Silences

"Silences" is, to me, an achingly beautiful chypre floral. I love chypres, and often lament that I was born too late for their heyday. They are especially liable to show a loss of complexity and identity when forced into compliance with present day fragrance manufacture regulations, which is a situation I devoutly hope to see corrected some day... It opens with a gorgeous galbanum and delightfully sparky notes of spice---cinnamon, cloves. Then bergamot and oakmoss pop in, with a hint of vetiver and sandalwood. Silences is a bit like Magie Noire in that the base notes appear early after spraying, then give way to heart notes, and reassert themselves later. A few minutes into wearing, a floral chord weaves its way in, resolving into a seductive rose note. Long into wearing, the rose remains, eventually just a whisper trailing over the fine green-chypresque drydown. As stated above, I would be as likely to call Silences a chypre floral as a floral green. I found the sillage quite moderate, especially after drydown was complete, although by no means faint or lacking. And it lasted very well indeed. I have the vintage parfum de toilette... I have no idea why the creator of this perfume chose to call it "Silences", although I like the name instinctively. For no good reason, I am reminded of the fairy tales in which a suitor must identify his bride from amongst a number of apparently identical---or at least, confusingly similar---ladies. Perhaps this fancy arose from all the other perfumes that I thought of when I was first attempting to analyze Silences...Is it she, the tall, cold one in the green veil? No, that's Chanel No. 19. The next one, who answers to Paloma? No, she is not green enough. Not Coriandre---she carries no flowers, and is altogether too light. The sister with the man's name, Jean-Louis S., has some of the same clothing on, and for a moment he hesitates; but no. The one in cobalt blue is tricky; she has some green notes woven into her crown too, and some rose at her breast...but no, she is Niki. The sorceress sister stands aloof; no confusing her in her aura of Magie Noire. Unerringly, he turns to the true bride, revealed by her emerald robe and warm rose heart...Silence has spoken. She may have many sisters, but she is uniquely beautiful. If I could be assured of a never-ending supply of this in the vintage formulation, I would drown myself in Silences all summer long...

I can't believe Silences has so many negative reviews here. I thought it's very well known with a firm fan-base. I personally like it very much. I passed through all kinds of fragrance periods, passing briefly through oriental, pepper, citrus stages, falling in love with classic chypres, only to lead me to leathers, male orientals (M7 YSL, Habit Rouge, L'eau Bleue d'Issey), unconventional chypres with either strange combinations of notes or overexposed single themes, like the supergreen Balmain de Balmain, Vent Vert, Y YSL, leather+green+animalistic chypre Bandit, superleather Cabochard, male chypres like Aramis Aramis... but with every step I drew further and further away from FLOWERS. So, all that said, I am surprised and fascinated by how well the hyacinth+overdose of green+powder+chypre base combo works in Silences. I get so much hyacinth simultaneously with that green blast from the very beginning that I was put off initially. As I said, flowers - no, thanks. But then a highly woody dry note and some powder come up to balance things and make everything work together. For me, to this day fragrances were either dry or "mouthwatering". For the first time I see one that is both at the same time. It is very interesting, original and worth trying just to see how this combination of opposites turned out. I think that any high and pretentious niche line would die to come up with something THAT new. I got it online for 18$. The best money-love deal I ever got. The bottle is gorgeous. Like the fragrance, it's both innovative and beautiful, and even though it looks like a circle, it's not! And it has a twist looked upon from the side. It stands very stable and the spray WORKS without any problem (NU YSL, you should be taking notes). @bamboowu you can actually see the quantity left in the bottle very easily by lighting it from behind with a strong pointed light (like a reading lamp, not a torch). It works perfectly for Silences, Kyoto, Bandit and even Black Cashmere - all of which are black and deemed very opaque but at the lamp they look deep purple. Same works for Agent Provocateur which is also very opaque.

Jacomo Silences This fragrance indeed invites one to sit in stillness and contemplate the silence. It’s meditative, still, deep, and expansive; exactly like the experience of “going within” while deep in meditation. It smells of mossy fertile greenery and warm earth, with light, soft florals in the background. It is classified as a floral green rather than a chypre and I couldn’t agree more. I think of a chypre as the representation of Spring – green buds bursting with life and on the verge of opening; tangy, vibrant, and fertile green. This fragrance is more like the deep mossy green of a garden that has been cultivated by an experienced gardener over years and years; someone who knows exactly when to prune and when to let nature have its way; someone who knows that sometimes the gnarled twisted bark of a fully grown tree is more than enough to capture my attention; someone who lets the tiny imperfections created by nature steal the spotlight. This is a garden that invites long hours of quiet contemplation, a meditation garden. It reminded me of Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades. This is a garden built around a lake filled with swans, water hyacinth, and lotuses. It was designed with meandering paths and frequent spots to stop in the middle of the garden to meditate while overlooking the quiet, serene lake. This shrine houses the ashes of Ghandi, and the surroundings, so peaceful and breathtakingly beautiful, seem to embody his very essence. I compared this fragrance side by side, on the same day with Chanel No. 19, vintage Vent Vert, and Niki de Saint Phalle, some of my favorite chypres. Chanel No. 19 is like a crisp, manicured garden with espaliered trees and perfectly contained flowers in complicated visual arrangements. Vent Vert is like a newly planted garden, at the beginning of the Spring, when the buds are ripe and ready to open. Niki de Saint Phalle is a colorful whimsical garden filled with art designed to remind you of your childlike sense of wonder. They are similar, but worlds apart, and each serves a different, though beautiful purpose. Jacomo Silences is a quiet, serene beauty.

Currently I live in a part of the world where there are no fashionable malls and the mail service is extremely unreliable. Since the scents I read about are often impossible to find, my newfound interest in fragrances has been mainly literary. However, today I decided to do a perfume fishing expedition at one of the local pharmacies. My catch of the day was a serene bottle of Silences. I had actually read about the fragrance just a couple of days ago, and was full of curiosity. Words like "green", "forest" and "Chanel no. 19" popped up in my head. I love the color green, I grew up in a forest and I believe I once tried Chanel no. 19 at a tax free shop... My patience is nil, so I ripped the box open in the street and sprayed my wrist. The result was a complete olfactory shock: How could anyone in their right mind relate this invasive sweet scent to cool green forests? It was a warm, blazing and very yellow experience which brought me straight back to my childhood in the 1970's: Silences is exactly the kind of fragrance that the grown-up ladies used to pour into their "cologne" bottles! Silences accompanied me down Memory Lane, but definitely not through a forest. My initial reaction was to hide from the scent, but how do you run away from your own wrist? I kept sniffing, searching desperately for the sleeping wood nymphs others had written about in their reviews. As the day passed I started sensing the moss in Silences, the verdant trees - yes, I could well imagine nymphs passing silently on the narrow paths. This is not my childhood's northern fir tree forest: Bitter, aromatic and moist. No, Silences is a Mediterranean valley, where even the moss is sweet... Edit: Could not keep my hands off Silences this morning. This is still a sunny scent to me: I see golden rays hitting the floor of the forest, covered in dried pine needles. Silences is really growing on me!

Silences has been one of my all-time, absolute favorites, one of my "BIG LOVE, can't live without" perfumes since I first acquired it in 1981. I love it as much or more today as I did when I first sniffed it, and through the intervening years have always somehow managed to hold on to at least a sampler vial of it. It is one I've had to miserly ration or even only sniff the cap because there was no way to obtain more. In a much leaner time I was once *thrilled beyond measure to score a small handful of tester vials at an estate sale. But, I do not wear it as often as one might think, what with being so madly in love with it. And that has caused me a great deal of self-reflection over the years. I don't wear it as often as others even though I love it more than some in my regular rotation. At times I've even second-guessed my commitment to it. There are other perfumes that are similar, and I have them and love them and wear them, but they are not Silences. It is special to me for reasons I can not fully articulate. The initial blast of crisp and cold - no, icy - galbanum is like no other and must be what it is that hooks my heart. The hyacinth and hint of rose that follow and unfold is what sets that hook and the oakmoss reels me in. Silences is deliberate, straight-forward and no-nonsense. It is sleek. It is high-speed and low drag. It is retro-contemporary architecture in the genre of Frank Lloyd Wright, with Milo Baughman and Russel Wright furnishings, a Modigliani hanging on the wall and a Henry Moore out in the shade garden. It is Dave Brubeck. It is Ansel Adam's black and white photography. It is a chilly, grey, early spring day. It so perfectly conveys a part of me, and I wish to never be without it.

Aromatic and dark, it's like smelling the damp cold air deep into an enchanted forest at night. This would be the perfume that queen Titania would be wearing in "a midsummer's night dream". Copious amounts of oak moss mix with aromatic greens and hints of flowers, most prominently whiffs of delicate muguet, perhaps a hint of narcissus and hyacinth dancing around it. It's an absolute powerhouse of a perfume, intense and long lasting. A long time lover of Chanel 19 did find it reminiscent of "a facet of c.19", but definitely not a dupe of it. However she did love it and enquired about it so she could buy it herself, so probably it appeals a lot to the tastes of those that enjoy 19. I'd have sworn there's some patchouli in it, but maybe it's just my skin. I am a lover of patchouli and this scent satisfies my nose. There's almost a....chewy thickness to the scent. It's definitely not for the faint hearted, neither for those that prefer drier or floral perfumes, since there is nothing shy or weak about it. I feel it needs a cold day, overcast perhaps and the smell of rain, for you to enjoy it's full potential. I'm waiting eagerly for autumn since I've only bought it in June and haven't had the chance to enjoy it in such a way just yet. Me, i feel as if, once such a grey and dreary day comes, the perfume will transform itself from a purely cosmetic aromatic essence into a magical elixir, or perhaps a potent hallucinogen, that, once inhaled, will transport me into that dark mythical forest, where i can witness luminescent fairies dance on the lakeshore and beautiful elven queens participate in mystical ceremonies, away from the prying eyes of humans.... Absolutely adore it, on the verge of worshipping it.

I was looking for a fragrance that contains galbanum(my sparkling favorite), and which is fresh, but also feminine. I already knew some perfumes like that(Chanel No. 19 EDT and Poudre edition, and of course Infusion d' Iris of House Prada), but I would like something a little bit different and -I don't deny- cheaper, because I'm not ready for Chanel spiritually( "I' m just a young girl ... " says Daenerys Targaryen ), and Prada fades away quickly on me. So, it's a beautiful scent, a bit old fashioned, but I don't mind. It's tart and refreshing, the galbanum does his job, but with the passage of time the daffodils and hyacinths step up, and the whole thing feels like a walk in the garden. Maybe it's a bit nicer on me than the Chanel, because I feel the flowers so nature, in a gorgeous harmony. The base is quite masculine, the scent of vetiver and cedar dominates, but it fits nicely, and gives to the skin delicate femininity, rather than taking away from it. The sponge cake is also better with a hint of salt.:) The longevity is 5-6 hours on skin, much more on hair. It could be my signature scent, almost all of my favorite notes are here. I don't want the Chanel so badly now...This black and round beauty helps me forget all of my desires, and gives me the opportunity of internal focus, and the moments of silence. So harmonious, so soft, radiant and uplifting . Some people calls it cold, and ideal for office, and work... I don't disagree, but I think it just have a touch of melancholy and contemplation, which is often necessary to live our true feelings.

Oh, Jacomo, how I love thee! Please continue making affordable, high-quality fragrances forever! Silences was actually my introduction to this house. I got a small sample of the EDP in a swap. I liked it well enough to purchase other Jacomo scents unsniffed, and well enough to seek out a small bottle of Silences parfum as a splurge. A drop or two of the parfum is all you need to get through an entire day. The EDP is also nice, if a bit fleeting, and is an affordable way to test drive this scent. Huge bottles can be found for $20 or less on the web. All of the Jacomo scents I have tried so far offer remarkable quality for an unbelievably low price. If you love Ivoire de Balmain, Niki de Saint Phalle, Mitsouko, and other non-sweet classic dry chypres, you'll love Silences. It has a lot in common with those three scents, all of which I already own, but Silences was still unique enough to merit purchase. (I also see lots of comparisons to Chanel No. 19 and I haven't smelled that one in ages, need to give that one another test soon.) Silences goes on dry, bitter and green, with no detectible florals or sweetness. It dries down over time to a pleasant woody aroma with pronounced cedar notes on my skin. Old school? Retro? Oh, yes. This will either be your thing at first sniff, or it won't be your thing at all. But if you like it even a little, you'll grow to love it over time. It's so complex, mysterious, sophisticated and 100% unisex.

Silences seems to be a version of Piguet's Bandit without the signature Isobutyl Quinoline leather note or any of the animalic qualities. Both perfumes have a strong, sharp Galbanum opening, with some heavier, rounder floral notes to temper the topnotes, and both of them have a tremendous sense of 'wetness' to them. This isn't a damp, moldy basement wetness either. Silences and Bandit both remind me very much of the rainforests in the Cascades here in Washington State - that permanently green, permanently moist feeling of fresh earth and living plants. I would also offer that the similarity between Silences and No. 19 is purely superficial, to my nose. I actually find it has more to do with vintage Vent Vert, because of the Chanel's strong iris/orris quality. Silences never becomes powdery like the No. 19, all through the dry down there is an exquisite botanical greenness akin to Vent Vert's. The Balmain's heart notes have an odd Marigold feel (you can almost smell pollen in that perfume) where the Jacomo is more traditionally floral. Both share a pleasant Hyacinth/Muguet note. This is one of those perfumes that I would recommend to anyone starting a collection. It's a perfect example of a green fragrance, it's strikingly different than the majority of mass-market 'designer' releases, and it's outstandingly inexpensive. My 1oz Parfum de Toilette bottle cost me a whole $12. At that price, how could you not?

Extremely thrilled to have found a vintage bottle of this in Singapore at $23(around USD20). Which, by the way, has a different spray mechanism from the one pictured; mine has a detachable cap. I own both vintage Chanel no 19 EDT and this fragrance. Is this a close dupe? Definitely. Is this an exact dupe? You've got to be kidding me. Silences start off crisp, bitter and green, slightly brighter than Chanel no 19. Then, a soapy rosey note develops, which made me a bit queasy, fearing it would be a scrubber. Ignore it for ten minutes and the soapiness thankfully fades, leaving behind a bitter green chypre. The oakmoss, as stated by a reviewer, is restrained and modest(another way for me to tell is to see how red my skin becomes since I'm allergic to oakmoss). My skin amplifies the rose note immensely. Then, there's also the subtle hint of sourness that I found leaning over in cat pee territory but never really there - it's probably the cassia note. Compared to Chanel no. 19, this one is much more green and bitter and less floral. Also, do note the Iris flower in this scent is definitely more subdued because of the exorbitant cost of using Iris flower oil/extract (this is perhaps the most significant difference with Chanel no19). Overall I am very pleased with it. Highly wallet friendly yet distinctive. Sillage: moderate Longevity: 5-7hours

Chanel No19 it is not. This fragrance it greener. It lingers. It has loads of bergamont coming through. If you like one you will like the other, First on you get sharp green as in pine sol cleaner. It mellows pretty quickly to lemon. Stay with it as the middle floral notes come through. Don't give up and when the final musk and veiter shine through it blends into a complex earthy scent that is quite a delight. If Chanel No 19 is the classy cool beautiful reserved cousin, then Silences is the cousin that always comes late to the party, gets drunk and stays too long. She is just as beautiful but she laughs at convention, thinks her cousin is a bit boring and most of all she is a little dirty. No19 has a hard time saying 'yes' while Silences has a hard time saying 'no'. I love both of these fragrances. I am devoted to my No19 however, when I want to smell like me and make sure people stand up and notice, Silences it is. This is the scent that stands up to what No19 cannot: Smoke and a boozy bar, Rock concerts and bad pick up lines, a long walk in snow and a slow dance on the beach. The price cannot be beat...a huge bottle for less than 40 dollars?! You can't go wrong and if you hate it....give it to someone who likes gals that stay too long at the party.

I've had this for a few years. It was a blind buy and has felt like a mistake from the start. Just smelling it in the bottle was enough to turn me against it. I tried it a few times and wound up (as someone else said) washing it off. But today, before I claimed it on Basenotes as my worst blind buy ever, I figured I should give it a real fighting chance. So I gave it some good coverage (chest, elbows and wrists). When it first goes on, I have to say it smells like old perfume that has gone off. But I was patient and gave it a chance to mature. And, what do you know, it turned into something I like. Well, "like" may be a bit strong. Let's just say I don't hate it. The bitterness is still there, but the icky soapy scent has faded. More of the floral notes seem to develop and occasionally there's a whiff of sweetness. Silences is never gonna be a favorite, but I think I'll keep trying it in different settings. And I'll have to revert to White Linen as the absolute worst blind buy I've ever tried. My best friend has worn White Linen for years and I always compliment her on the scent. So I tried some and learned that, on me, it smells like bug spray.

I'm happy to see so many people remembering and loving this fragrance. I remember when a friend of my mother's gave me my first bottle as a gift - it must have been in the early 80s. At first, I was taken back - I had never used perfume before, and this was a powerful womanly scent! But I grew into it, and I even think it helped me develop as a woman. It was my signature perfume for many years, as a young woman, friends recognized my presence when they smelled Silences. It was ideal for a signature fragrance - fresh, warm, floral and very very feminine. It was ME. So what happened? When I met my beloved husband, he thought everything about me is wonderful except for my perfume. It struck a wrong note with him. He didn't like it. He gave me Ivoire instead, and later Beautiful, and altogether softer fragrances. So I stopped buying Silences, but continued to regret it. It disappeared from shops, but I'm excited to see it around here. I'm much tempted to order a little bottle and see how we have stood the test of time, my all time favorite perfume and me.... I love to see others loving what I have loved all those years!

Here is my little story. After reading some reviews on different online resources about Silences as unisex and even as a little bit masculine scent, I decided to take a risky chance :-0 . Finally buying the new 100ml bottle for only 19$, I have no regrets,,, Hooray!,,, Just a few sprays and I was returned like by the time machine back to the days when perfumery created only masterpieces scents. So it's a Real Classic's unnoticed by the main crowd hidden in this artistic / avant-garde bottle! It certainly smells like Chanel-kind fragrances (Chanel 19 I tested later...) and any similar to it. May be it sound's strange, but it reminds me little bit of my grandfather's cologne's. In a good way! With my chemistry Silences perfume has a lot of green and woody notes on the bright fresh-floral background. It doesn't smell so feminine (unisex indeed). I'll keep it and will use it carefully for evening use and special occasions. For someone it may smell "oldish" / out of modern-fashion stream. Well, this wonderful E.d.p is not for everyone. But Remember that Elegance and Classic's are Forever! :)

Everything about this perfume is devastatingly gorgeous, from the name (haunting and very fitting), the rounded black bottle with the shiny gold letters, and then, there's the scent. Silences, what a perfectly chosen name for this beauty. She doesn't flaunt herself, she is not an attention seeker. She's the hauntingly beautiful girl that hangs out in the library and stays in the corner because she's shy and doesn't want to draw attention to herself. But once you give her a chance, she sings to you and then you never forget her. Unique and special, the very greenest of any perfume I have or have tried; not grassy green, but deep foresty, mossy, woody green. As dark of a green as I can imagine a perfume to be. And it's stunningly tenacious, so please know this if you're going to try it. I love it so I'm prejudiced, but this may be a love it or hate it scent due to the style, era, etc. Although I don't wear her often because I think she's so precious that I don't want to become completely familiar and accustomed to her, she will always have a place in my perfume-loving heart.

Took me ages to write about Silences. This fragrance is like a psychotherapy session – opens gate to the subconscious. Its very private and very calm. Acts according its name. Silences. I know that sense of smell is closely related to memory but I only received this perfume few months ago yet I KNEW it somehow. You know it happens when something strikes your nose and magic unfolds. And in this image I AM - ..In the forest. Beautiful forest of my dreams where I know every tree and every deer and fox know me. Very confident and powerful feeling of walking with bare feet on green moss. The bitterness at the beginning tells me I Am not weak, galbanum confirms the power, but among this harsh opening you see beautiful tender narcissus, powdery rose, crispy lily-of-the-valleys..I walk towards old little house, my house, with moss on the top of the roof - house of the Witch from the Green Forest. I know I will rest there, on my cedar-bed, on those pillows from vetiver and musk Its a celebration of independence, of mystery, hours when woman needs and loves to be by her own...

This is truly a lovely fragrance. Sweet earthy mossiness, airy florals, and green, green, green. And it is also as light as a whisper. like a breeze through a forest. Amazing that I love this so much since I'm usually drawn to full bodied Floral and Orientals; so, this is quite the departure for me. Though light, it has so much depth. People compare it to Chanel No. 19, which I like, but don't love. That is not the case here. I get no soap as some others find but there is a spicy waxiness (only way that I can describe it) that I believe is how the galbanum, and spice smell on first spray. It's not offensive and quickly passes, then becoming an airy and earthy floral on me. The galbanum, vetiver and oakmoss with the delicate hyacinth, spicy rose and powdery iris has me sighing with delight all day. It is truly beautiful. I have the pdt and think it is too soft for winter. I'm keeping this strength for the dog days of summer. It will be perfect then. In the meantime, I just purchased a 3.4oz. edp. I can't wait! I think I finally may have found my signature scent.

Oh my Silences is very similar to Chanel No 19 ..I have always been into vintage perfumes such as Cinnabar , Youth Dew , Ciara , Opium , Shalimar and of course Chanel perfumes .. My mother influenced me in my tastes of perfumes how I remember the 1st day of 2nd grade she dabbed just a tiny bit of Chanel 19 and I felt so special but as I grew older I ordinarily favor sweet and spicy fragrances so I have to admit this is really my 1st fresh clean scent and I'm totally loving it ... Since my thyroid has started messing up perfumes just don't mix well with my skin or even last long so I refuse to spend a ton of money on any perfume since I discovered Angel would barely last a hour on me ... This perfume lasted about 5 hours , sillage on me is arm length ... But keep in mind hormonial imbalances can make a perfume smell out of this world or in my case a perfume like Opium makes me smell like I poured cinnamon oil on me.. If you are looking for a fresh clean scent similar to Chanel no 19 I suggest trying this based on how it smells on me and my family's opinion ...

So after being blindsided by love for this perfume to the point where I couldn't even start to come up with the words for a review, I'll give it a shot today. The person who created this struck the perfect, masterful balance for every note in it. There is just enough green to keep the florals from being too sweet (I'm not a big fan of florals). There are just enough florals to keep the green from being too bitter. There is just enough oakmoss to ground everything and make it interesting. On my skin, Silences opens with a burst of green with a most mouthwatering lemon and bergamot, I can see where this comes off as 'sour' for many people. After the citrus fades, it becomes a perfectly balanced scent that stays pretty much the same throughout the whole wear. Silences lasts for hours on me and if I apply some in the evening, I can still smell it on my skin in the morning. This perfume brings to mind an overcast, drizzly early spring day with a cool wind blowing, there is nothing warm about it. This review is for the PDT in the grey box. :) So in love...

What a fascinating fragrance! I was looking for something green and certainly found it. And I can definitely understand why it's beloved of some and hated by others - and why it shouldn't be considered an "easy" perfume to wear. I tried Silences for the first time today, and had to share a few impressions. I write for a living, and with perfume, I'm not thinking about technical things like analyzing the various notes. It's the emotional impact of scent that appeals to me. Silences takes me into the garden, where I'm pulling weeds with my mom. The first spray is a little shocking. There's nothing sweet, or even musky. To my nose, it starts with bitter green note that reminds me of cut dandelions. There are a few flowers around the edges, but it's the bitter green that lasts through all the stages of the perfume's life on my skin. I keep sniffing, and wondering why it's so appealing. Maybe it's that the perfumer didn't make it easy to appreciate Silences. You have to keep working at it to notice the lovely florals around the green heart.

There is a beautiful and evocative passage from Paul Goodman's 1972 book Speaking and Language that details nine different kinds of silences; among them are "...the fertile silence of awareness, pasturing the soul, whence emerge new thoughts"; the alive silence of alert perception, ready to say, “This... this...”; the musical silence that accompanies absorbed activity; [and] the silence of peaceful accord with other persons or communion with the cosmos."(The entire quote, while not relevant to this review, is lovely and warrants a Google search.) What a perfect way to describe this fragrance! I imagine a glade, dappled with sunlight, surrounded by a forest, green and full, populated by that enchanting class of animals: woodland creatures. My silence is fertile and alive, the creatures' silence is musical, and our collective silence is peaceful. I could not articulate the feelings this scent evokes more perfectly: the silences of a beautiful day spent communing with nature.

This was a blind buy sample, and I wasn't sure what it would smell like, but was sold on the look of the bottle alone. When it arrived, I immediately fell in love with it because it was different from anything I've ever had. I knew it wouldn't be my every day fragrance since my wardrobe consists of over 70 other wonderful juices, but since I was searching for a "biker" fragrance I'd decided that Jacomo's Silences would be THAT perfume. I doused myself in this magnificent stuff this morning, jumped on my motorcycle, and off I went. I could smell it in the breeze, and there was nothing silent about it. The best part....even after all the outside aftermath, it was still on strong when I reached my destination. It smells awesome on clothing, especially paired with leather....I feel like a million dollars. Highly recommended for anyone in the biker world looking for something with staying power while outdoors. Lest I forget to mention....I ordered a 3.4 oz bottle.

I have the mini "parfum de toilette" concentration. A cold, deep, earthy, green floral chypre. Citrus, raspy galbanum, cooling, clean florals like violet, hyacinth, and lotv. As it progresses, the rose and iris/orris come forward. The base is somewhat powdery with animalics and dense wood notes. The vetiver is ashy, smoky, the cedar is peppery. The classic chypres of yesteryear have been stripped of natural moss, and sadly this process has rendered most of them textureless. Not true of this one, the galbanum and vetiver are bitter and hoarse enough at both ends for it to be a pleasantly dense, textured wearing experience. Not quite as enthralling as Chanel No. 19. Silences has progression, but less dimension overall. It's certainly fantastic value at its price. If you want iris + chypre, save up for Chanel No. 19. If you want dense, woody, green, pick up a bottle of Silences. ...Or get both.

I can't say that Silences and No. 19 remind me of each other. I mean, they are both floral greens and they are both wonderful for springtime but for me, that that is where the similarity ends. No. 19 seems softer and sweeter to me - I get more grassy notes and lily of the valley. I think that one would work well for a very young girl (with expensive Chanel tastes!). Silences has more of a disco-era chypre "bite" to it. Either way - neither one is a "cold-hearted" fragrance. I think they are both very well representative of the beauty of early spring when the vegetation is very new and tender. Silences has quite a bit of earthiness to it - with that "carrot" smell people are talking about. I got the image in my mind that Silences smells the way the world must smell to little rabbits sitting in the spring garden with the hyacinths, daffodils, moss and carrots - just delightful!!! Love it!

What a wonderful surprise this turned out to be! A lovely swapmate of mine sent me a decant of Silences. I've been branching out into greener fragrances (no pun intended), but even so, I was surprised at how much I love this one. I immediately looked on line and found a pre-reformulated full bottle for under $20. I don't get any unpleasant bitterness, even with the first spray - just enough to make interesting. It has been years and years since I last tried No. 19 because I thought I hated it. I think my nose just wasn't sophisticated enough to appreciate it, or many other green florals and chypres. I can't wait to try it again, but if it's as close to Silences as the reviews indicate, then there won't be a need to spend $100+ when I can spend significantly less and not sacrifice any quality. Not for everyone, but everyone should try, even if green florals and chypre are not your thing.

If No. 19 is a witch-queen casting spells in a sparkling forest during the day, Silences would be that same queen having fallen asleep after dusk, and having fitful dreams on a bed of moss amidst the darkening trees. Yes, they are similar, especially in the opening, but different enough to definitely warrant having both in my collection. Silences has a tenderness that I don’t find in No. 19, and it is deeper, softer, and less bracingly green — it is a warmer, darker green, there is more mystery here, and I don’t detect any leather at all. Silences is like catching a glimpse of an elegant, inaccessible woman in a deep sleep — and to find that underneath the artifice of the face she presents to the world, behind that impenetrable intimidating exterior, hides a soft warm sylph that breathes and dreams and loves like any other woman — and with a heart of gold.

This is quite lovely! It is green, it is mossy. It opens like a forest, wet in spring just as the weather warms up and the flowers pop out. With some time it feels like you go in deeper, into summer. There's a sweetness or a ripeness to it. I love the bergamot in this and the jasmine. The vetiver and sandalwood balance the fresh green, it adds a more mature and sexy vibe I think. I don't think I'd give this to a girl, this is a scent for a woman. To me this is NOT a dupe for Chanel No 19, which is much more refreshing and intriguing to me. This is charming and inviting, where Chanel is the aloof, more sophisticated older sister. I hoped they would be more alike, but I thoroughly enjoy this perfume in its own right. And the price was right, so I have to regrets purchasing this! It makes me feel like a friendly forest fairy.

Elegant greenness with woody dry down. Silences is perfect for day wear as it is non obtrusive yet makes its presence known. I have never been charmed by Chanel 19, maybe vintage would do it, and now I don't need to. Silences calms me down and lifts me up at the same time. I normally go for oriental type of perfume but have only recently started gathering some greenness around me. I can see the references to Vent Vert vintage as well, but I gave mine away as it did not give me the same pleasure as the Jacomo does. And the bottle. Pure love. The round black bottle is a darling and I remember it from my childhood visits at the chemists, even though my mom never wore it as far as I remember. Do get it as it is a rip off and the day it vanishes from the market will be a sad day.

silences is a sister of Chanel N.19, definitely shares the same DNA, but is a different persona. While the Chanel counterpart is more sleek and polished, the leather and iris playing their part, silences is more rugged, bitter, sharp yet floral and powdery. Silences as opposed to N.19 is much less polished, the wood and green herbs are more in their natural form. Silences is more assertive due it's more biting green, N.19, especially past its top notes is more of a dead green calm. I also prefer to smell silences from afar rather than up close. Silences is fiercely green and retro, and really befits it's name as it suggests a dark green dead quiet forest. One of the few remaining great green fumes. scent: 8+/10 longevity: 5/10 sillage: 5/10

I was sniffing my sample of Chanel No. 19, enjoying it too much, and I figured I'd look here to see if there was anything that was similar. Many people mentioned this much cheaper scent so I ordered a bottle off ebay. My version is the parfum de toilette which I've heard is the older, better one and I am totally in love with this! It does smell a lot like the Chanel but, as others have said, this has a rougher feel. It has a green bite to it that is a little humid, wild, and free. I do wish that the sillage/longevity were a little better but I get about 4-6 hours before I feel the need to reapply which isn't too bad. I'm sure it's much better than the reformulated Chanel. A real gem and I'm so glad that I found it!

This scent brings memories I didn't know I had. It reminds me of childhood, that early stage from which you remember feelings more than actual events. It smells like presence and like kindness, womanly, motherly. It also smells like silence, strangely, but it does. Maybe it smells like my mother (I was born a year after it was first released, so it's not impossible), or maybe it smells like mother earth - of moss and soil, and plants on a warm and slightly windy autumn morning. I love it. I'm not sure if I will wear it, but I'm happy to keep my miniature bottle full of some newly discovered memories, for which I don't really have words, but they seem to live in this fragrance.

Peaceful Elegance. Strangely enough - though I liked this slightly bitter, galbanum composition from the first spray - it has taken until now for me to fall in love. I say STRANGELY, because we are experiencing an extremely cold blast of winter!!!! I wore Silences this icy New Year's Eve, in a desire to experience a moment of peace and serenity. It's deep, forest-like aroma of GREEN swept me into a spirit of silent solitude........ How utterly Refreshing. In my associations, Silences bares a strong kinship to the novel - Shangri La - as both have an ability to transport one into an austere world of contemplation and peace. For once, a fragrance aptly named. FIVE stars!

Still exploring this one but started with a mini bottle with the old typeset before heading straight to ebay for a full bottle with the gold atomizer (original formulation?). It’s a love. So subtle, calming, yet vibrant. It’s a muted green to me — not shocking like some of my favs, not quite as prickly (not prickly but arresting or commanding) as Coven. I sense both the green from the plants and the moss below. Silences...is there a melancholic solitude in there? A cerebral note for the thinkers among us. Utterly scrumptious, and with two sprays at the collarbone it stays with me most of the day in moderate weather (70s here lately), if fairly close to the skin.

EDT: This started out with a blast of bright, tart greens, oakmoss and bergamot with some light, indistinguishable florals in the background. After about 20 minutes the tart greens subsided slightly but only enough to expose a freshly cut rose bouquet mixed with some hyacinth, iris and vetiver. Then, after about an hour this became a dark, dewy, medieval forest. I was waiting for the evil queen to come by in her horse drawn carriage. In the end, I find that I like Silences better than Chanel no19. It is a surprisingly complex perfume of many moods and it is much more adventurous. I love it!

I've been looking at Silences for some time, but always ended up buying something else. I recently found a tester bottle for a very low price and finally purchased - WOW! I love it! This is a truly green floral, not just something with a bit of citrus in the top and a tiny bit of galbanum and vetiver like some I've tried. It is indeed a walk through a summer forest as other reviewers have said. A forest where it has recently rained, with the scents of aromatic mosses and leaves rising from the earth and scattered wildflowers adding their scent too. This is THE green floral for me!

I am so grateful to my fellow fragranticans for the time and energy they put into reviews. I live very far from decent perfume shopping and I am largely homebound with a disability so I don't get to test many perfumes unless I order samples and I often can't find ones I want. But, looking at these reviews, I felt like this was a perfume for me so I blind bought it. It's just glorious. You all described it beautifully. It is purple and green and lush and clean and magic. It's fresh green grass and fat sunny roses. I am just delighted.

If Chanel No.19 is that strong independent lawyer, immaculately dressed in her black Chanel Suit, working a court case then Silences is the judge even more powerful, mature, composed, and enigmatic. Silences is almost like "No.19 Noir or No.19 Nuit" if No.19 were to have a darker less floral flanker, this would be it. The scent of a deep dark foggy forest where it is forever misty and full of mystery, the vegetation is always an intense dark shade of green, and sunlight is rarely able to penetrate through the dense foliage above.

Oh, boy. I have been trying to remember the name of this perfume. I owned a bottle in the 80s and LOVED it. Update: I bought it. It just arrived. Whoa. I don't remember it being this GREEN. I only remember that I loved it. I think this just proves how my sense of smell has been conditioned toward sweet fragrances which are so popular now. I still like it. However, if I sprayed it now in a store I wouldn't walk away thinking this was the best thing ever...just because it's very GREEN. I would also say that it's quite unisex.

Holy Galbanum, Batman! This is GREEN, lush, heavy, dewy, bitter, and crisp; gotta love a good use of galbanum resin and oil. Spring flowers of hyacinth, narcissus, and lily of the valley paradoxically sing in the heart of Silences, and as the green recedes, a dusky gray oakmoss reveals its wistful presence in a cloak of wood and ambrette. I love my green florals, and this one is a stunner. While originally marketed to women, this gendering is no longer relevant today and men wear this in any season with aplomb.

Im smelling a miniature I just received in mail, it is of course a vintage (recent Silences doesn't make miniatures I guess) . It smells nicer, deeper, creamier and classier than the new formula, I know it is boring now that everyone is talking about "old/new formula" and it is kind of cheesy terminology, but here we are, a vintage juice in my left hand, and a new/out of factory one in my right palm... the old/expired liquid wins my nose's Oscar. Im searching for some vintage actual bottles soon....

I received this scent, an full ounce parfum, as a training gift from the vendor when I worked at Sak's 5th Ave in NYC, back in the early 80's--God--those were the days! I still have a few drops in the bottle and, amazingly, it is still wearable! It is one of the freshest, cleanest and least harsh green fragrances I have ever worn. It reminds me of Patou's original "Vacances" but with less acid and more sweetness! It has a soft, elegant quality and lasts very well on me. I will be sad to see it go!

This is such an earthly beauty! Great fall fragrance when you feel that the snow is just around the corner. It is a bold fragrance on first spray, but develops and simmers down just a bit. Wonderful for the fall or even for the holidays or cold months when you start to miss anything green and earthy (especially if you live in a snowy winter environment). It is so appropriately named because you feel like you are almost in a green forest and just want to be silent and observe. Love it! Magical!

If vintage Chanel No19 and vintage Ivoire de Balmain had a baby and put it on a bed of vintage Estee Lauder Private Collection, it would smell like vintage Jacomo Silences - which goes for very little on Ebay. Wonderful. If you love those perfumes in their vintage edition and are on a budget, this is the one to get. More smoky and leathery on the dry-down that either Chanel 19 or Ivoire. It's really a perfect perfume in my opinion.

Fantastic green cypre. Reminiscent of the vintage Ivoire de Balmain, heavy with oakmoss and vetivier. Manages to maintain its sharp green notes in the dry down; which makes it a refreshing change from the usual vanilla/sandalwood/amber/musk bases seemingly all modern perfumes dry down as. Longevity and silage is amazing, this is a personal favorite. Not only is it gender neutral, I personally would love to smell this on a man :)

this is so strong and i love it, it's not suffocating, it's very unique & feminine & sophisticated -for a chic lady for sure :D- and lasts even after washing clothes and taking a shower, it sticks to my skin like crazy.. i wore it to the opera and i was sniffing it the whole performance, this is gorgeous, how can i put such a wonderful scent into words? it simply is phenomenal ^^ and NOT for the weak-hearted ;)

this is one of the best smelling fumes ever.the opening takes my breath away. it only gets better with time as the beautiful wet greeness turns as if by magic into a beautiful dew kissed red rose.heady sexy,but wait,,,,the dry down is just as impressive as the opening.woody ,mossy wet and deepky sexy again.one whiff and,i was hooked.this just may be my favorite fume.the price is right too.

Love with the first inhale. Delicately. Patrician. Absolutely mine! Assosiations: - black and white photo, silent movie, moonbeem on the water, silence, slightly melancholy, Chopin's nocturnes. Fragrance, that you need to be back again and again to. A lot of compliments. For me it like Safari (RL)- without its sandy rose and Chanel N19 - without its a little bit sweety florals...

Perfection! What I want to smell like always! I have the PDT (with several backups). It reminds me of something I wore in the 90’s in junior high before I wore proper perfume on the regular. Where has this been all my life? I love Chanel 19 (EDP and EDT) but I think I like this more. It is so easy to wear. This is green and purple and powdery yet warm. A beautiful composition.

Simply beautiful. It is purple and green, lush, clean, and magical. It smells like fresh green grass and plump, bright blooms. I'm in love with the mysterious, warmer, darker green, which is deeper, softer, and less bracing. The aroma of a deep dark foggy forest where the foliage is constantly an intense dark shade of green and the air is always hazy and mysterious. Lovely!

A revelation. Demands the right weather (overcast). Galbanum slaps you, violet soothes you. Mosses and woods lend their intrigue. Iris keeps the whole thing grounded. Certainly a captivating magic emerging from the mist, here. Recommended to those who like Pheromone, Private Collection, Aromatics Elixir, Miss Rocaille, and of course Chanel no.19!