Olivier Durbano Deus ex Petra 21 courtesy of the perfumer

“Living stone, the illumination of incense – heaven, a piercing word which reveals. A perfume of fire, of silence, and of the Soul.” ~ Olivier Durbano

 

 The World Rider-Waite deck, Tarot of Marseille Wikipedia

The Tarot, that esteemed tool of divination –  is completed by the number 21; it corresponds to The World, the final (trump) card in the Major Arcana. How timely then is artisanal perfumer Olivier Durbano’s latest offering, Deus ex Petra 21 – as we find ourselves in a turbulent era of great flux and the commencement of a new year, as viewed by the ancients in both Judaism and agricultural societies. In olden times, the harvest signified the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a whole new life cycle. We stand at the threshold of understanding, fulfillment, integration, completion, and a sense of wholeness: new opportunities to be realized await us.

Olivier Durbano Deus ex Petra 21 at Pitti Fragranze courtesy of the perfumer

Sacred intention infuses all of Olivier’s work – be it in precious stone, fabric, or fragrance. As flame reduces physical matter to ash, purifying and removing all dross – so Olivier Durbano Deus x Petra 21 reveals the rekindled embers of the spirit when the stone speaks, after we have been distilled to our very essence. The perfumer seeks to awaken the Divine in us, employing the wisdom of the I Ching, the New Testament, and the wisdom of old. In Deus x Petra 21, this desire manifests itself through the physical world and cuts like a knife through the extraneous via incense: per fumum.

Olivier Durbano courtesy of the perfumer

I have delighted in many of the perfumer’s fragrances over the years – some upon initial encounter, and others which have required me to take my time in making their acquaintance. Deus x Petra 21 and I connected immediately upon contact, an experience which has become increasingly infrequent. The moment the jus was released from its flacon and landed upon flesh, I knew that I was in the presence of something extraordinary: the quivering of the senses; a heightened awareness, the direct affirmation. In fact, I continued to reapply this perfume and wore it for several successive days, as I sought to wrest its particular significance (aside from its beauty).

 

Agathe stone display at Pitti Fragranze

Olivier Durbano Deus ex Petra 21 opens with the happy marriage of clove and olibanum, swiftly ensued by the intensely herbal tones of immortelle and clary sage’s brilliantly mordant ability to open the third eye. The verdancy of fig serves to amplify the fragrance’s enigmatic sweet herbalcy-underlined-with-smoke leitmotiv. These are accompanied by the jammy aspect of fir balsam, which imparts a fruity sweetness; vetiver’s smoldering grassiness contributes yet more layers of honeyed green to Deus x Petra 21’s spicy/incense/vegetal/hay-inflected persona. The inclusion of ambergris feels intuitive, in that some facets of clary sage are redolent of it (in fact, sclareol has been cited as a precursor to Ambrox-related aromas), and musk ensures a lasting trail which is both tenacious and comforting.

Olivier Durbano perfumes at Pitti Fragranze Display

There exist innumerable incenses in today’s perfumed pantheon. You may very well ask: do we need another? To which my answer is an unqualified Yes. The singularity and original character of Deus x Petra 21 recalls the early halcyon Incense days of Comme des Garcons and master perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour’s marvelously ingenious fragrances: unique, heartfelt, and completely their own being. There is something otherworldly about a perfume which has engaged the perfumer, body and soul: a veracity which cannot be duplicated. Again, here is one of 2025’s most noteworthy fragrances.

N.B. It’s interesting to note that my spouse (who has experienced an awful lot of perfume since 1982, and wears precious little of it) was intrigued right off the bat and wanted to wear Deus x Petra as soon as I sprayed it. He’s not a ‘perfume person’ in the sense that we are – but he was drawn like moth to flame, and having met Olivier in Florence, he believes in both the man and his work. For me, that speaks volumes.

Notes: olibanum absolute, clove, immortelle, clary sage, fig, olibanum resinoid, vetiver, balsam fir, ambergris, musk

 Flacon was generously gifted by the perfumer – many thanks! My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor

Thanks to the generosity of Olivier Durbano, we may offer a 10 ml flacon of Olivier Durbano Deus ex Petra 21 for one registered reader in the EU. YOU MUST REGISTER OR YOUR COMMENT WILL NOT COUNT. To be eligible, please leave a comment regarding what appealed to you in Ida’s review, where you live, and whether you have a favorite Olivier Durbano fragrance. Draw closes 9/26/2025

All photos are courtesy of Olivier Durbano unless otherwise stated

Olivier Durbano was awarded the CaFleureBon Hall of Fame for 2020 by Ermano and Michelyn

Black Tourmaline is a CaFleureBon Modern Masterpiece

For our reviews of  Rock Crystal (#1)  Amethyst, Pink Quartz, Turquoise, (Managing Editor Tama Blough’s Fragrant Awakening may she RIP), Citrine, Heliotrope, Lapis, Philosophorum. Promothee, Labrodorite, Pyrit AmaTra SpemM PetraM  and Aram, M. Oldavite 18.9  Ida’s review of 19.1 Pierre Blanche Phrophetie Gushing Waterstone 20  please click on their individual hyperlinks.

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