Xerjoff

Sergio Momo founded an Italian niche fragrance house in Turin in 2003, built on a premise most niche brands avoid. Every bottle would be handcrafted by artisans in regional Italian workshops with production capacity deliberately constrained to preserve the artisan economics. Momo had worked in Turin's fragrance and design industries before launching Zurjoff in 2003. The brand's early compositions drew on Pied Monty's cultural references, including fragrances named after Italian opera, Italian literature and specific Turin neighborhoods. The bottles themselves were produced in partnership with Italian glass and jewelry workshops, many of them hand engraved, some finished with precious stones or metals. Entry level fragrances sat around $400, limited editions routinely sold above $2,000 per bottle.