Chapter IV · Woody Leather · Eau de Parfum

221B

The Reckless Dreamer

Kẻ liều lĩnh mộng mơ

221B is a woody leather eau de parfum by Rei Nguyen of R Parfums, inspired by Sherlock Holmes and named after his address on Baker Street. Green mandarin and lemon open; rose and osmanthus hold the middle; birch tar, leather and tobacco settle at the base, where the leather stays clean rather than smoky.

Ink drawing for 221B — Ink drawing · Chapter IV

Chapter IV · The story

221B Baker Street

Collage for 221B: the Ceramic bottle with a black cap, a tassel and an R charm, a red tobacco pipe, and the number 221 written in ink — 221B in the Ceramic bottle, with a pipe and the number 221 in ink.

A different side of Sherlock: the passion under the reserve.

The address existed only in Conan Doyle’s stories. A museum on Baker Street now carries the number.

Holmes’s thinking starts like fog over a London street, then clears, link by link, into method.

Rei Nguyen on 221B

“221B is not the scent I think Sherlock would wear. It is how I understand him, in the language of scent.”

Rei Nguyen, writing in 2023. Translated from the Vietnamese.

Read the full chapter

Duality: the story of 221B and Shadow Éclat.

For the record

At a glance

Scent: 221B, Chapter IV · The Reckless Dreamer
Family: Woody Leather
Concentration: Eau de Parfum
Perfumer: Rei Nguyen
Inspired by: Sherlock Holmes, in Conan Doyle’s stories
Key note: Damascenone, a molecule found in rose oil
Made as a pair with: Shadow Éclat, Chapter V
Bottles: Patina on Brass 50 ml, or Ceramic 50 ml
Volume: 50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz.
Smaller sizes: 12 ml · 2 ml sample · Discovery Set
Notes: Top: Green Mandarin, Lemon, Blackcurrant · Middle: Osmanthus Absolute, Geranium, Rose · Base: Birch Tar, Ambrette Seed, Leather, Peru Balsam, Tobacco
Price, incl. 8% VAT: Patina 50 ml 4.860.000 ₫US$195Ceramic 50 ml 4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November12 ml 1.285.200 ₫US$502 ml 224.640 ₫US$9Discovery Set 918.000 ₫US$35
Ingredients (INCI): Alcohol, Aqua (Water), Parfum (Fragrance), Limonene, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool, Benzyl Cinnamate, Citronellol, Citral, Geraniol, Benzyl Alcohol, Cinnamyl Alcohol.
Smell it: At our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open daily
Delivery: Within Vietnam only
Payment: Bank Transfer by VietQR (VND) or Credit Card (USD)
Made in: Vietnam
Sold by: NOTE CO., LTD, Ho Chi Minh City

The composition

How it is built

In 221B, leather is drawn in clean, polished lines and softened by the honeyed sweetness of rose. Tobacco folds into osmanthus: fervent yet distant, reckless yet dreaming.

Woody leather, if you are new to it: a family built on the smell of tanned leather, laid over tree resins and woods. In 221B, that ground is birch tar, from birch bark, and Peru balsam, a resin.

The same scent in the Patina and the Ceramic bottle.

Top notes: Green Mandarin, Lemon, Blackcurrant They open the scent, crisp and decisive. Green mandarin is the fruit picked before it turns orange, sharper than the ripe peel; lemon gives a clean edge, blackcurrant a dark, tart fruit.
Middle notes: Osmanthus Absolute, Geranium, Rose They soften the leather. Rose is carried through by damascenone; osmanthus, the small gold flower used to scent tea, smells of honey and apricot with a hint of suede; geranium is a green leaf that smells of rose.
Base notes: Birch Tar, Ambrette Seed, Leather, Peru Balsam, Tobacco They hold the leather. Birch tar, distilled from birch bark, is the old smell of Russian leather; here it is not smoky or dark, and lays a faint haze over the leather and balsam on your skin. Ambrette, the seed of a hibiscus, gives a soft musk; Peru balsam, a tree resin, a warmth close to vanilla.
Key note: Damascenone A molecule found in rose oil, smelling of rose with a trace of tobacco. In 221B it runs all the way through, balancing the leather and rounding out the composition.
Dry-down: Leather and balsam, and still the rose: damascenone stays to the end.

Stop-motion of 221B: the Ceramic bottle on paper, then each piece of its collage laid down in turn until the picture is whole. Looping, no sound. — The ingredients of 221B, laid down one by one.Play the film

221B in the Ceramic bottle: black cap, cream ceramic charm, tassel, on a dark ledge in warm, low light.

Elsewhere in the house

If you like…

…the leather, turned darker, as suede with iris and black pepper: Shadow Éclat, made as its pair.
…the rose, with jasmine and oakmoss in place of leather: Eau de Hajime, a chypre.
…the warmth of the base, turned to cumin, cinnamon and vanilla around a damask rose: Béton Chaud.

Close on the 221B Patina bottle lying on pale rose petals: ‘R PARFUMS 221B’ on dark brass, beside a plate of speckled green patina — 221B, close, on rose petals. Photographed in 2022.

Still from the 2022 film: 221B in the Patina bottle among pink rose petals in the dark, smoke drifting behind — Filmed in 2022 · with music, muted here Watch it with music, among the scent films

Film, 2022: 221B in the Patina bottle on pink rose petals, in low light, with drifting smoke. Looping, sound off. — Filmed in 2022 · with music, muted here Watch it with music, among the scent films

Perfumer’s memo

221B is the address of Sherlock Holmes — a fictional character I have long admired.

Sherlock stands in the light, but what fascinates me is the shadow he carries. Perceptive. Reserved. Passionate. Relentless in his pursuit of truth.

221B follows another trace of Holmes: not only the pipe and leather gloves, but the passion beneath his reserve.

Rei Nguyen, perfumer

One scent, two bottles

Brass or clay

Same scent, two bottles: Patina on Brass or Ceramic — see how each is made.

221B in the Patina bottle under warm light: three pieces of brass on the glass, one still bright, one half turned, one patinated blue and rust, beside a pipe and a letter addressed to 221B Baker Street

Patina on Brass · 50 ml

Three hand-finished pieces of brass

221B wears the Brown Blue Patina, the deeper shade it shares with Shadow Éclat and Béton Chaud. All three stages show in the photograph: the lower piece still bright, the upper one half turned, the left one fully patinated. Each plate is one of a kind.

I Brass

II Turning

III Patina

Each piece is corroded, filed and set by hand. How the plate is made →

Film: Series #1, The Patina Bottle

4.860.000 ₫US$195 Incl. 8% VAT

Choose Patina

Ceramic · 50 ml

A clay cap, fired at 1000°C

A small sphere of fired clay closes the bottle, in a glaze that recalls Chu Đậu ware. In the photograph, 221B wears a black glaze. The glaze follows the scent, black for 221B, and the maker’s hand the tassel, so each Ceramic bottle comes to you as it was finished.

Each cap is cast in a mould, its mouth cut and wiped, then left to dry. The raw glaze is brushed on pink; the kiln brings out the final black, a little differently in every firing. How a Ceramic cap is made →

With a tassel and a two-sided ceramic charm: the R logo on one face, the name of its scent on the other.

Film: Ceramic and fire · 1:29 · silent

4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November Incl. 8% VAT

Choose Ceramic

Side by side

Patina and Ceramic, compared

221B: Patina 50 ml compared with Ceramic 50 ml
Feature	Patina · 50 ml	Ceramic · 50 ml
The scent	221B, eau de parfum	The same scent
Volume	50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz.	50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz.
The bottle	Glass, with Patina on Brass: three hand-finished pieces	Glass, closed with a clay sphere cast in a mould and fired in a kiln
What varies	Piece I keeps its brass, piece II is caught midway, piece III has turned fully to patina. A UV-resistant coat slows the change; it does not stop it	The glaze comes out a little differently in every firing, and shifts with the light
Detail	Brown Blue Patina, shared with Shadow Éclat and Béton Chaud · UV-resistant coat	Ceramic charm: the R logo on one side, the scent’s name on the other
On film	Series #1, The Patina Bottle	Ceramic and fire
Price, incl. 8% VAT	4.860.000 ₫US$195	4.131.000 ₫US$165, Currently unavailable · expected back late November
Go further	221B in Patina Patina in all six chapters	221B in Ceramic Ceramic in all six chapters

How each is made: Patina on Brass · Ceramic and fire · All of the craft · Its pair, in both bottles: Shadow Éclat

From the archive · December 2024

Letters from 221B Baker Street: Scents of Shadow

For ten days in December 2024, the house at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu was arranged as two rooms: Sherlock Holmes’s and Moriarty’s. Shadow Éclat was first shown here. A greeting from Rei and eight stories were recorded in Vietnamese and in English, then played again at Light and Shadow in Hanoi in February 2025.

Listen in the Listening Room The exhibition in the Archive

Before the first door

00 Greetings from Rei Nguyen Lời chào từ Rei Nguyễn

Sherlock Holmes’s Room

01 London Fog Trong màn sương bụi giữa Luân Đôn
02 The Sign of Four Giải mã “Dấu bộ tứ”
03 The Soul Trái tim của kẻ liều lĩnh mộng mơ
04 Letters to 221B Baker Street Lá thư gửi đến số nhà 221B đường Baker, Luân Đôn

Moriarty’s Room

05 The Napoleon of Crime Kẻ chinh phạt bóng tối
06 The Drive Động cơ
07 The Reichenbach Falls Vực sáng
08 Shadow Éclat Bóng đêm rực rỡ

You can still hear seven of the eight stories, in Vietnamese and in English. Best heard with your own headphones.

221B in print

Tatler Asia, 2025: for 221B, Rei chose “a clean, slightly green facet of leather”. Fragrance art: The creation of balance through contrast

Questions

Asked about 221B

Anything else: +84 89 649 0038 · info@r-parfums.com

What does 221B smell like?

221B, by R Parfums, smells of clean, polished leather softened by rose. Green mandarin, lemon and blackcurrant at the top; osmanthus absolute, geranium and rose in the middle; birch tar, ambrette seed, leather, Peru balsam and tobacco at the base. Its key note, damascenone, carries the rose all the way to the dry-down.

Is it a smoky leather?

No. The birch tar in 221B is not smoky or dark. It leaves a faint haze over the leather and Peru balsam, while rose and osmanthus keep the leather soft.

How is 221B related to Shadow Éclat?

They were made as a pair from Conan Doyle’s stories: 221B is the light, drawn from Sherlock; Shadow Éclat, the darkness, from Moriarty. Shadow Éclat was first shown at the 221B exhibition in December 2024. Each is sold on its own, in either bottle.

Can I try it before buying a full bottle?

Yes: all three of our houses in Ho Chi Minh City carry 221B to try on skin and are open daily, or you can start with a 2 ml sample, the 12 ml or the Discovery Set (smaller sizes).

Do you deliver outside Vietnam?

We deliver within Vietnam only — see Stockists for Taiwan.

Smell it in person

Three houses, one city

All three carry 221B. Try it on paper, then on skin, and ask for Shadow Éclat beside it.

House I

34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu

R Space, 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, Thảo Điền — An Khánh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

Open daily · 8:00–⁠18:00

House II

42 Nguyễn Huệ

42 Nguyễn Huệ, The Café Apartment building, Level 2, Sài Gòn Ward, Ho Chi Minh City
Inside NOTE – The Scent Lab

Open daily · 9:00–⁠22:00

House III

26 Lý Tự Trọng

26 Lý Tự Trọng, Level 3, Sài Gòn Ward, Ho Chi Minh City
Inside Saigon Scent Lab

Open daily · 10:00–⁠21:30

About the three houses