmoss concentrations unregulated in decades past.
The original formula was potent luxurious and dark - something V&A can no longer pull off with ingredient bans.
You simply cannot replicate a deeper heavy natural musky oakmoss nuance with synthetic ingredients - and all designer brands continue to prove failure by releasing their modern unimpressive formulas.
Fortunately,
At Guardian of the Fragrances, it is my mission to 'undo' all that, take you back into past by offering fragrances from their golden eras, and most of all offer passion and transparency in everything I do.
With me, you get a selection of unalerted, well preserved, authentic, relics from the past in their original intended vision of quality, and strength.
With my passion in the art of perfumery, natural based ingredients, and a distain for all organizational overreach regulation & mandates; I make it my passion & joy to bring well preserved, authentic, & superior collectible formulas to my shop to share with the world.
With that said I bring you vintage Van Cleef Arpels Pour Homme EDT / CC.
This is truly a must have collectible and store staple with Gurardian of the Fragrances and I am proud to present it to my store.
I cannot emphasize how rare this juice already is now and will be even more so in the future.
A top tier collectible price is worth every penny investing in vintage V&A, maceration, discontinued ingredients, and most of all POTENCY AND PERFORMANCE. This lasts over 48 hours on you! 3-4x LONGER on you than any modern fragrance. A final solution for any beginner to 'shock you' into vintages and/ or any long term collector.
Over 4.5 decades of maceration with pre-IFRA regulation quality results in a fragrance that resembles a modern EDP / Parfum / Elixir type fragrance. That means overall less sprays - and less use out of this precious bottle with a huge 90 ml. amount fill. Thats over 900 deep potent vintage sprays left in this and you only need 2-3 sprays and you're good for an entire day.
A little pricier in price per ml. compared to some other vintage designers - but trust me - there's a reason for it!
This historic vintage formula is a long-lasting investment in your personal grooming arsenal, ensuring that you'll always be prepared to make a lasting impression.
International pricing disclaimer;
Unfortunately, I WILL NOT 'lower the cost' of the order to accommodate the extra expenses that come with the luxury of international shopping outside the USA.
Due to the luxury tier consensual nature of my inventory;
International shipping, import duties, taxes, and other misc. international charges are the international buyer’s responsibility. These are all additional charges that come with all international sales that I do not personally collect on.
Priority Mail International is the GOLD STANDARD & will be the only shipping used at my shop due speedy travel, frequent tracking scans, & its reliable delivery. Zero lost international packages to date. This service is the fastest, & the most reliable global shipping service from my postal carrier including constant tracking scans and delivery in as little as 3 weeks. There is a drastic difference and you are getting what you pay for with this pricier international shipping. If international shipping is not pricier in nature on high ticket items - then that's when you should be concerned.
By purchasing with me internationally you also acknowledge that me offering international shipment on expensive, fragile, irreplaceable, & hazardous alcohol based perfumery items is a risk and challenge I happily chose to take on to reach a global audience. This decision alone on my part is already quite generous - The vast majority of perfumery shops decline to invest into that extra difficulty.
Despite how expensive my listings may seem on top of international charges; my listings prices are studied and fairly priced for their exact selling value prior to listing. I sell for that exact sell value and don’t inflate it for room to negotiate.
Please read this disclaimer, and personally weigh out the pro’s and con’s of an international shipment with me instead of expecting me to lower the fee’s for you.
✅WHY PURCHASE THROUGH GUARDIAN OF THE FRAGRANCES & NOT OTHER VINTAGE VENDORS…
✓ Gold standard service
Highly praised vintage fragrance vendor & longtime eBay member since 2004! Over 20 years of reliable gold standard service with satisfied customers leaving literal paragraphs on their positive feedback ratings. Your positive experience with me comes before the profit I make in my shop - & my enthusiastic service & money back guarantee surely reflects that. There's a deep sense of accomplishment that comes with being of purpose for your community. Allow me the opportunity to provide this to you & be your lifelong fragrance vendor.
✓ FREE extra goodies with purchase
Other sellers send you the item you paid for with a sad invoice slip - feels so cold & impersonal. I go beyond that with sending you a goodie bag with purchase to make your fragrance investment more worthwhile. YOU even chose the free gift! A hand written thank you note for supporting my shop included. All items in my shop are accurately & fairly priced to reflect the value of the vintage fragrance. Special goodie bag/bonus gift are never factored into the pricing. It's truly a thank you gift.
✓ One-category shop
I’m not selling a mess of random various thrift items that I know nothing about. At Guardianofthefragrances; you are shopping at a niche market that specializes solely on discontinued perfumery formulations. ‘One category shops’ like mine provide customers with a unique shopping experience that is backed with knowledge & experience within that category as well as shows I have a deep passion in what I am selling. Buying from fine-tuned one category shops like mine makes all the difference in a rewarding shopping experience. That seller who has listed some sneakers, baseball cards, hoodies, & that cologne you want - he may know its authentic & well preserved, OR he may not.
✓ Counterfeit Investigation process
With over a decade of professional Revenue Protection expertise investigating fraud & theft for my state of WI utility provider; all vintage fragrances in my shop are expertly ran through a process of deep research which involves but is not limited to; batch runs, bottle dating, differentiating formula differences, production quirk studies, bottle & cap weighing, taking atomizer off to investigate inner hardware, fragrance strength & quality testing - how long it lasts on skin and the quality of that experience, ect. Anything that falls into my hands that doesn't pass this process never reaches my shop.
✓ Quality appraisal process
I am college board certified in the state of WI in Sales & Design with over 20+ years of professional practice in appraising personal property & merchandise. At guardianofthefragrances; rest assured I am expertly skilled in determining whether your vintage formula has been well preserved by previous handlers. I find the counterfeit investigation process & quality appraisal the most 2 important things in my shop to gain customer trust & I am on a mission to not let you down.
✓ Mutual perfumery hobbyist & collector
Most importantly, I myself am a vintage fragrance hobbyist & collector. In fact, many listings come from my own personal collection after years of collecting back-up bottles as a hobby. As a hobbyist myself, I know exactly what my shoppers are looking for & what is sorely lacking in this sector. Studying & shopping for rare fragrances for my own collection has taught me the majority of the population are NOT experts in fragrances. Its a language many don't speak like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. In fact; the fragrance industry is the only billion dollar industry where the customer knows the least about what they are buying. Just that it 'smells good'. You even go on a forum discussion with hobbyist's & there's more questions than answers. This phenomenon is truly astonishing to me - as I am a personality type that demands answers. At guardianofthefragrances - I have those answers for you. It’s a passion of mine to go above and beyond the ‘indifferent’ lazy fragrance knowledge on vlogger videos & forums to give you real common-sense truths that Designer houses & retails hold back from us. In fact it was poor aloof information provided to the public about fragrances that gave me the drive to launch my business in the first place.
✅OVERALL BENEFITS OF INVESTING IN VINTAGE PERFUMERY AND AVOIDING MODERN FORMULAS
✓ Confidence booster
✓ Smell unlike anyone else & one of a kind
✓ Vividly triggers locked memories
✓ Spiritual enhancements
✓ Concentrated Aromatherapy
✓ Makes you more attractive
✓ Greater impressions
✓ Hidden equity – the modern ‘bars of gold’
✓ Describe your personality better
✓ Impress other people more
✓ Positive moods further enhanced
✓ Supporting the artistry and original vision of the DNA
✓ Better connection to nature experiencing naturals
The death of Oakmoss:
By far one of the most controversial and damaging IFRA regulations was the ban/limitations in natural Oakmoss. This popular ingredient is in near every legendary cologne; Davidoff Cool Water (Also reformulated), Aqua Di Gio (Also reformulated) Versace Eros (Also reformulated). Many are filled with weaker synthetics. Since Oakmoss rests in the base and has fixative effects fragrances also don't perform as well without it.
2022 Lilial ban:
And if you thought your top / mid notes were safe. You're wrong. In 2021 The Scientific committee on consumer safety (SCCS) & the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) banned the note of lilial due to its reaction to sensitive skin (That's it?).
They simply stated "It can sometimes act as an allergen." SOMETIMES?
Lilial was a common note in modern perfumery. Lilial being a synthetic aromatic soapy aldehyde; it gave the self titled signature Versace Pour Homme it's sweet yet refreshing intense floral green odor.
I don't understand this obsession with making sure the skin doesn't react to materials. Practically every face mask on the market 'Reacts' to your skin and in the long run - improves it's appearance.
Doesn't skin strength train like muscles do?
Fragrance shelf life scam:
Reformulations are one thing, it's something that just can't be avoided.
One of the biggest gaslighting scams on the otherhand that can easily be avoided is the myth fragrances naturally 'Expire/go bad' due to time alone.
Fragrances are not your local produce guys, they are a balanced chemist composition of naturals and fragrant chemical aromas full of preservatives.
If that alone wasn't enough; that recipe is then preserved in a percentage average of 80% ALCOHOL. resulting in 'maybe' 10% natural ingredients to think 10% natural ingredients are up against and a threat against 90% chemical aromas, preservatives, and alcohol is a HUGE stretch.
Alcohol based fragrances should be compared to 50-100 year old bottles of preserved and cherished wine. Like wine, fragrances in fact get better with age from the process of maceration; when naturals soak in chemicals for extended periods of time making the juice richer and full of character. Fragrances are not fresh hand made cosmetics with no preservatives - quite the opposite.
Fragrances were even recovered from the 1912 Titanic wreck with no sign of expiring.
A perfumer perished in the wreck resulting in a sachet left behind on the BOTTOM of the ocean for over 100 years.
This sachet contained mini corked bottles of fragrant oils and perfumery. In an artifact examination room upon recovery, amongst the death, muck, tragedy, and solemn sorrow of decomposing materials the perfumery was opened up and by surprise brought the room to LIFE again, aromas of beautiful fruits, florals, resins, and woods sourced from so long ago.
The experience was so powerful to the scientist- it made a grown man cry.
Fragrances can be mishandled, left in sunlight, heat, and other neglectful extremes...but most certainly don't go bad from just the passing of time.
I guess any myth works for these fragrance industries that want you coming in to buy their 'fresh' bottles.
The modern day scent:
I say all that to say; modern day fragrances as a whole - are complete and utter trash...
whether that be a brand new composed scent or a reformulation of a classic.
The modern recipe:
Fake citrusy candy-like tops to lock you in, aromatic-mids to give you masculinity and bare minimal classic nostalgia, then a base gob-smacked with scratchy ambroxan / synthetic molecules completed with nauseating sweetness to ultimately gaslight you so don't notice how 'fake' the entire composition smells.
It's truly depressing what they release nowadays.
You might as well wear your household cleaner.