Charabanc’s fragrances are designed to hark back to the early days of travel, when long journeys came with an unbridled sense of romance and adventure
It’s what’s inside that counts, so the saying goes. True, but few would turn up their noses at something that’s beautiful both inside and out, and certainly not in the presence of Charabanc, unless it’s to take a good sniff.
As a maker of luxury car fragrances, Charabanc prides itself on combining the best of British engineering and high-end perfumery into one exquisitely tactile product. The former is given the spotlight in the most visible part of the diffusers – the pomanders. Handcrafted from stencilled steel by metal spinners from Britain’s West Midlands, they are made in the same facilities that also manufacture fuel tanks for planes and nose cones for Spitfires.
Encased within each pomander shell is a scented ceramic refill. In French, charabanc means ‘wagon with benches’ and describes the earliest motorised vehicle, an open-topped coach that allows for people to take in the sights and the air. Given its namesake, Charabanc’s five fragrances are designed to hark back to the early days of travel, when long journeys came with an unbridled sense of romance and adventure.
Each calls to mind some of the world’s most scenic and renowned driving routes. Across Pennine Fells replicates the crisp, fresh air of North England’s mountainous region with scents of fresh-cut grass, pine, and cedarwood while The Golden Road to Samarqand pays tribute to the Silk Road with a spicy mix of pink pepper, oud smoke, amber and leather.
For the perfect finishing touch, the pomanders are clad in stylish caps made from premium Spanish vegetable-tanned leathers. Manufactured using a traditional artisanal technique from Tuscany, these caps are hand-shaped on wooden moulds in a London-based workshop and are available in four colours, London Tan, Orient Black, Racing Green and Signal Red.
