Beaufort’s latest fragrance, the confounding and aquatic leaning Fathom V, broadly takes it’s cues from Shakespeare. Throughout The Tempest, the writer conjures vivid images of violent weather, shipwrecks and magical islands but the name Fathom V itself stems from a phrase gleaned from ‘Ariel’s Song’ within the play:
“Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.”
The idea of this ’sea-change’ and the constant tidal flux of the sea is properly explored in Fathom V with the overdosed use of contrasting materials: salt and earth, fragrant herbs and mosses, pleasant floral notes and intense dark spices encompassing and outlining the push and pull of the oceanic torrents.
Grooming Guru on Fathom V:
"Fathom V’s cleverness lies in its ability to take the concept of an aquatic fragrance and turn it on its head. Instead of following the bright and breezy, surf’s up approach that so many marine scents take, it plots an entirely different course, taking the wearer on a dark, foggy, Gothic adventure that conjures up images of dark, 17th century sea ports full of smugglers, ships with moss-covered hulls and illegally obtained barrels of spice."
Candy Perfume Boy on Fathom V:
"How Does it Smell? Like gunpowder, lush vegetation, murky waters and the barnacle-covered hulls of pirate ships."
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a scent for close quarters and unsettled weather, when the air feels damp and metallic and you want your presence to read as vivid rather than polished. It suits a wearer who likes their fragrance with texture, shadow and a little bite.
How to wear
Best worn in cool to mild weather, where its salt, moss and floral notes can stay distinct without becoming harsh. Apply lightly at first: it has strong projection and long wear, and a few sprays are enough to let the green, mineral and spicy facets unfold gradually on skin.
Who it’s for
For lovers of green-floral fragrances with a dark, mineral edge; for people who enjoy unconventional aquatics, earthy vetiver, moss, salt and a more dramatic, atmospheric style than bright marine freshness.
Release year
2016
The nose
Julie Marlowe. Marlowe’s work on Fathom V shows a taste for contrast and atmosphere: she builds a scent around tension rather than polish, letting salt, greenery, florals and darker materials collide instead of smoothing them into a conventional marine accord. The result is a fragrance that feels theatrical, textural and deliberately unsettled. Her name is tied here to BeauFort’s more adventurous, narrative-driven style, where the composition is used to evoke place and weather as much as beauty. In Fathom V, that approach gives the perfume its sense of motion — a sea-change rendered through sharp, bracing materials and a shadowy green heart.
Collaborators
Leo Crabtree, BeauFort’s founder, shaped the fragrance’s concept and maritime storytelling, framing it within the house’s broader interest in naval history, danger and atmospheric drama. His role was less about formula than about the creative brief: a scent that would challenge the idea of what an aquatic perfume should be.
Beaufort’s story
BeauFort London builds fragrances around British maritime history, conflict, exploration and weathered landscapes, often favouring tension, smoke, salt and darkness over easy beauty. The house treats perfume as narrative material, with compositions that feel literary, rugged and intentionally uncompromising.
Fathom V’s concept
Fathom V was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, especially the image of the sea as a force of transformation and loss. The name comes from Ariel’s Song, and the fragrance translates that “sea-change” into a composition of salt, earth, florals and spice, aiming to capture the pull between calm and violence, surface and depth.
Extra info
Fathom V takes its name from a line in Ariel’s Song in The Tempest: “Full fathom five thy father lies.” It has been described as a green, stormy take on the aquatic genre, and later inspired a 10th-anniversary Director’s Cut edition.
Beaufort’s latest fragrance, the confounding and aquatic leaning Fathom V, broadly takes it’s cues from Shakespeare. Throughout The Tempest, the writer conjures vivid images of violent weather, shipwrecks and magical islands but the name Fathom V itself stems from a phrase gleaned from ‘Ariel’s Song’ within the play:
“Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.”
The idea of this ’sea-change’ and the constant tidal flux of the sea is properly explored in Fathom V with the overdosed use of contrasting materials: salt and earth, fragrant herbs and mosses, pleasant floral notes and intense dark spices encompassing and outlining the push and pull of the oceanic torrents.
Grooming Guru on Fathom V:
"Fathom V’s cleverness lies in its ability to take the concept of an aquatic fragrance and turn it on its head. Instead of following the bright and breezy, surf’s up approach that so many marine scents take, it plots an entirely different course, taking the wearer on a dark, foggy, Gothic adventure that conjures up images of dark, 17th century sea ports full of smugglers, ships with moss-covered hulls and illegally obtained barrels of spice."
Candy Perfume Boy on Fathom V:
"How Does it Smell? Like gunpowder, lush vegetation, murky waters and the barnacle-covered hulls of pirate ships."
All about this fragrance
Vibe check
This is a scent for close quarters and unsettled weather, when the air feels damp and metallic and you want your presence to read as vivid rather than polished. It suits a wearer who likes their fragrance with texture, shadow and a little bite.
How to wear
Best worn in cool to mild weather, where its salt, moss and floral notes can stay distinct without becoming harsh. Apply lightly at first: it has strong projection and long wear, and a few sprays are enough to let the green, mineral and spicy facets unfold gradually on skin.
Who it’s for
For lovers of green-floral fragrances with a dark, mineral edge; for people who enjoy unconventional aquatics, earthy vetiver, moss, salt and a more dramatic, atmospheric style than bright marine freshness.
Release year
2016
The nose
Julie Marlowe. Marlowe’s work on Fathom V shows a taste for contrast and atmosphere: she builds a scent around tension rather than polish, letting salt, greenery, florals and darker materials collide instead of smoothing them into a conventional marine accord. The result is a fragrance that feels theatrical, textural and deliberately unsettled. Her name is tied here to BeauFort’s more adventurous, narrative-driven style, where the composition is used to evoke place and weather as much as beauty. In Fathom V, that approach gives the perfume its sense of motion — a sea-change rendered through sharp, bracing materials and a shadowy green heart.
Collaborators
Leo Crabtree, BeauFort’s founder, shaped the fragrance’s concept and maritime storytelling, framing it within the house’s broader interest in naval history, danger and atmospheric drama. His role was less about formula than about the creative brief: a scent that would challenge the idea of what an aquatic perfume should be.
Beaufort’s story
BeauFort London builds fragrances around British maritime history, conflict, exploration and weathered landscapes, often favouring tension, smoke, salt and darkness over easy beauty. The house treats perfume as narrative material, with compositions that feel literary, rugged and intentionally uncompromising.
Fathom V’s concept
Fathom V was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, especially the image of the sea as a force of transformation and loss. The name comes from Ariel’s Song, and the fragrance translates that “sea-change” into a composition of salt, earth, florals and spice, aiming to capture the pull between calm and violence, surface and depth.
Extra info
Fathom V takes its name from a line in Ariel’s Song in The Tempest: “Full fathom five thy father lies.” It has been described as a green, stormy take on the aquatic genre, and later inspired a 10th-anniversary Director’s Cut edition.