Ambre Précieux – rich and warm and voluptuous

Photo: perfumeniche

At the top of Place Vendôme in Paris is rue des Capucines. Turn left and walk a short way, and you’ll find a perfume shop called Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, home to the French niche line of the same name.

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, or ‘Master Perfumer and Glovemaker’ in English, refers to the long history that gloves and perfume share. Catherine de Medici introduced the perfumed glove to the French court when she married Henry II of France at age fourteen. Scented gloves soon became the fashion, and the tradition of selling scented gloves alongside fine perfumes was born. In the 17th King Louis XIV century, the king of France recognized the relationship between perfume and scented gloves by bestowing the title Maître Parfumeur et Gantier on the great French perfume houses of the day.

The Maître Parfumeur et Gantier fragrance line was founded by Jean-François Laporte in 1988 after he left L’Artisan Parfumeur, a niche line he founded in 1976. Laporte developed a reputation as an innovator dedicated to using quality ingredients in fragrances that offered an alternative to mass-market perfumery.

Laporte created outstanding fragrances for Maître Parfumeur et Gantier, and in 1997, his former apprentice, Jean-Paul Millet Lage, became the house perfumer. Despite its pedigree, the house struggled throughout the aughts. Reformulations and rumours of reformulations eroded the public’s confidence in the brand, which is why its fragrances are so often overlooked. In the last few years, Maître Parfumeur et Gantier's challenges have largely been overcome, and the line is gaining the attention and respect it deserves.

Over the years, I’ve visited the Maître Parfumeur et Gantier store in Paris because there’s one fragrance that I can’t shake: Ambre Précieux. Considered the benchmark amber when it was launched in 1988, it has changed over the years, but it still clutches my heart every time I smell it.

Amber is a favourite note of mine, and the fragrances that feature it are in heavy rotation, especially in cooler weather. Ambre Précieux is a stand-out.

It opens with bitter myrrh, strong and medicinal, paired with lavender that’s fragrant, fresh, and so camphorous it’s heady. Then, the amber, sweet, dark and resinous takes centre stage. The sensuous warmth of the amber counterbalances the bitter myrrh and camphorous. Just at this juncture, Ambre Précieux gets achingly smoky and animalic, reining in the sweetness just enough to allow nutmeg to add spicy warmth. The base is all about cozy vanilla. A note of creamy vanilla gives it a sweet, soft sensuality. It links to vanilla-like Peru balsam and tolu balsam. Rich and complex, these balsams are related; both have cinnamic and vanillic facets that amplify the vanilla to create a warm, voluptuous, cocooning feeling.

Amber is present throughout the development of Ambre Précieux, keeping that smoky, resinous sensuality going and going. The truth is, it doesn’t evolve much. It doesn’t have to. It's perfect the way it is.

Check out Ambre Précieux in our Shop.