A diver clearing sand beside the coral-covered Mary Celestia wreck, with a sediment plume drifting right.

Discover the fragranceBeneath the surface

MARY CELESTIA

A fragrance. An extraordinary discovery.

Mary Celestia

A Story
Recovered
from the Sea

1864. A ship sinks off Bermuda. Nearly a century and a half later, perfume recovered from its wreck begins an unexpected journey back into the world.

Historical illustration of the paddle steamer Mary Celestia sinking off Bermuda, with lifeboats nearby. — Mary Celestia, 1864 · A voyage brought to an end.

Mary Celestia is a Lili Bermuda fragrance recreated from perfume recovered from a nineteenth-century shipwreck off Bermuda. The ship sank in 1864; a 2011 excavation brought its hidden cargo renewed attention.

Working with fragrance specialists, Lili Bermuda transformed that discovery into a scent introduced in 2014.

Follow the story from the sea to the perfumer’s studio, then discover how to make it part of your own.

The story, bottled.Meet the fragrance

Mary Celestia Eau de Parfum, travel atomizer packaging and wooden presentation box beside the sea.

Back to the story

Lili Bermuda Mary Celestia Eau de Parfum bottle with a silver cap and a soft reflection beneath it.

The fragrance today

A discovery.
Now yours to wear.

Bright citrus, delicate flowers, a warm woody character. Mary Celestia brings together the freshness of grapefruit and bergamot with the softness of neroli and orange flower.

Rosewood adds depth, while white musk and ambergris notes shape the base. An invitation to discover the story in a different way: on your own skin.

Follow the timeline

Bermuda · 1864 to today

From shipwreck to scent

A journey through discovery, science and the art of perfumery.

1864The beginning

The Ship

Mary Celestia was an iron-hulled paddle steamer used to carry supplies to the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Built in Liverpool and launched in 1864, she belonged to a network of blockade runners travelling between Atlantic ports. Bermuda was an important stop along those routes.

Alongside the ship’s cargo were personal belongings: small objects that would one day tell another part of the story.

Bermuda and the blockade runners

Bermuda connected British and Atlantic ports with the American coast. Ships brought goods and coal to the island; blockade runners carried supplies onwards to Confederate ports and returned with cotton. Mary Celestia was part of that wartime trade.
Read James Delgado’s historical account

Is this the same ship as Mary Celeste?

No. Mary Celestia was the paddle steamer that sank off Bermuda in 1864. Mary Celeste was a different vessel, found deserted in the Atlantic in 1872. Their similar names belong to separate histories.
Read about Mary Celeste in Smithsonian
18646 September

Lost to the Sea

Mary Celestia struck a reef off Bermuda’s South Shore and sank. The voyage ended. The objects aboard began a much longer journey.

Today, the wreck’s paddlewheels, bow and anchor remain recognisable beneath the water. Yet the object at the heart of this story could be held in a hand.

Where is the Mary Celestia wreck today?

The wreck lies off Southampton on Bermuda’s South Shore, near Gibbs Hill Lighthouse. The ship struck a reef on 6 September 1864. Its paddlewheels, bow and anchor remain visible, and it is a recognised dive site. A local dive operator can advise on visiting conditions and suitability.
Government of Bermuda wreck information · NOAA site report

Mary Celestia’s final voyage

Archaeologist James Delgado’s account identifies Wilmington, North Carolina, as the destination of the cargo on Mary Celestia’s final voyage. The ship was still travelling along Bermuda’s southern shore when it struck the reef.
Read the account of the final voyage
2011The excavation

The Discovery

Winter storms shifted the sand around the wreck. Philippe Max Rouja, Bermuda’s Custodian of Historic Wrecks, and local diver Stuart Joblin investigated the newly exposed area. A June 2011 excavation brought together local and international specialists.

Among the discoveries was a sealed perfume bottle bearing the name Piesse & Lubin, London.

A surviving object. A liquid that could be investigated. And a new question: could this scent be experienced again?

Watch the discovery30 seconds

The team behind the excavation

Philippe Max Rouja, James Delgado and Dominique Rissolo led the archaeological investigation, with local volunteers and international specialists. NOAA and the Waitt Institute contributed expertise to the recovery work.
Meet the team in the NOAA excavation report

Other objects recovered

Wine, shoes, a hairbrush and a ship’s taffrail log—a device used to measure a vessel’s movement—were among the finds. These small objects offer glimpses of life aboard. Their exact owners and intended recipients remain unknown.
Read the archaeologist’s account

How did the perfume survive underwater?

Sealed bottles rested in cool, dark sediment. Researchers found no seawater in the tested liquid, but ageing had changed its chemistry. The surviving samples could be studied; they were not chemically unchanged perfume from 1864.
Read the team’s preservation findings

How many perfume bottles were recovered?

The research records three Piesse & Lubin bottles recovered over time, including earlier finds. Two were taken for analysis in April 2013. The 2011 excavation and the later laboratory study were separate stages.
Read the bottle assessment

2013–
2014The recreation

The Scent Recovered

In April 2013, Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone carried two recovered Piesse & Lubin bottles to drom’s New Jersey laboratory with permission from the Government of Bermuda. There, specialists opened the bottles and studied the samples.

Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone worked with Jean-Claude Delville and the team at drom fragrances, joining scientific analysis with the judgement of perfumers.

Lili Bermuda introduced Mary Celestia in 2014: a modern recreation inspired by a remarkable discovery.

How was the scent analysed?

The team combined smell assessments with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry: techniques that separate and help identify chemical components. Jean-Claude Delville, Lionel Nesbitt and colleagues investigated the samples alongside Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone.
Read the research team’s paper

What was the original perfume called?

The bottles identify Piesse & Lubin, a London perfume house. The researchers could not establish the exact fragrance name or complete original composition with certainty.
Read the findings on the fragrance’s identity

Is today’s perfume the recovered liquid?

No. Today’s Mary Celestia is a newly made Lili Bermuda fragrance inspired by research into the historical samples. The recovered liquid was used for investigation, not poured into retail bottles.
Read the 2014 recreation and launch story

From the 2014 launch to today

Mary Celestia launched in 2014 as a limited edition of 1,864 bottles. Contemporary reporting described an Eau de Toilette; today’s official listing is a 90 ml Eau de Parfum. The original edition and packaging belong to the launch story. Check the current product page for the format offered now.
2014 launch report · Current Eau de Parfum
TodayYour next chapter

The Story Continues

Mary Celestia is no longer simply a story preserved in a museum or beneath the water.

It can be experienced.
It can be worn.
And every bottle carries the story forward.

More than 160 years after Mary Celestia sank off Bermuda, the fragrance has become another chapter in the ship's remarkable history.

And now, that story continues with you.
Discover Mary Celestia