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F1 leaves behind ‘golden’ moments

ABU DHABI - As the petrol fumes encircled Yas Marina Circuit, British Olympic gold medalist Jessica Ennis was sniffing up fumes of a different kind.

The Grand Prix winner’s gold medal was not the only gold in town, with some of the most expensive boutiques in the Capital creating their own golden offerings.

Jessica Ennis smells the liquid gold perfume created by Yas Perfumes. — Supplied photo

Yas Perfumes created a 1-litre bottle of liquid gold perfume for the heptathlete, who was in town for the thrills and spills of Formula 1, valued at $30,000 per litre — equivalent to the price of gold. The bottle of gold contained oil perfume. Ennis said she was overwhelmed by the “incredibly warm welcome” she had received in the buzzing Capital.

“I now have a truly authentic piece of Abu Dhabi to take home with me and, as I understand that the art of perfumery is passed from generation to generation, I might try and save some for my own future family members.” She said it was her first perfume and would be a reminder of her “unbelieveable visit”.

“She was overwhelmed and truly happy about it,” said Yas Perfume’s Mustafa Al Omar, who presented the over one-litre perfume bottle to the athlete.

He could not reveal the exact ingredients of this blend, but said it was a mix of two kinds of dahn oud (pure oud oil from Cambodia) and French oils. Some of the scents that can be picked from the blend are cinnamon, cardamom, rose and jasmine.

“Pure Arabic oud is very strong, so we added French oils to soften it, while still keeping the traditional, distinctive scent of Arabia,” explained Al Omar.

“I did seven different blends using traditional Emirati oil perfume-making techniques before I decided this one would be perfect for Jessica.” The perfume was presented in a crystal bottle, engraved with the letter J.

Elsewhere in town, Emirates Palace Jewellery store Style Gallery had a unique, one model only F1 miniature gold-plated car on sale for Dh175,000.

“We didn’t sell it yet, but we got a couple of offers that we are considering,” Ahmed Abou El Anin, Style Gallery’s shop assistant, told Khaleej Times.

Sale or no sale, the car will be taken off shelves today since it was specially made for the F1 event. Being 46 centimetres long and 10 centimetres high, the 22 karat gold-plated car has a brass cover and about 850 grams of plated gold, it is also encrusted with black diamonds on the wheels and white ones along the chassis.

“It was commissioned by Style Gallery and made in Lebanon by Amorelli, an Italian brand; it took three months for the manufacturing,” added El Anin.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com