Bois d'Amande Collection Extraordinaire

Van Cleef & Arpels created the Collection Extraordinaire in 2009 to showcase precious woods, which the house regards as the noblest materials in the perfumer’s palette. Bois d’Amande joined it in 2020, alongside Bois d’Iris and Bois Doré, as a 75 ml eau de parfum.

Now Smell This announced its release as early as January 2020. In March, AFP-Relaxnews gave the schedule, with sales in a selection of stores from March 15, and the house’s intention: to explore the facets of an imaginary almond tree, delicate and indulgent, that evokes a rare wood.

Almond trees under the Italian sun

The fragrance is signed by Sidonie Lancesseur. In the launch press release, she says she pictured almond trees under the Italian sun and wanted to contrast the verticality of the woody notes with the tenderness of an almond accord, over a vanilla base. Cedar is its structuring material.

The house describes a warm woody accord wrapped in almond sweetness. It places cedar at the center of the composition and credits it with mellow aromas that recall almond; its creaminess carries on, the house says, alongside musk and the vanilla pod, for a silky texture.

The story told today

Van Cleef & Arpels’ current page tells Bois d’Amande differently: the daydream of a timeless moment under a blossoming almond tree, an opening lit by lemon and an almond accord heightened by tonka bean. The house links the collection to its Les Jardins high jewelry line.