Singapore Girl Perfume
Singapore Girl Perfume
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Singapore Girl Perfume used to be an iconic Perfume of 60's & 70's, which often shows up in the list of Popular Singaporean Products from the past.
Company Perfumes of Singapore, owned several fragrance brands, but somehow Singapore Girl become very popular and even today, it is sometimes seen being sold at various antique auctions, online and offline. Is was sold in most stores, malls and onboard Singapore Airlines.
Perfumes Of The Orient
editAfter a visit to perfume houses in Europe, Singaporean socialite Christina Lee and her ex-husband, Jeffery Stone set up Perfumes of the Orient. It had two factories - one in Jurong and another in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. The first scents it produced included Chinta, May Ling, Bali and Javanesque.
Perfumes Of Singapore
editAfter her divorce, Ms Christina married Indian businessman Mr. Dadi Balsara who rebranded the existing scents under the name Perfumes of Singapore. The couple then launched a new scent series called 'Girl'. This included, Australian Girl, California Girl, Hawaii Girl, Hong Kong Girl & Singapore Girl. Of these, most popular was 'Singapore Girl'. This was popular among locals and tourists and sold well at department stores, hotels and on board Singapore Airlines’ planes. It even picked up the Singapore Manufacturers Association’s top prize for best design and packing in 1977.
The company closed down in the 1990s after Mr Dadi balsara secured support from the Indian government to undertake large scale projects in India.
Perfumes of Singapore was Re-registered in 2016 and have started selling 'Reves De Singapour' and 'Singapore Girl' again. Other brands may also be revived eventually.
Singapore Girl 1970's and revived in 2016
Reves De Singapour old and new launched in 2017
Character Perfume - The Group launched a series of perfume which were based on Astrological symbols. There is no name for these, just symbols. The series was insured for $70 million in 1985 by Lloyd's London
Besides perfumes, the brand also manufactured soap and bath oils.
About the Founders- Ms Christina Stone and Mr Dadi Balsara
editMs Christina Stone
editMs Stone as a business woman, and was married to Loke Wan Tho (divorced in 1962), a Singaporean business magnate. Their divorce made headlines in those time.
In 1965 she appeared in the Vogue Magazine as one of Singapore's most beautiful woman. In 1966, she played role of a ballet dancer in ill-fated film Strange Portrait. The film was directed by than husband, Mr. Jeffrey Stone (Divorced 1972) . His interesting story is documented by Mr Paul Green in book titled. Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances. He passed away in 2012 in Penang Malaysia.
During this time, In 1967, she opened Sarong Island which was a tourist isle on a 5-acre island that she owned Several news papers covered the news. Jeffrey Stone said that sarong was an easy word for westerners to remember so that's why they chose the name. Later Singapore Government acquired it and decided to develop the island into a tourist attraction. In 1972, a contest was organised by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to rename the island. Finally “Sentosa”, meaning peace and tranquility in Malay, was chosen.
After, first two famous but unsuccessful marriages, she married again. Her 3rd and final marriage was to the Parsi businessman, Mr. Dadi Balsara. They lived together until death separated them. Together they built an empire and are responsible for many iconic brands including Himalayan Water, later bought be Giant Tata Group. The couple stayed in Taj Man Singh Hotel for 37 years in Room 901. Whenever the hotel had VIP guests and needed whole floor to be cleared, the couple would move to another room, and returning after it was available again.
Ms Dadi Balsara
editMr. Dadi Balsara came from very humble background. His father worked as a Mill-worker at Empress Mills. He himself started as an LIC officer (Insurance agent) at Nagpur (India) earning INR 600 a month. Mr. Dadi Balsara was a brilliant student and went abroad to do his Ph.D.
His fortunes turned when he went to Singapore and started selling perfumes. Later he diversified into other lifestyle products. He was popularly known as 'Perfume King of Asia'
Eventually, he set up a business empire spreading across 63 countries with a reported annual turnover of $7 billion. At the time of his death, his personal assets have been valued at over $1.8 billion. He had wished to give some of the money to his relatives and the rest to series of charities & other philanthropic endeavours like Tajbagh Dargah, Parsi Gymkhana, Baba Amte's Anandvan Ashram, amongst others.
Mr. Dadi Balsara & Mrs. Christina Balsara were responsible for creating few mega companies which dealt with perfumes, watches, jewellery, jeans & other clothing, construction, infrastructure, television, hotels and mineral water. They co-created several famous brands, including 'Perfumes of Singapore' and the Mount Everest Mineral Water Limited, which he sold to Tata Tea in 2007.
- ^ "Singapore Girl - Revival of iconic female scent. Fragrance for Sg Girl". Singapore Memories - Best Premium Souvenir from SG. Retrieved 2022-07-16.