I’ve been collecting Giorgio Beverley Hills teddy bears for the past thirteen years, since the perfume was one of the most sought after ladies fragrances on the market. Back then you could buy it in all major outlets including Boots, Debenhams and House of Fraser.
Of course I didn’t keep or wear the perfume that came with it – some of the older stuff wouldn’t smell so good 13 years on. I passed it on to my Mum who loved it.
It’s getting a lot more difficult to find now though as it’s become less popular. My friend Ruth has a new business venture where she’s set up a personal shopping service www.presentperfectuk.co.uk. I’ll have to put her to the test and challenge her to find me some.
The most difficult bear to find was the Millennium bear, which is a silver one. – I’ve eventually ended up with 2 but in October 1999 when they were released nobody seemed to be stocking them.. I wrote to Giorgio but got no joy from them so I thought it was going to be really rare. I finally tracked it down and had to pay £30 for it. Ten years on there’s one for sale on Ebay with bids at starting at £4.99 and it hasn’t even attracted one offer.
It’s disappointing that I spent so much time and effort collecting them. I feel precious about them, but they are getting bulky to store and gathering dust in bags at home. I could shrink wrap them I suppose.
Eventually I think I’m going to have to sell the collection as a whole – I’d be distraught if I could only sell one or 2 individually then be stuck with the others and not have a full set. They look so much better when they’re all together as a group.
Too many to take off my bed every night too!!