Mark1966
Canberra dwelling Happy Clapping Bean Counter
Staff member
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Grand Society
2016 Sabbatical Fail
2018 Charity Auction Winner
2019 Charity Auction Winner
2020 Charity Auction Winner
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2011
- Location
- Canberra
Two and a bit reasons:
1. Fraud and oxidation - The Ambergris market is rife with fraud, dilution as much as the Mysore Sandalwood market, no one in their right mind would pay $35-$55 per gram for something in powder form as even if it were pure it would be highly oxidated due to being ground and not placed in solution immediately. Ambergris is highly prone to degradation once it has cured and is removed from the ocean.
2. Every piece of ambergris is different, perfumers prize the largest pieces possible as it ensures a supply for a formulation in a knowable quantity at the end of the tincture process. If you run out of Ambergris, you lose the ability to recreate the design forever. Occasionally you will see articles in the newspaper where some lucky couple find a 5 kilo piece and sell it for $200,000 through licensed Ambergris brokerages and this is why - large perfumeries need to ensure they have an identical size in as large quantity as possible and need to be 100% sure it is genuine (as do I when spending fraction of this money).
2(a). A 10 gram piece of Ambergris may only produce 3 grams of usable material with the other 7 grams being pollutants, detritus and so on - a 100 gram piece 30 grams etc, etc . An ambergris tincture takes 12 months to 4 years to mature (after it has matured we filter and weigh the residue as this is un-usable, subtract from the original amount and calculate solution percentage) therefore its a big investment and a lot of time, if your piece is garbage adulterated or poor you have wasted time and lots of money. The larger the piece the larger the concentration of the desired lipids and the lesser chance of oxidation. Perfumers buy the largest pieces they can - often having to buy a much larger piece than they need as no vendor will break them up.
Soft ambergris is generally fresh ambergris and very few perfumers will touch it. The most prized (and often used) is heavily oxidised from floating in the oceans for years and has a grey/white hard, slightly powdery coating.
Edit: I cant resist putting in a plug for the next edition from réserve privée due next year, it will use the Ambergris I have had in tincture for the past 14 months
Very informative - thanks!
Now, about that cat poo coffee ...