Not Your Typical Rose: Inside Goldfield & Banks’ Rose Magnitude

Rose Magnitude

Some perfumes simply smell nice. Others serve as invisible storytellers, unlocking vivid memories and emotional landscapes meant to unfold over time. Goldfield & Banks’ perfume Rose Magnitude, the newest addition to their Botanical Series, is the latter.

Rose is everywhere in perfumery. Known for its soft, sweet aroma, it’s a staple so familiar that many consider it overdone, even forgettable. For Goldfield & Banks’ founder Dimitri Weber, it was also a cultural challenge. “As an Australian brand, it never quite felt right [to do a rose] – roses are very much a French thing. And I always thought: the day I do a rose, I will have to find one in Australia.”

Goldfield & Banks’ founder Dimitri Weber

After finding a Turkish rose grown in Victoria, he knew it was time. Partnering with French perfumer Clément Marx of Robertet, Dimitri wasn’t interested in a traditional rose. “I didn’t want to create a pretty rose. A very French, very polished rose felt boring to me. When our production team traveled to South Australia to scout locations for the campaign shoot, I brought a rose with me. I remember taking it, throwing it in the mud, stepping on it, and saying to the team: That’s my rose. Bold. Dirty. Complex. Unexpected.”

Rose Magnitude became less about the flower itself and more about the rawness of the landscape: the serenity of a pink salt lake reflecting pastel skies, the colors blending in ways that can never be replicated twice. The smell of earth and mud – something you have to stand there to fully understand. This is not a traditional rose, but one shaped by environment.

Smelling it for the first time at the New York launch, the fragrance opens with the subtle tartness of raspberry and the spiciness of cumin and ginger — like a first impression that sparks curiosity. As it settles, the sweet florals of rose and violet draw you in, the way a conversation deepens once you move beyond small talk. Then comes the unexpected: the woodiness of sandalwood, tonka, and a touch of vanilla, leaving a warm, lasting impact that feels like exchanging numbers for a future meetup.

Rose may be everywhere, but reinventing it is rare. Scents with a story cut deeper – they become narratives you carry, open to interpretation, shaped by the wearer. They don’t just sit on the skin, they become an extension of who you are.

Photo Credit: Hideki Aono (@hideki.parfums)