JAR Diamond Water © Ida

I often peruse ÇaFleureBon annals, seeking to uncover whether or not we have reviewed some of my (many) favorite perfumes. Sometimes I’m surprised which ones we haven’t – and Joel Arthur Rosenthal, aka JAR – sprang to mind. To that end, I’d like to introduce you to the brand and JAR Diamond Water – a cryptic carnation if ever there was one. I only possess two JAR fragrances; they are Diamond Water and Golconda. Both are carnation-forward, but different as night and day.

 

Joel Arthur Rosenthal via Jewelers and Brands

Joel Arthur Rosenthal is fantasy jeweler to the moneyed and famous: designer Diane von Furstenberg referred to him as the “Fabergé of our time.” He is secretive and private: he does not advertise either his outrageously luxe, decadent jewels or his perfumes. To date, he is the first living jeweler to be granted a retrospective at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and twelve of his exquisite oeuvres from the collection of late philanthropist Ann Getty (one of his muses) were recently the source of significant buzz this past June at Christie’s auction. He creates what he wishes, as he wishes, for whom he wishes – and his approach to fragrance mirrors this art-for-art’s-sake approach.

Bergdorf Goodman photo courtesy of Hernando©

There are few ways to acquaint yourself with JAR perfumes: you either a) visit the Rue de Castiglione boutique in Paris; b) venture into the alcove boutique at Bergdorf Goodman’s in New York City (it was still in residence at Bergdorf’s in July 2022); c) find a decanter who is willing to sell you a cc or so; or d) beg a friend. From what I read, it appears that these fragrances have slipped under the radar over the years; with so many new releases appearing on the scene in incrementally increasing numbers, that’s not surprising. They are still extremely expensive, but when you look at the going prices of certain well-known lines (that people purchase in droves), the sticker shock is somewhat diminished in comparison. Their quality is incomparable, whatever the cost.

 

Jar Diamond Water photo via Ida©

I visited the plush, clandestine alcove, nay, lair – which houses JAR’s seven perfumes on a trip to Bergdorf Goodman’s many years ago. It wasn’t quite a need-to-know location, but felt distinctly separate from the rest of the fragrance department, sequestered away in a darkened corner. In the womblike atmosphere of discreet grandeur, one is introduced to the entire line by an individual who has been trained. You are seated in front of a row of glass cloches containing a chamois cloth impregnated with each perfume. No notes are offered; JAR’s concept is that you experience without bias, in an environment which is relatively otherwise stimulus-free. You are free to be anointed (this is only performed by the JAR assistant) – where they bloom, or not – dependent upon your personal chemistry and expectations. Each individual flacon is a 30 ml. teardrop-shaped Baccarat vessel nestled inside a velvety maroon suede pouch. Utmost simplicity.

Musée de Cluny photo by Ida ©

JAR Diamond Water: no notes ever being given; one must divine its composition via instinct and experience; it might be classified as an incensey woody floral. My first impression is a heady carnation enwreathed in a hammy lily or even tuberose (perhaps a little ylang-ylang?): smokily animalic, slightly leathery and spicy. Unlike other spicy carnations (Caron Bellodgia, Coup de Fouet, Floris Malmaison, DSH Souvenir de Malmaison, Caron Poivre and many others), it possesses a millefiore presence. Its floralcy does not cloy or scream ‘clove’ directly. Wisps of indefinable incense appear in the foreground and swirl around the luscious, heady florals. Diamond Water is a head-turner in the classical vein, worthy of being known as haute parfumerie. I could envision Oscar Wilde wearing it, or any confident soul (Tom Hardy?) who refuses to buy into stereotypes. It’s a carnation conundrum, a mystifying bewitchment in fluid form, brimming with subtle entanglements; the sort of perfume that entices others to lean into your magnetic orbit. If Jar Diamond Water were a fabric, it would be an elaborate tapestry, perhaps one from Paris’ Musée de Cluny: intricately detailed and pleasure-redolent, multi-hued and alluding to tales within tales.

Perfumes this magnificent never fall out of fashion. May they be preserved as part of our aromatic history and olfactory education.  Year not disclosed and  notes are perceived: carnation, lily, tuberose, incense, woods, leather

JAR Diamond Water is from my personal collection. My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor