Fragrance house

Grossmith

Grossmith was founded in the City of London in 1835 by John Grossmith. His son, John Lipscomb Grossmith, trained in Grasse and ran the business until 1919, developing Hasu-no-Hana, Phul-Nana and Shem-el-Nessim. Drawing on travel and exploration, he created complex floral ambers that moved beyond the single-floral perfumes then popular. The house received a prize medal for perfumery at the Great Exhibition in 1851 and later exhibited at the Brussels International Exhibition in 1897. It also created Betrothal for the 1893 engagement and marriage of the Duke of York and Princess May, Victorian Bouquet for Queen Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee, and Regal for King Edward VII’s 1902 Coronation. After nearly 30 years without trading, the business returned to family hands. In 2006, Simon Brooke and the Brooke family began its revival after discovering original formulae, antique Baccarat flacons and related archives through genealogy. Grossmith is now owned and managed by the fifth and sixth generations of the family, including the Brooke family. In 2009, the house relaunched its three historic fragrances. Phul-Nana, launched in 1891, became one of Britain’s most successful fragrances of the 20th century. In May 2023, Grossmith launched King’s Salute to mark the Coronation.