Name: Calone 1951® (Firmenich)
Alternate Names: Methylbenzodioxepinone, Watermelon, Watermelon Ketone
My Aroma Description (Perfumer’s Notes): Melon (canteloup, honeydew melon, sweet watermelon), Green, Rhubarb, Fresh, Watery, Clean, Marine, Ozone, Water, Sea Breeze, Seashore, Green Seaweed, Algae, Dank, Stagnant Water (if in excess). According to Catherine Helbig* some people detect cucumber, gooseberry, grapefruit, kiwi, and mango. On the floral side, they can notice hibiscus blooms or lily of the valley. In sum, Catherine Helbig preposes:
“Despite having such complexities, you can expect Calone to have an overall clean, fresh scent. That is why it’s such a popular ingredient for perfumes” *
Archetypal Fragrances: New West by Aramis & Escape by Calvin Klein
Raw Material Family: Marine Ozone
Note: Base
Type: Aroma Chemical / Molecule
Where From: Firmenich
Emotional Rewards Prioritised: The aroma of Calone commonly creates the following emotions: [visualizer id=”595″] The graph above shows what emotions Calone often creates and the relative level of importance.
Commentary:
Certain ingredients dominate periods of time. In the late 1980’s to the mid nineties it was the fresh smell of Calone. Later would come ISO E super in the 2000’s and Ambroxan post 2010. Calone also called watermelon ketone, is the perfume ingredient that is responsible for many of the ocean breeze fragrances.
Alone was discovered by scientists at Pfizer in 1951. They were after a food additive that offered both the taste and aroma of watermelon. This was serendipitous discovery that led to a new the sub-family of perfumes that smelt of a fresh sea-breeze. This “sea breeze” sub-family are termed “aquatic,” “oceanic,” and “ozone.” They grew in massive popularity after the launch of Davidoff Cool Water in 1988.
In an a 2017 newspaper article* Roja Dove remarked
“As the world went into an economic slump (at the end of the eighties) fresh scents came to the fore – consumers wanted to get away, hence the scents reminiscent of an escape to the beach. One of the most popular male fragrances of the time was Escape by Calvin Klein, which perfectly captured the mood of consumers. Its ultra-aqueous melon note was grasped by the marketers who convinced the world that it was the scent of the sea,and thus, the oceanic note was born. Said oceanic smell is actually calone – an aqueous-smelling material with a pronounced watermelon aspect. It’s a man-made, synthetic molecule that gives the olfactory impression of the fresh seashore through its marine/ozone nuances”