Doblis

I was lucky enough to get my hands on 5 mL of the 1955 version. One of my most treasured things. It smells like vintage opulence in the sense of being beautifully crafted by masters of their art using fine materials and experience. Nothing done by accident or by chance. No corners cut, no expense spared to achieve the desired result. This is the real thing in a bottle, a beautifully polished flawless jewel in a sparkling setting. I would love to smell the rerelease to compare.

The feeling of suede, the Doblis leather Hermés use for their expensive bags, is here captured majestically. The scent is soft, creamy, elegant, ultimately chic. Powder, flowers, chypré are here mixed in an incomparable way. It's the Hermés house bottled with its expensively understated accessories, for those who do not care going around with a logo but for those who want elegance in its quintessence.

One of my all-time favorite fragrances; it reminds me of my childhood.

my comments are for the 2004 parfum re-release. for a fragrance that does not contain aldehydes, it certainly has that feeling. the brilliant guy robert's nose and his sense of refined opulence are very apparent all throughout this deceptively simple composition. doblis stands out from monsieur robert's pantheon of amouage gold woman (larger and muskier), caleche (sparklier and greener), gucci no.1 (earthier) and madame rochas. it is closest to that last one but less overtly floral and considerably more refined. i suppose they both carry the peril of the "mature woman" cliche. i love how so many scents ostensibly for that demographic are kind of great on a man. i suspect that hermes was hoping in vain for a more youthful doblis when jce created kelly caleche. while i don't care for that unfortunate scent, my only small wish for doblis is that it could have a bit more leather. apparently the edc version did...decades ago. as you probably know, hermes now has another offering in this genre. cuir d'anges is much sharper and, for a floral leather, is decidedly more leather than floral. men may be glad of that, plus cd'a is much easier to obtain. back to subject at hand though...an absolutely spectacular perfume. all the disparate elements are seamlessly blended into a smooth, stunning, coherent whole. well worth the long wait to finally get a bottle.

If you have ever been to the Frank Lloyd Wright home Taliesin West, outside of Phoenix, Arizona, then you know that it would be the best place in the whole world to live if you happened to be a cat. In that spirit, let me say that if cats wore perfume, I think they might wear Doblis. At the moment of application the alcohol smells like the old Diors used to do, and then the smell of musk climbs up your front like a silky, insistent pet, sweetly dusty, like animal fur with rose incense. The powdery dry down continues with its old-world rose and adds honey, which to my nose is always halfway to being an animalic scent. Doblis arches and preens against you, batting slow, almond-shaped eyes as it seduces.

Luxurious pearl leather, nostalgic beauty. Released in 1955, the original perfumer was Guy Robert. The sample used in this review, which was reformulated by Hermes with the assistance of Francois Robert in 2004. The surface of Doblis is smooth and wrinkle-free, as soft as silk and delicate to the touch. There's no heavy smoky smell, I can't find birch tar and strong isobutylquinoline, Doblis is mild and tough. Elegant aldehyde-musk underpins the leather. The floral scent is as subtle as the leather print, it's hard to pinpoint where it is. Compared with Cabochard, Jolie Madame, Diorling and other classics that are close to Doblis in time sequence, Doblis lacks a distinctive character. The above cases all belong to the Leather-Chypre family, and both have dry and bitter qualities. Cabochard is known for its complexity, while Doblis chooses simplicity and lightness. All the edges and corners are polished (without oiling) and the edges are refined, allowing the leather's luster to be revealed naturally, with no trace of detail processing. The most low-key and restrained leather is none other than Doblis.

OK....I stumbled across "decants" of this on SurrenderToChance website......RIDICULOUS prices, BUT.....if you are dying for this...and are willing to trust this (unknown to me) website....it is there in both vintage cologne and limited edition parfum.

I found a bottle of Doblis from evilbay. The price was modest 50 000 euros. I wonder if anyone is ready for paying that amount. I could consider a 0,01 ml sample. I'm just curious about it, and if I could smell it once I would be happy.

I'd like to smell, to test this: rose & leather..hmmm! But how, but where??