Thomas de Monaco - Raw Gold – Extrait de Parfum -

Lipstick and aged patchouli

Thomas de Monaco RAW GOLD Extrait de Parfum

A Manifesto Between Light and Shadow

When Thomas de Monaco launched RAW GOLD in 2020, it appeared as a strictly limited edition of just 1400 numbered flacons. Immediately celebrated as a cult release, it blurred the line between perfume and artistic gesture. Three years later, the fragrance returns in a refined formulation – soft, powdery, and charged with depth. It is not merely a scent but a meditation on contrasts: innocence and desire, refinement and rawness, radiance and shadow. RAW GOLD is gold before the polish, beauty found in its primal state.

The Sparkling Opening

The first impression is vivid, almost tactile. Plum liqueur fuses with roasted coffee, smoky vetiver, and a touch of black pepper. This orchestration delivers both richness and tension – sweet, bitter, and spicy at once – like the first glimmer of gold unearthed from the dark soil. It is a declaration that RAW GOLD is no ordinary fragrance; it commands attention, resists simplicity, and clings to memory.

Leather, Lipstick, and Balsamic Depth

At its heart lies a sensual drama. Suede and warm leather intermingle with an unexpected whisper of violet lipstick – intimate, elegant, and faintly nostalgic. The base evolves into a cocoon of tonka bean, opoponax, saffron, and patchouli. This patchouli, matured for more than twenty years, is the soul of RAW GOLD, adding rare softness, resonance, and complexity. Its long aging transforms intensity into richness, balancing the smoky facets of vetiver and balsamic warmth with a honeyed depth. The result is not darkness, but a lingering glow – gold tempered by time.

The Artistic Vision

RAW GOLD is both fragrance and manifesto, a composition of more than sixty ingredients that matured over three years before release. Its structure embodies the transition from purity to passion, from innocence to surrender. Thomas de Monaco, an internationally acclaimed photographer and conceptual artist, has long been fascinated by perfume as a medium of emotion and memory. Known for his work with houses such as Hermès, Dior, Chanel, and Armani, he steps into perfumery as creator rather than collaborator. With RAW GOLD he delivers a deeply personal vision – tactile, luminous, and haunting.

“Between innocence and guilt, where the borders of lust and love dissolve, lies a freedom raw as gold.” – Thomas de Monaco

RAW GOLD is a hymn to imperfection, to the tension of contrasts, and to the unrefined brilliance that glows precisely because it resists taming. It is a fragrance that lingers not only on the skin but in memory, like a story told in silence.

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