Cartier has launched two new fragrances in their luxury Les Heures Voyageuses oud series, Oud Absolu and Oud & Santal.
Oud Absolu ~ "Les Heures Voyageuses, created by Cartier's in-house perfumer, Mathilde Laurent, is an immeasurably precious collection of fragrances from around the world. It pays tribute to distant lands for a wonderful olfactory journey. Oud Absolu is the quintessential embodiment of all the fragrances in Cartier's Les Heures Voyageuses Collection. A fragrance to be worn alone or combined with others, its concentration heightens the voluptuousness and sillage of this collection dedicated to Oud wood and all its mysteries." Can be worn alone, or layered with other fragrances in the collection. $380 for 45 ml.
Oud & Santal ~ "At the heart of the fragrance, a mighty union of two precious woods among the most treasured ingredients in perfumery, used for thousands of years for mystic and traditional rituals. Oud & Santal is composed of real Oud Wood, a new exceptional note, and a smooth and glowing Sandal Wood conjured with a comfit plum for a liqueur-like sensuousness. Oud & Santal is a sophisticated and enveloping fragrance tinged with radiance." $380 for 75 ml.
Cartier Oud Absolu and Oud & Santal available now at Saks Fifth Avenue.
(via saksfifthavenue)
I can do nothing but laugh. Cartier has done nothing noteworthy in years. The Santos Concentree being the last good thing. $380 for a Cartier? I’ll pass and wear my Santos Concentree into the sunset. 🙂
I have pretty much skipped this series so I won’t laugh — for all I know they’re fantastic. But wouldn’t pay $380 even if they were!
I totally disagree. Declaration was launched after Santos Concentree and it’s one of the most influential masculine fragrances of current years and a very beautiful constructed fragrance. Also, on the feminine side you have Le Baiser du Dragon, Baiser Voile and La Panthere, all very well constructed fragrances from the brand.
Leaving the price aside, the Les Heures du Parfum line has beautiful fragrances and as good as other more revered lines like Hermessence or Chanel Les Exclusifs. La Treizieme Heure and Le Heure Fogueuse are good examples. I’m not so fond of the Voyageuse line, they are more expensive and altough they justify with the pure parfum concentration the oud theme is already so strong that it doesn’t seem necessary.
Too bad that Cartier doesn’t have 15ml sizes like the Hermessences, it would be great.
I guess it is also not as widely available as well. I have rarely seen them. Even in high-end department stores, they are kept on a very high shelf that prevents one from reaching to spray, I needed to ask the SA who had to get a mini-stair to climb and got it for me :/
La Treizieme Heure and L’Heure Fougueuse are the only two that I would pay for, but that’s personal preference. I find both of them distinctive and soothing, especially Fougueuse. That said, I’m not that much of a fan of the rest of the current Cartiers that I’ve tried and won’t bother seeking these out unless I hear they’re really wonderful (and probably still wouldn’t pay that much, even if I loved them).
I’m ouded out and $380.00 is way too costly. Aspirational pricing is getting out of hand.
I’m way ouded out!
Some days ago a friend that has a shop told me he was going to send me some samples of new cartier fragrances, i got puzzled because i didn’t saw any new ones. Then i saw your post today and understood. And coincidentally my samples arrived today. First impression of oud absolu is that, besides the price, it seems really good. Something on it reminds me of Habit Rouge at a quick impression.
Ah, good to know, thanks!
I am someone who has liked a lot of ouds I’ve tried, but don’t own a single FB of an oud-centered frag…. But I tried several of these Cartier ouds recently and I thought they were really terrific. Entirely out of my price range, and not scents that I personally crave, but it was clear extensive work had been done to develop them.
As for Cartier… I inherited a watch from my mother-in-law that turned out to be some “bridge” line as the SA politely described it–less expensive, gold plated, etc. etc. that they no longer carry… Research tells me that the watch probably cost about $1200 in the 1990s. It means a lot to my husband that I wear his mother’s watch…so…. Getting a new band, a tune-up and replacing the crystal is costing me $1000–and they will not re-plate the rubbed away gold. I am only sharing this story to say that after a very nice chat about my very expensive watch repair, I asked if I might have some samples of the new ouds. She looked at me like I had asked if she could spare a dollar. Errrr. No. That just isn’t done….so, like the jewelry and watches, the perfume mystique is enhanced by its inaccessibility. You pay to play.
Personally, I don’t get the appeal of inaccessible by cost but available in upscale malls everywhere…. But the oud perfumes were really worth a sniff, if you like oud.
That is too funny that they would not give you samples. And why will they not re-plate it?
Reading between the lines, I got the impression that they had pulled back hard on the “bridge” concept and were trying to stay firmly in the uber luxury domain–starting with avoiding revisiting anything to do with gold plated watches. The watch that looked most similar to mine (its one of those ubiquitous Cartier tank watches) in the case at the store was $15,000–not errr gold plated. The SA explained that they no longer “do” gold plating….
It really was a trippy scene. We were in a suburban mall, albeit the luxury end. There was nothing particularly elegant or well-designed about the space. It all felt very cookie-cutter–but with the offer of coffee or sparkling water while we worked out the phenomenal price of getting my watch serviced (it was running, it just needed a new battery!!). I went and tested the perfumes while we waited for price quotes… Not the best use of a grand in my life. The things we do for love!!
Ah. Wow. This might explain why I went in the Cartier boutique in my mall once and never again.
Really bad that they didn’t gave you samples of those. I don’t understand why Cartier treat their exclusive fragrances so poorly like prada. Well, if you want to try them, i recommend you the belgium store Place Vendomê. They carry all the line and they send samples with your purchase. They are one of the best shops in the world and they sell through email if you want.
Just too expensive