Hi Posse Peeps! I was searching the Surrender To Chance site recently and I came across a rare beauty. A decant of vintage Caron Violette Precieuse from 1913 version, created by Ernest Daltroff. This fragrance was re-released in 2017 but I was unable to find the Caron flagship store in Paris to smell it. This is the kind of amazing good fortune we all have with such a library of perfume to choose from. The crew that run Surrender To Chance are my friends but I shop there because I know their stuff is amazing. Also the breadth of their collection is astounding.
Personally I love the Caron house and have written on Posse about Infini, Pour un Homme and Bellodgia before.
Violette Precieuse (vintage) by Caron
Parfumo gives these featured accords (for 2017 version):
Yop: Violet, Iris
Heart: Musk, Lily of the valley
Base: Sandalwood, Raspberry
The sense of excitement before my first spritz of Violette Precieuse was so full on I had butterflies. I am fully aware how dumb that sounds but nevertheless it’s the truth. Having a few precious, and expensive, ml of a long gone beauty is so exciting. Like looking back through a fragrant window.
The opening is calm and soothing. The violet leaves are crisp and green and I smell galbanum hiding away behind them. A carroty iris adds to the fresh springlike feeling. As we head into the Violette Precieuse heart that iris turns woody and a little earthy, like the fragrance has been grounded. Very smooth, beautifully done. Also, the opening sequence lasts for ages, even at about 10 minutes into the ride we are still mainly violet/iris/galbanum. I love how this selection has gone from lush to bone dry.
My nose completely skips the lily of the valley. The sandalwood has made its presence known at about 30 minutes in. Dry rooty iris and a non creamy sandalwood become the star players. Violette Precieuse is such a unisex fragrance. It could have been created for men or women. This dry and austere look at violet has surprised me a lot.
Violette Precieuse, did you ever try old or new?
Portia xx
How does it compare/contrast with vintage Apres L’Ondee?
VP is one of my faves, and I’m still super sad at how hard it is to find even a current version! Why do companies X out some of their more interesting things, like Worth Courtesan is gone. Bleah.
Courtesan got SO cheap at the discounters I knew it was going so managed to snaffle a backup. Phew!
Don’t believe anyone here would think it’s dumb to have butterflies before sniffing a rare beauty…
I know, right? I got the (literal) shakes when I opened a sample of vintage Coty Chypre!
xoxo
Yes, you’re probably right AnnieA
This is completely in my wheelhouse, and I need to try it. Off to STC to try and order a sample! Thanks Portia! xo
Hope you love it DinaC
I love this perfume! Violets are tricky, in that the ionones therein tend to shut down our olfactory nerves for awhile, rendering (at least me) anosmic to the scent – but VP manages to hold onto the note! That dry austereness is an interesting a fascinating take on what is otherwise a sunny, cheerful little flower!
I, too, got mine from Surrender to Chance – LUH them! xoxoxo
Snap!
I find violet to be a strange note: dry, astringent, but with that weird powdery aspect. Love violet sweets, but perfumes less so. Still, this makes me want to seek out vintage perfumes of all types.
Interesting how you smell violet Cinnamon.
Yeah, vintage is a whirlpool
I would really like to try VP but having just checked the STC site, it doesn’t look as if I’ll have a chance this time around. I don’t know a lot of Caron perfumes but I do like Farnesiana, Tabac Blond and Bellodgia.
Tabac Blonde is a thing of beauty! xoxoxo
You said it Musette
Bellodgia! One of my faves too