Belgrade’s last remaining craft perfumery

Belgrade, Feb 24 (AFP):
From a cobblestoned street in downtown Belgrade, the Sava perfumery has seen more than half a century sweep past without ceasing in its mission to keep the city’s citizens smelling flowery and fresh. The artisanal shop — which mixes its perfumes in-house — is the last of its kind in the Serbian capital, thanks to the Jovanov family who are committed to keeping the craft alive.
While the city has gone through many changes, the store remains a snapshot in time, with glass bottles, mixing vials and other tools passed down through three generations. The work is a labour of love for the Jovanovs, whose other sources of income enable them to continue with the perfumery. “We have remained because of tradition, love, affection and willingness to do a job which at certain times doesn’t earn you enough money to subsist,” the shop’s jovial owner Nenad Jovanov, 71, told AFP as he mixed a custom eau de toilette in the shop’s laboratory-like back room, measuring out ingredients with beakers and pipettes.