The original: Bond No 9 Lafayette Street
The one people describe as smelling like an expensive shower gel, and they mean it as praise. Bergamot and coriander over apple and ambroxan, with tonka and vanilla giving it weight. Clean, soapy and polished rather than loud. One reviewer who dislikes Greenwich Village for being cloying names this as the Bond he actually wears.
| Dupe | Match | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Bharara Onyx EDP | 91% | $60 |
| Jo Milano Paris Game of Spades Wildcard | 90% | $55 |
| Nikos Sculpture Homme EDT | 88% | $28 |
Lafayette Street retails around $470.
How we score. Every percentage comes from cross-referencing note pyramids against Fragrantica and brand-official sources, then weighting what people who own both fragrances actually report. We don't publish anything below 85%, and we say when something barely clears.
#1Bharara Onyx EDP
Shares with the original: Bergamot, Floral Notes, Coriander, Apple, Ambroxan, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Woodsy Notes, Ambergris
The pyramid is Lafayette Street's exactly — all nine notes, same arrangement. What lifts it above the Game of Spades Wildcard listed below is that owners compare the two directly and prefer this one. One writes that it is Lafayette Street with much more projection and longer lasting, that Wildcard gets the attention only because it is the better-known name, and that this is smoother and more accurate; he scores it 9.5 out of 10. A second owner agrees independently, calling it one of the better Lafayette Street clones and noticeably smoother than Wildcard. A third reviewer on the Bond's own Fragrantica page tells readers it smells exactly like this for a fraction of the price. One caveat, and both owners raise it unprompted: it is harsh straight out of the box and needs a few weeks to settle. If you judge it on the first spray you will send it back. Give it a month.
Sources: Two Fragrantica owner reviews comparing it directly against Game of Spades Wildcard · third owner on the Bond No 9 product page · pyramid from Fragrantica
#2Jo Milano Paris Game of Spades Wildcard
Shares with the original: Bergamot, Floral Notes, Coriander, Apple, Ambroxan, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Woodsy Notes, Ambergris
All nine of Lafayette Street's notes, in the same arrangement — this is the most complete note match anywhere in our database. An owner puts it plainly: literally the exact same as the Bond, and stronger than the original. That last part matters, because Lafayette Street is often described as close to the skin, so a clone with more push is arguably solving a real complaint rather than just copying. Held at 90 rather than 91 for the same reason as its sibling on our TriBeCa page: the note match is total but the testimony is thin, one owner rather than several, and nobody has written the longer comparison that would settle how the two differ in materials. At 55 dollars against 470 it is worth sampling either way.
Sources: Owner comparison · pyramids from Fragrantica for both
#3Nikos Sculpture Homme EDT
Shares with the original: Bergamot, Tonka Bean
This one needs its history stated first, because it changes what you are looking at. Sculpture Homme was released in 1995 by Michel Almairac — twenty-three years BEFORE Lafayette Street. It is not a clone of the Bond. If anything the accusation runs the other way, and plenty of people make it. A Fragrantica owner who had both puts it bluntly: it is the same juice, the same, and he is glad he sold his Lafayette Street knowing they took a 1995 Almairac and ask 470 dollars for it. Parfumo's own description of Lafayette Street is a smoother Nikos Sculpture Homme with a hint of Boss Bottled Intense in the drydown, and decant sellers routinely note the comparison. Only two notes match by name — bergamot and tonka bean — and we are not going to dress that up. What the bare count misses is that Lafayette Street's published pyramid is vague exactly where it matters: Lafayette Street's published pyramid is vague where it matters — it lists ‘Flowers' and ‘Woody Notes' without saying which. Sculpture names them: jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, geranium, rose, cedar. Those are very likely the same materials named properly, but likely is not verified, so we have not counted them. This score rests on the testimony, not the pyramid. What it genuinely lacks is the apple and the ambroxan, so expect something more classically floral and less modern-clean. Six hours on skin, twelve on clothing, and it costs about a sixteenth of the Bond.
Sources: Fragrantica owner-of-both who sold the Bond · Parfumo editorial describing Lafayette Street in terms of this fragrance · decant-seller comparisons · pyramids from Fragrantica
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