Rose Velours

Both were passionate about precious stones and decided to open their jewelry house on the legendary Place Vendôme, at number 22, in 1906. Success was not long in coming, and despite the two wars, Van Cleef & Arpels managed to establish its extraordinary creations as well as its perfumes. The first, First, is a feminine fragrance released in 1976. In 2013, Van Cleef & Arpels honored the rose by unveiling Rose Velours, a fragrance that is part of the house’s Collection Extraordinaire.

The queen of flowers honored in Rose Velours

The house’s Collection Extraordinaire aims to honor a noble ingredient. This ingredient is showcased through other raw materials. The ingredients are cut with breathtaking precision, like that of a precious stone. After gardenia, patchouli and lily, Van Cleef & Arpels presents the queen of flowers, the most feminine and romantic of flowers, the rose. On this subject, Antoine Maisondieu, the perfumer in charge of composing Rose Velours, states that the rose embodies for him absolute femininity, the ultimate luxury; that he built this perfume like an imaginary journey, in several stages that reveal increasingly complex effluvia, from dawn to dusk; and that he wanted an initiatory perfume, one that reveals itself gradually on the skin and grows richer over the hours. The rose is closely tied to woman, to her intimacy, to her love. It is a flower that has been sublimated by countless perfumers. Easily accessible, Rose Velours in fact reveals great complexity.

Van Cleef & Arpels chooses rose absolute for its Rose Velours perfume

Rose Velours is considered a floral and fruity fragrance built around rose absolute. Rose Velours opens on a breath of freshness thanks to bergamot. This is quickly joined by violet flowers, which bring their green facet here. The heart of Rose Velours is charged with intense honeyed roses that pair with iris absolute, offering powdery and velvety tonalities. The base is more amber and woody, thanks to the presence of Laos benzoin, cedarwood and Ambroxan. The power of the ingredients here reaches its peak. As for the bottle, it echoes the codes of its predecessors, both understated and elegant. Rectangular in shape, it stands proudly, adorned with a monogram bearing the jewelry house’s initials. On the label bearing its name is affixed a number indicating which of the perfumer’s trials was chosen by the house.

Rose Velours is an exceptional essence drawn from Van Cleef & Arpels’ Collection Extraordinaire. The jewelry house decided to honor here the rose, the queen of flowers, the most romantic, the one that captivates the most women. The composition is dazzling, just like the final nectar.