Click on image to enlarge Coty A'Suma EDT With Lock Atomizer

A'Suma was first introduced by Coty in 1934. (Some sources give 1936 as the date of its introduction.) Examples of the very elegant original A'Suma bottles can be found in El Museo del Perfume de Barcelona. A'Suma was created for Coty by perfumer Vincent Roubert.

The bottle shown here is clearly a "downmarket" Eau de Toilette (EDT) version of A'Suma but one which features an interesting innovation: the Coty (patent pending) Lock Atomizer.

The problem of leakage

While perfume bottles with atomizers had been commonplace since the last decades of the 19th century, commercial perfume bottles faced the problem of leakage, which made atomizers impractical except for in-store counter displays. If a marketer such as Coty were to sell a perfume with an atomizer installed, it would be more than just likely that, by the time the customer returned home, the bottle would have leaked and possibly emptied itself ... and the customer would be drenched in his or her expensive perfume.

One solution to this problem was to package the atomizer with the perfume but not attached to the bottle. The bottle would be safely capped and the customer could, at their leisure, remove the cap and attach the atomizer. This solution is seen in this display of Diorissimo EDC by Christian Dior.

With A'Suma, Coty took a more innovative approach: an atomizer which locked into a leak proof (or leak resistant) closed position. This concept is almost universal today for household spray type cleansers.

Coty explains the benefit of the "Lock-Atomizer"

The "Lock-Atomizer" was, of course, advertised as "New". The instruction slip that was shipped with the bottle reads:

Click on image to enlarge Virtues of the Lock-Atomizer

This bottle is equipped with a self-sealing Atomizer, a completely leakproof and evaporation-proof when in the "Sealed" position (see directions inside).

In this "Sealed" position, if kept in the plastic container, it can be used for travel, even in an airplane, without evaporation or leakage.

Do not remove the Atomizer because it cannot be used on any other bottle.

The atomizer is, as can be seen, a squeeze bulb type.

Instructions for use

Click on image to enlarge Instructions for using the Lock-Atomizer

The head of the Lock-Atomizer rotates to two positions: the closed (locked) position and the open (spray) position. To go from the Closed to the Open position, the rotating head is turned a quarter turn clockwise so that the bulb is now behind the bottle. To go from the Open to the Closed position, the rotating head is turned a quarter turn counter-clockwise so that the bulb is aligned with the bottle.

As women were advised to pack the bottle in the plastic container that came with it, additional protection travel was provided. All in all, considering that bulb atomizers were still the norm for perfume, Coty's Lock-Atomizer is an clever packaging solution.

As a footnote — thinking ahead — it is interesting to compare Coty's Lock-Atomizer for A'Suma with the self locking spray mechanism of the Roots Unisex bottle of 2005. Roots Unisex is distributed by the Lancaster Group, which is part of Coty.

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