Van Cleef & Arpels
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The blackcurrant and raspberry hit with immediate tartness, their sharp, slightly tart character cutting through like a knife through silk. Mandarin orange joins the fray with zesty brightness, creating a top note that feels almost jammy—as though you've just bitten into a fresh, slightly acidic fruit preserve.
The jasmine emerges with creamy indolic character, interlocking with the lingering berry notes to create something neither purely fruity nor classically floral. The white blossoms add a soft, powdery counterpoint whilst the praline begins its subtle work underneath, introducing a buttery sweetness that anchors the composition.
The patchouli and praline settle into their final form, the berries fading to ghostly impressions behind a predominantly warm, slightly earthy-sweet base. What remains is soft and skin-like—less a cloud of fragrance and more an olfactory whisper, intimate and decidedly ephemeral on the skin.
Oriens is Bernard Ellena's exercise in controlled indulgence—a fragrance that treats sweetness as a architectural element rather than an afterthought. The opening salvo of blackcurrant and raspberry creates a tart, almost jammy foundation that prevents the composition from tipping into saccharine territory, whilst mandarin orange adds brightness and citric snap. This isn't fruit as a fleeting top note accent; it's substantial and grippy, anchoring what could otherwise float away on jasmine fumes alone.
The heart reveals Ellena's restrained hand: white blossoms and jasmine arrive with measured elegance, their indolic richness tempered by those lingering berry notes. There's a tension here between floral amplitude and fruity tartness that keeps the composition perpetually engaging—neither note dominates, instead creating a kind of olfactory equilibrium. The praline in the base lurks with quiet insistence, adding a creamy, almost buttery texture that catches the jasmine and softens its edges.
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3.6/5 (125)