Diamonds and Sapphires

Escape by Calvin Klein, but ten times better. High quality time capsule. The ‘90s untouched. Aquatic fresh goodness. Calone (the molecule) in one of its best presentations. Lily of the valley made wearable. Fresh, well-rounded aquatic melony floral fougère. Fragrances made in the US are not necessarily subject to the strict IFRA regulations that restricted perfume ingredients in 2005 and destroyed countless classics that were made in France or other European countries and intended for distribution in Europe. New categories emerged and new lines were drawn after 2005. The “screechy” phenomenon took over and deflated many classics that relied on certain natural ingredients such as oakmoss. Ironically, oakmoss isn’t listed for Diamonds and Sapphires (as it is for Escape). Fruitchoulis, candy florals, and woodsy ambers that smell cheap and “cheap” continued the takeover that began with Angel, and they were able to adjust to the forced change in ingredients. Pretty soon perfume was everything that Elizabeth Taylor fragrances aren’t: the olfactory illusion of sugar. There also used to exist a phenomenon of spraying a fragrance on and waiting about 20 minutes before deciding if it works on you, and Elizabeth Taylor fragrances are no exception. Nearly all fragrances required this initial dry down period. Today, newer fragrances are designed to sell on the immediate first impression, regardless of what the fragrance is doing three hours later. Diamonds and Sapphires is no exception to the fact that Elizabeth Taylor fragrances did not devolve with the trends that followed their releases. Diamonds and Sapphires, which is made in the US, seems to have missed the regulatory downgrade to screechy class. It doesn’t smell cheap either. It smells like a reflection of the year it was released. Regarding the affordability of this line, these fragrances are made in the US, therefore no import cost is associated with their sale in the US. They have also reached product maturity (the product has long since made back all the money it cost to bring it to market). There is still high demand for White Diamonds, so my guess is that WD’s wider distribution and higher price point reflects its enduring wide appeal. The majority of the fragrances in this line were relatively expensive department store fragrances when they were introduced. Fortunately, the quality of these fragrances has not suffered over time. The comparisons to Escape could not be more fitting, except this is better than Escape was. Practically everyone wanted a bottle of Escape at some point during the decade of the ‘90s, including many people who pronounced it “Ekscape.” In the ‘90s, Escape smelled fresh and beautiful, but if someone wore too much of it, the oakmoss and coriander would make you want to escape the room. There’s no oakmoss or coriander listed for Diamonds and Sapphires. Diamonds and Sapphires is just doing its breezy and fresh floral-musk-calone-fougère thing without a headache factor. The melon that people are smelling is calone, which is a molecule that was invented and emerged in perfumery in the ‘80s. It smells melony and aquatic. (Escape relied on the melony side of calone. Cool Water relied on the watery side of calone.) A lot of the nice aquatics joined the screechy club after 2005. The Issey Miyake references are very accurate, but Diamonds and Sapphires has none of the screechy or piddly notes. How nice! The ‘90s were a time when everyone wanted to smell fresh and not “like perfume.” There was a whole movement away from flowers and spices and into citrus fruits and the melony, aquatic calone. Flowers needed to become citrusy. Musk needed to be fresh. Calone was the Iso-E Super of its time. The niche movement had not yet taken everyone by the nose or gotten so many people accustomed to paying through the nose. Diamonds and Sapphires stays true to its original aesthetic and performs smoothly. There is no screechiness to be found. It’s a floral aquatic woodsy fougère that just smells marvelous and lives out its ‘90s goodness in a classy manner without overwhelming anyone. Thanks to its relative complexity, it’s well-rounded. There’s a squeaky clean musk and some ylang-ylang apparent from heart to extended dry down, but they’re layered in with the other heart and base notes in a very balanced way. The overall composition does have a blue vibe to it. As with Diamonds and Rubies, one or two sprays will get the job done. And by the way, with the exception of the rush of gorgeous, sheer white florals when first sprayed, this is unisex by today’s standards.

I saw this on the shelf on my way out the door this morning, and, on a whim, realized I had not tried it in years. I gave a quick blast, and ran out the door...I few moments later, I was floored. The quality of the perfume far exceeded what I had remembered. The Galbanum, in the top of all places, tames the aldehydes and gives the Melon something to grab onto. To be sure I wasn't crazy, I went back to retest. What I discovered is that the first 2 minutes can be almost unbearable- a weird synthetic Lily strapped onto Aldehydes at 200mph...but hold on, this transitions out very quickly. By minute 3 you are on a velvet blanket of Galbanum and juicy fruits. This phase is absolutely beautiful, and with none of the "rotten fruit" notes that can occur when using Melon in a heavy composition. The Galbanum is top notch quality, at least in my vintage bottle of edt. (My guess is they switched to something cheaper after the launch, but that's another day!) At minute 5, in come tangy spices, and finally we sense the spectre of original White Diamonds. At 10, this perfume is the perfect melange of spices, fruits, and resin. The florals play second fiddle, but the Rose and the Ylang are tenacuious enough to peek through. There is also a waft of Night Blooming Lily, but the deep indolic kind, not the cited LOV note. This phase lasts for quite a long time, nearly an hour, during which time I can't resist smelling my arm over & over! The drydown is indeed as stated- Sandal, Musk, and Vetiver. All in all, this is a perfume with a lot of presence. Even in the EDT it has excellent longevity and sillage. I tested on a perfect September day- warm, dry, and breezy. I can also see wearing this in the winter, but I fear that humidity might create a cloying effect, and therefore, I would use it with caution in the spring and summer.

A lovely floral-calone fougère! 🥰🍈🌹🌿 The Lily of the valley blends into the calone, which blends into the rhubarb, creating a sharp, bright, cooling afternoon scent. In about 40 minutes after drydown the calone calms down and the florals and vetiver joins the white musk and all spice. It is similar to Escape, but a bit less animalic, skipping the coriander and oakmoss and opting for a gentle sandalwood over the harder cedar. Diamonds and Sapphires is a surprisingly beachy scent for not (technically) having an aquatic note. A less floral L'eau D'issey, and less fruity Sunflowers. All four scents are great for nice warm days. I will caution anyone sensitive to calone (the melon scent) and/or Lily of the Valley though. They're pretty strong for the first hour or so. And like all White Diamond scents, don't initially over spray. Personally, I love it. It's a very green melon-y fragrance, more like a cucumber smell than a fruity, sugary candy melon you'll find in a lot of newer perfumes. My teenage children and their friends are completely enamored with these 80's and 90's scents right now. They're sick of scents that smell like candy. Guess what's going to smell like "old ladies" to them in the not so distant future? So, wear Diamonds and Sapphires in the morning, Sparkling White Diamonds in the afternoon, and White Diamonds in the evening, and White Diamonds Night if you're staying up late. Your bases are beautifully covered. 🥰

Oh! This is lovely! Something as desirable (to me!) as a fruity and sweet and green floral! I so often miss tartness in fragrances that are sweet and I want both. This has both. The tartness is rounded, though, and the green aspect of it is not sharp in the least. Soft lily of the valley (LOTV often gets screechy, but not here) that is mellowed to bright, but soft by the melon, peach and the yang-ylang. The melon is NOT the aquatic cucumber/calone style, but rather like a fragrant cantaloupe, the peach is not cloying (I often feel that peach gets a little "pond-watery") and both of these mixes beautifully with the tart rhubarb. This is definitely a great sweet-tart-green-fruity balance with the rose/jasmin/ylang combo constantly dancing in the background and it manages to be fresh, sensual and interesting at the same time. It ́s definitely easy to like without being trite. It gets ambery in a drier way after a while and softly woody. I could see myself wearing this quite often. Listen, don ́t think that this one is in any way out-dated- it could easily be a modern day Versace or or Gucci. Only thing is this one is more interesting than mentioned brands have been lately...

I have never had any interest in any of Elizabeth Taylor's perfumes, before now. When they were released, I was a teenager and thought they were probably to mature for me at the time. And even a couple of years ago when I started on this perfume collection/appreciation/obsession..they were not high on my "try" list. And at least in the instance of this gorgeous lady, I was so,so wrong. In an earlier post in the forums, someone called this one a floral aquatic and I was intrigued. I looked it up in the index and didn't see anything in the notes not to like and with the price I thought..."Why not??" Simply put, this bottle of golden elixir brings to mind a floral heaven! I am in absolute LOVE! I don't really get anything super aquatic, but it is sweet, fruity and smells of lovely white flowers. It smells simple and luxurious all at the same time. Is that even possible? How could I have been so dismissive and wrong? I have worn this for 5 days straight and that hasn't happened in years, I am a "change my scent when I change my undies" type girl and I have only been doing the latter all week, because I cannot get enough of this gorgeous gal. Now I must try them all!