Belgrade's oldest fragrant secret

The art of perfume creation at Sava perfumery has been passed down through the generations for 70 years. The base of the fragrance is history, the heart is a passion for creation, and the top note is characterized by authenticity. Fourth-generation perfumer Nemanja Jovanov told us all about the tradition that has been going on for so long.

In this time of channeling nostalgia and the search for authenticity, we are all trying to find that something in order not to stand out. Sometimes this desire for uniqueness stems from the need to keep that part of our universe that is unique only to us wherever we go. Personal fragrance has always been the medium through which we try to bring our appearance more visible in every room, a moment of authenticity that is unique to us. That nostalgic search for craftsmanship and originality, which was once the standard for perfume creation, led us to Sava perfumery.

Upon entering the Belgrade address Kralja Petra 75, we were greeted by a special feeling. In 70 years of creativity, nothing has changed. Sava perfumery is a place that exudes nostalgia, and the base is authenticity. The passion for the art of perfume creation in this family perfumery is passed down through the generations. Such a long tradition is certainly impressive, but the fact that generations have inherited the passion for creating fragrance compounds is even more.

Perfume creation requires a special combination of imagination, chemistry, and respect for the final creation. This is exactly why I am delighted by the fact that the family behind Sava Perfumery has managed to preserve such a special tradition of hand-made perfumes because creating perfumes for me is an art. No branch of art is as personal as the olfactory experience. Scents are especially easily engraved in our memories. Very often, we remember life’s moments through certain smells, and when we meet again, these smells act like a medium that transports us to a specific moment. It’s hard to be objective when creating something as personal as perfume, and yet, this kind of art asks exactly that. Nemanja Jovanov, perfumer of the fourth generation of Sava Perfumery, agreed with this. When we design fragrances, we try to take an objective position. However, as this is a highly subjective impression, it occasionally happens that one of us in the family “smells” a certain scent more or less. When a significant form of such an impression occurs, we resort to professional mechanisms of renouncing the subjective feeling. We have to overcome such thing, because what is shadow to one side is light to the other.

Getting perfume advice and recommendations from the Nose who created the perfume is a real rarity today. I think that we should compare this experience of searching for perfume with buying an haute couture dress, and choosing a perfume with a person who is passionate and meticulous in his art of creation is a special honor. We were interested in which perfume notes Nemanja prefers, and which ones customers mostly choose, although, when someone has been immersed in the world of fragrances for so long, it is difficult to decide on just one. However, he revealed to us that Belgrade Night is certainly still the most famous. Sava Perfumery hardly has its best-selling fragrance. It certainly has the most famous one so far. The one everyone has probably heard of. It’s Belgrade Night. We will discover that it is the most famous, but certainly not the best-selling. (laughs) We leave the statistics of the best seller/most popular to the big conglomerates who take care of it. We only produce fragrances, Nemanja reminds us.

Now that I am in the company of a real perfumer, I realize that this is the perfect opportunity to get an answer to the eternal question of how to make a perfume last longer. We believe that one solid-length manual can be written on this topic, but to begin with, the skin should be clean and slightly moist, and the fragrance should be applied in two passes. For the first time, apply a few sprays with an atomizer on lukewarm and slightly damp skin. Do not touch the application site for at least two minutes, so that the fragrance sinks into the skin. After ten to fifteen minutes, if necessary, top up the spot with another dose. And the most important thing is don’t get nervous and stressed. “Stress significantly shortens the durability of the scent on the skin, warns Nemanja.

Now that we have received concrete advice on how to make the perfume as long-lasting as possible, curiosity has gone in a different direction. Among the hundreds of bottles, I was interested in what was the most special perfume that ever came out of Sava perfumery, and the answer surprised me. In general, every scent has its own magical story, Nemanja begins. This is another topic on which a long book could be written. From the point of view of someone who lives and grows up in a perfumery family, everything is intertwined with scented stories, which on the other hand, those of us directly involved sometimes take for granted. Interestingly, I made a fragrance for my wife, which was later met with such good approval that we included it in the regular range. I have to be honest, it wasn’t planned that way at the start.

Of course, we had to try the smell right away, which automatically led us to a discussion about perfume notes. It is interesting how this Balkan region of ours is also full of fragrant herbs. When asked if indigenous plants from the region are ever used in Sava perfumes, Nemanja answers: Essential oil refineries are competing to grab some original variety suitable for the further process of essential oil production. Of course, profitability is also considered in this complex mathematics, so most of the widely distributed plant sources are taken from locations that are convenient in economic terms as well. When a climate gives a special stamp, then it is insisted that a certain series was made from such and such source. Hvar lavender has had a special place in the perfume industry for decades, due to its special island climate.

For completely selfish reasons, I asked Nemanja if there was a chance for them to come to Hvar and if they would open more sales points throughout the region or try to sell online. Our specialty is that we make and sell fragrances to end users. We present them in our dedicated ritual in which we want to help customers choose something that suits them. People today are full of prejudices. We are all tired of marketing mechanisms that almost always put the welfare of only one party before everything else, and that is often not the user. Our mission is to keep customer satisfaction in the first place, and we can only do that if we meet with customers “mano a mano”. We will not hide the fact that in the past years, we have considered the options of distance selling, which has almost overtaken the classic one. But in doing so, we would lose every essence of our unique way that we stubbornly preserve. To the joy and surprise of many.

Our time together was coming to an end, and with the announcement of spring weather, I simply had to ask Nemanja which perfume note he recommended for spring. For this spring, we recommend that you wear a fragrance that adds a millimeter more to your smile. Inner joys that, by their very definition, will begin to spill over to the environment. If we infect you with that germ of complacency, that wave will spread to the others. A little on one side, a little on the other, everyone will become at least a bit more beautiful. And now, since we are all different, one note will bring a smile to someone, and someone completely different. Come to us this spring for a piece of a smile, and we will find out which note will make that happen when we meet you.

Living in the world of perfume is a dream for many. What particularly impressed me, however, was the commitment to customers that the Jovanov family has. When choosing a perfume, one can feel a complete commitment to the customer in order to truly find that unique and special combination that exactly suits that person. Perfume is worn as a part of identity, and Sava perfumery seems to have been built with that in mind. I believe that whoever decides to smell this part of cosmetic history can expect a very special experience and finally find their perfume identity.