Arabian Diamond

I had the chance to compare it to several Montales. I would pick this one every day. Expensive stuff! :(

My beautiful companion for nights. So rich because of the oud. Starlike and warm. Difficult to describe.

Right out of the sample vial, the first things I smell are saffron, a tiny hint of oud, and sharp, sharp florals. Oh, no. Can that be my old nemesis, lily-of-the-valley? They wouldn’t put that in an oud perfume, would they? Off to the official notes and other reviews. Yes, it is indeed LOTV, and a whopping big bunch of it. My first impulse was to cross this one off the potential love match list, but decided to give it a chance to develop and maybe eventually be liked. I’m glad I gave it a chance. Fortunately the rose is strong enough to grapple with the LOTV, not overcoming it, but at least managing to get in the corner of the picture and engage in a struggle that takes a full hour. After that, it just gets better and better, progressing from a floral, woody, resinous amber to a woody, musky amber. This is an extremely well-crafted perfume, and after following the entire evolution of the scent I understand that the bright, sharp notes at the beginning perfectly symbolize the cold sparkle of a diamond, but it turns out to be a diamond in a lavishly decorated warm gold setting, not a simple and boring platinum band. Sillage is moderate, and the scent lasts a full 12+ hours and is still on clothing the following day. Arabian Diamond is the perfect example of a scent that I would have rejected immediately based on its top notes, but that turned into something that I enjoy so much that I actually ordered a 10 ml mini from the Micallef website. Kudos to them for offering their perfumes in amounts that are affordable and that I can deal with. I never thought I’d fall for a perfume that contained LOTV, but I did.

I loved this perfume right away. I got a 100ml. flacon as a gift to a 350+ € acquisition of perfumes at "First at Fragrance". little did I know it would be such generous but also fantastic gift. Often you hear people complain about "the rose-oudh-combi" blah blah blah. I can not imagine what they have against it bc I love it. Especially when it is exceptionally well done, like here with Micallefs "Arabian Diamond" and the haute "Oudh Infini" of Parfums Dusita but also in various Montales: "Louban", then [apparently without oudh but with mysore sandelwood] "Attar" and "Aoud purple rose". like with this perfume if you inhale deeply you get sheer heaven of a rose grounded in oudh. Fabulous.

it reminded me of a cheap "itar". very common smell. it was a disappointment for me.(tested on tester paper strip) after a month : ok , after about month, i can still smell fragrance on the paper strip (now it feels nice and not cheap). i remember that the guerlain strips i tested with this one lost their fragrance after 5-6 days max.

Perfume is very cool and remarkably Many people ask about the smell