In late 2014 independent perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz released her Brilliant Collection, a quartet of fragrances inspired by an exhibition of Cartier jewelry at the Denver Art Museum. I’ve been sampling the four Brilliant scents this week, and while I could go on and on about this interesting analogy between jewels and perfumes, and the language we use to describe both, I’ll try to stay on topic by sharing my thoughts on my two favorites from the collection.

Jacinthe de Sapphir was created to evoke “a densely blue, gorgeous hyacinth in the ground” and was “inspired by the Queen of Romania Sapphire, one of the famed Cartier jewels.” It has a composition of violet leaf, galbanum, bergamot and hyacinth; rose de mai, narcissus and tuberose; and tolu balsam, Peru balsam, vetiver, styrax and civet. As promised by Hurwitz, this fragrance evolves from “dewy” to “luscious and earthy.” It opens with a stemmy-green burst of galbanum that only gradually fades into a bouquet of floral notes…

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