The Mariner's RhymeMarine Chypre Extrait de Parfum

The Mariner's Rhyme by Francesca Bianchi is a niche unisex perfume extract with chypre, marine, and aromatic notes. A marine fragrance built on ambergris.

A perfumer with a background in art history

Francesca Bianchi is a self-taught Italian perfumer. After graduating in art history in Florence, she worked in art book publishing before founding her house in Amsterdam in 2016, inspired by a book on natural perfumery. She creates every formula by hand in her laboratory — a process that can take from six months to four years, sometimes even longer — before entrusting production to a small Italian artisanal company. The house operates without investors or a marketing plan. Her fragrances are nicknamed “Liquid Emotions,” and her motto can be summed up in three words: “Everything is personal.”

An opening of citrus and ozonic notes

Bergamot and grapefruit open with a vibrant bitterness. The ozonic notes bring air and sea spray — the sensation of a sea breeze rather than water itself.

A heart of lavender and elemi

Lavender introduces a camphorous aromatic quality, elemi, a rarely used citrusy, peppery resin, and orange blossom adds a sun-drenched whiteness. Iris powders the composition and links it to the base.

A base of ambergris and oakmoss

Ambergris dominates: salty, mineral, slightly animalic. Oakmoss provides the chypre foundation, frankincense adds smoke, patchouli brings earthiness, and musk provides longevity.

The house's signature

Ambergris beneath a marine accord. Most marine fragrances on the market rely on synthetic molecules that smell of cleanliness and chlorinated water. Ambergris, however, actually comes from the sea, and its scent is anything but clean: salty, animalic, almost waxy. It is this material that gives the fragrance its depth, whereas most marine fragrances remain merely superficial.

Who is it for, and for what occasions?

Chypre, marine, and aromatic, this extract is for those who love marine fragrances but find them hollow. From spring through summer, by day. It is the only marine fragrance in the collection, and the brightest of her perfumes.

With The Mariner's Rhyme by Francesca Bianchi, a material from the sea replaces the molecules that imitate it.