House of Weil
I’ve long wanted to post a brief history of one of the more fascinating and slightly arcane perfume houses of the last century. Weil perfumes are interesting, but the story of the Weils and their house is perhaps even more interesting. Although I am a huge fan, I knew I’d botch the story if I tried to tell it. Instead, I’ve turned to someone whom I consider THE expert on all things Weil, Jill Martin Clements (aka rockinruby on eBay and elsewhere in internetland)… Well, okay, THE expert aside from the Weils themselves, that is! I am humbled by her generosity in writing the piece below, and never stop being impressed by her passion and knowledge on the subject. She is a woman of exquisite tastes, and an excellent writer. Please note that several of the images can be clicked upon and viewed as a larger file in your browser window, in order to better see the details. Enjoy:
House of Weil, by Jill Martin Clements:
The perfume house of Weil has a rich history filled with stunningly beautiful perfumes, as well as drama and turmoil representative of the experience of so many 20th century European design houses. It is, at its heart, a family story. But a family story writ large — encompassing the drama of the fashion world, international marketing, and the heartbreak of World War.
I have been a lover of Weil perfumes for many years. Always, the more I learn, the more deeply connected I feel to this house. I believe that Weil was truly one of the great houses of Parisian parfumerie, and deserves to take its place alongside Lanvin, Guerlain, and Chanel.
After so many years of feeling as if I was the last person on earth to remember and revere the perfumes of Weil, I had the great good fortune to meet the grandson of Marcel Weil, as well as his family. I have had the opportunity, through conversations and correspondence, to pick his brain about his family history, and he has been gracious and accommodating at every turn. It has truly been an honor and a delight to know this family, and I am indebted to Dan Weil for almost all of the information that follows….bear in mind that many dates and details come from family anecdotes, rather than written documents, so take it all with at least a small grain of salt. (1)
In 1912, Alfred Weil founded a fur business, Les Fourrures Weil. He was soon joined in business by his two brothers, Jacques and Marcel. Alfred was the buyer; Jacques the salesman, and Marcel was in charge of creation and design.
In 1927, during the very height of the glitz and glamour of the Roaring 20’s, Marcel was approached by one of their regular customers, who requested “fur perfume” for her fine furs. Marcel liked the idea, and founded Parfums Weil. He was then joined by his brothers in this venture, as well, though Marcel took primary control of the perfume business, while Jacques retained primary control of the fur business. After Marcel’s death in 1933 of pneumonia, Jacques and Alfred assumed control of all perfume operations, as well.
The first perfumes created for Weil — the so-called “fur perfumes” — were created by Claude Fraysse, who had worked with Firmenich in Geneva, and was the official “nose” for Yardley Perfumes. The Fraysse family is one of great import in the perfume world. One of Claude’s sons, Andre, created Arpege for Lanvin, and another, Hubert, ran the scent company Synarome. His daughter Jacqueline was a gifted perfumer, as well. The initial line of “fur perfumes” debuted in 1928, with Claude responsible for the first three scents:
- Zibeline, a floral chypre intended to recall the steppes and massive oak forests of Imperial Russia,
- Chinchilla Royal, rich with jasmine and roses to evoke the splendour of the Persian and Indian Empires, and
- Hermine, intended to symbolize tenderness and virginity, it was heavy with the sweet flowers of the Pacific Isles.
Although Claude was the nose, Jacqueline worked closely with him on these scents, as well. The Fraysse family remained involved in the creation of Weil’s scents for years to come, as Une Fleur was created by Claude, Bambou, Cassandra, and Noir by Jacqueline, and Antilope (the 2nd, successful version — there was an earlier failure) by Hubert.
Those first bottles were produced by Baccarat. All Weil perfume bottles would be made by Baccarat from 1927 until 1954.
The first Eau de Toilettes (Zibeline and Chinchilla) were introduced in 1930.
In 1940, the family was forced to close the Paris operation and for a short period of time moved to Bordeaux. In 1942, during the occupation of France, the Nazis confiscated the business and gave it to a German baron and his girlfriend. More on this in a moment.
By this time, Alfred and Jacques had fled Europe and settled in New York. They bought their distributor’s business and set up production for a time in the US as Societe Parfums Weil Paris, Inc., at 745 Fifth Ave., New York. Jacques took primary control of the US business, and launched production in the US with Zibeline and Cassandra. They had some difficulty recreating the other scents with materials available in wartime NY, and during their attempts they produced an unplanned mixture that they liked and called Cobra. Cobra debuted in the US in June 1941. It is not believed that Cobra was ever sold outside of the US.
Although the ad above at right is quite sedate, Cobra generally had a remarkably sexy ad campaign — fabulous Art Nouveau lithos of women, and a simple sample card with the tag line, “Eve was warned.” [Ed. note: The print magazine ads, such as the one pictured left, used a longer variant on the tag line, “Eve had been warned.”]
They followed up with Gri Gri in 1943 which featured native African tribal art for the ad campaign.
Secret de Venus Huile Pour le Bain (also sometimes seen as Huile Pour le Bain et Douche or Bath and Body Perfume Oil) was introduced in the US in 1941, and in France in 1947. It was always marketed as a more or less American product, and was never as popular in Europe. This line ultimately included numerous scents; all of them would include the “Secret de Venus” designation, yet remain available in their original perfume form without that designation, as well, thus causing great confusion over the years!!
- Secret de Venus (also seen as Secret of Venus)
- Secret de Venus Zibeline
- Secret de Venus Antilope
- Secret de Venus Cassandra
- Secret de Venus Noir
- Secret de Venus Padisha
This line has always been my favorite, and intrigues me no end. I have never fully gotten to the bottom of the story, as I maintain that scents released as Secret de Venus oils smell markedly different from their standard counterparts. I have long wondered what, precisely, the crazy secret of Venus IS, as it seems to irresistably alter all of
the fragrances it touches. There is an animalic warmth and depth to all of the oil-based scents which makes them maddeningly sexy, and as long lasting as any scent I’ve ever tried.
My favorite — my “Holy Grail,” if you will — is Secret de Venus Zibeline. The scent opens with a warm blast of citrus and musk, and shifts into some pretty florals for a time, but it is the eternal drydown rich in ambergris and civet that holds my attention for life. This scent is so animalic as to be dangerous! It’s interesting to
note that as strongly as I feel about Secret de Venus Zibeline, I am completely lukewarm about Zibeline on it’s own. There is a decided difference between them.
The notes officially listed for Zibeline in the H&R Book Fragrance Guide to the Feminine Notes are:
Top: Aldehydes, bergamot, lemon, coriander, estragon
Middle: Orient Rose, jasmin, lily of the valley, ylang-ylang, orris, gardenia
Base: Vetiver, civet, sandalwood, amber, musk, honey, tonka
I am not sure how accurate these notes are, as there is a pronounced oceanic edge to this scent. I read one reviewer describe the smell of oysters, which made me laugh. When I provided a sample of the oil to a well-known perfumer working today, she immediately declared the base to be ambergris, civet, and musk. So it is possible that the listed notes should actually list ambergris rather than amber.
Antilope is another fine example of the dichotomy between the simple format and the Secret de Venus version. Antilope is an elegant woody floral which I think has been undervalued as it is so widely available. It just seems to be taken for granted. Make no mistake, it is a stunningly beautiful fragrance rich in sophistication.
Like Zibeline, the perfume formulation of Antilope is exceedingly polite. The base notes are listed as cedarwood, vetiver, leather, musk, and amber, yet as Antilope, it’s so light on the leather and musk as to render them unrecognizable. Once reworked into the Secret de Venus formulation, though, it shifts into bombshell territory, with a strong, womanly drydown becoming apparent and lingering for a day or more.
But I digress…..back to our story…
Meanwhile, back in France, the Nazi-sponsored baron and his girlfriend optimistically registered some wonderfully glamouous perfume names: Nuit de Fete, Filles de Joie, Tournant Dangereux, Pigeon Vole, and Flament Rose in 1943, followed by Fleur dans la Fourrure, Privautes, Grisailles, Escarpins, Coq A L’ane, Contre Jour, Cheritzou, Chamarade, Beau, Masque, Asence, and Padisha in 1944.
It is believed that of these, only Flament Rose was ever actually launched as a perfume — at least during the Nazi occupation and control of the company: Padisha was created and released after the war when control of the company reverted to the family. This has led to confusion, as I have encountered people searching for some of these “registered” names that were never made into perfumes!
Flament Rose was released in early 1944. Around this time, the Baron fled Paris; his girlfriend married a French citizen, and both disappeared into the fog of history. Paris was liberated in August 1944.
During this period, we have the introduction of another rather confusing scent/line of scents. Un brin de lavande was originally registered in 1941. In 1944, its name was changed to Gentilhomme (La Lavande Gentilhomme). In 1950, the Lavande Gentilhomme range was expanded to include a Lotion and a Secret de Venus oil formulation (called Lavande). In October 1951,Gentilhomme was replaced by Lavande Bleue. In 1962, Lavande Bleue was discontinued. In 1966, a new line called Gentilhomme was launched, and eventually discontinued in 1983. We do not know for sure if the scent changed each time, or just the name, though Dan Weil believes that the changes introduced in 1951 and 1966 represented new fragrances.
After the war the brothers returned to Paris. Jacques was active until 1957, and Alfred somewhat until 1964. In 1947, Marcel’s son Jean-Pierre Weil took over the lab. He had already worked as an apprentice at Firmenich, Chiris, and Roure Bertrand. And for a time, they continued producing fantastic perfume.
Weil was producing their pefumes in the 16th arrondissement, in a very old building. They may have been the last major perfume house to produce perfumes in Paris proper. The 16th is a posh residential area, and running this business there was probably a fire hazard. By the early 1960’s, the Parisian authorities told the brothers that they needed to bring the factory up to current code, or move out of Paris. The family did not have the money to do either, as the Germans had taken most of their assets during the war.
Another of Marcel’s sons, Claude James Armand Weil, was not working at the time, and the family asked him to go to Paris to oversee the sale of the company in 1962. He found it in terrible shape and unsaleable, so he stayed on to try to turn it around. When it was improved, he sold it in 1964 to an Algerian family, the Aboulkers.
Claude stayed to run the business for the new owners, along with Jean-Pierre as the perfumer and a cousin, Jean-Paul as Commercial Director. Jean-Pierre officially left the employ of the company in 1971 to focus on creation at Creations Aromatique, but continued creating Weil’s perfumes until 1977 (Chunga was his last). Claude
remained with the company until around 1974. So although the Weil family no longer owned Parfums Weil, they were very much involved well into the 70s.
I do not know with certainty when the Aboulkers sold the company, or whether they sold it directly to InterParfums (the current owners) or if there was another owner in between.
What follows is the sequence of introduction of the perfumes created during the time the Weil family ran the company. This list does not include any perfumes released after the departure of the 2nd generation of Weil brothers in the 70’s. These dates are for perfume only, and does not include all of the various permutations and formulations. Retraction dates are listed only when known with certainty.
- Zibeline - 1928
- Chinchilla Royal - 1928-1963
- Hermine -1931-1940
- Une Fleur - 1931-1941
- Bambou - 1934-1955
- Cassandra - 1936-1969
- Noir-1937 - 1969
- Un Brin de Lavande/Gentilhomme/Lavande Bleue - 1941
- Antilope - 1943/1948
- Flamant Rose - 1944-1944
- Padisha -1947-1963
- Weil de Weil - 1971
- Chunga - 1977
NOTES:
1. Some information comes via Dan Weil from previously written notes of Bernard Le Corvaisier, who was Commercial Director of Weil for a time beginning in 1967.
Many of the images above come courtesy of Jill, with the following exceptions: The two Cobra advertisements, the photo of Antilope and SdV Antilope bottles, the photo of the Antilope and Lavande Bleue vials.
September 27th, 2006 at 5:02 am
Now I must lemming! Katie, thanks for such an eyeopener post about a line I had rather dismissed, for some reason. I have a mini Secret of Venus somewhere, not sure which one in the line, and it never appealed to me much. Your descriptions of them all, however, have my nose hungering for some Weil, baby.
Off to Ebay and whereever!
September 27th, 2006 at 6:01 am
What a great read! Now I’ll go and look up all those fabulous scents - it’ll be such fun! I love that the House itself has such a rich history. It makes wearing the perfumes all the more special.
September 27th, 2006 at 8:48 am
I LOVE this history. Thank you!
September 27th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Anya, the descriptions and words all belong to Jill. She really conveys her passion for the fragrances well, yes? The Weil fragrances are quite rich, and terribly unique, so try that SdV out, whichever one it is!! :)
flor, the history is so interesting, and I’m very grateful to Jill for sharing that with all of us. So many details were new to me, too! It’s a fun house to explore.
Angela, I will pass along your thanks to the author :)
September 27th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
wow, what a story! Thank you so much for this insight into a century of fragrance history
September 28th, 2006 at 12:54 am
I can’t tell you when the Aboulkers sold Weil, but I can work backwards a few years from Interparfums for you!: (I hope to get all this sort of stuff on BN at some point, but I never have the time — I’ll just post it on blogs in the meantime!)
Inter Parfums acquired Weil (and Molyneux) from a company named “Cosmetiques et Parfums de France” (CPF) in 1994.
CPF had acquired Molyneux in 1992 from Sanofi Beauté (Now renamed YSL Beauté and owned by Gucci). Weil was acquired in 1991 from Classic Fragrances Ltd (who also owned Nettie Rosenstein)
Classic Fragrances aquired the Weil brand from Fashion Fragrances in 1989. I haven’t been able to research further back from then. So In summary:
1994 - present Interparfums
1991-1994 Cosmetiques et Parfums de France
1989 -1991 Classic Fragrances Ltd
Unknown - 1989 Fashion Fragrances
1964 - Unknown Aboulkers family
etc etc
September 28th, 2006 at 10:05 am
This is fascinating. I haven’t tried any Weil scents…in fact, I hadn’t heard of them until last week. I just read an interview (link posted on Bois de Jasmin) from The Scotsman with Roja Dove…it said he was trying to revive to od the Weil scents. Does anyone know which two?
September 28th, 2006 at 10:06 am
This is fascinating. I haven’t tried any Weil scents…in fact, I hadn’t heard of them until last week. I just read an interview (link posted on Bois de Jasmin) from The Scotsman with Roja Dove…it said he was trying to revive two of the Weil scents. Does anyone know which two?
September 29th, 2006 at 12:54 am
I agree with all others - wow what a great read. Thank you so much Jill for writing this and Katie for posting it.
SInce I am on the “right” side of the Atlantic, I do know of the house of Weil. I even used to own a bottle of Weilde Weil and have sampled Antilope, but never heard about Secret de Venus. Your descriptions of these Jill make me drool a bit LOL.
Once again, thank you both for sharing this.
September 29th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Andy, she really outdid herself :)
Grant, oh she will love you for this info, I’m sure. Thank you!! The BN database is so huge, no wonder you’ve little time… good lord, my head spins just thinking about it.
greeneyes, I’ve not heard for sure which two, but I’m wondering if it will not be specifically Antilope and Zibeline? They seem the most likely suspects, but that’s pure conjecture on my part.
Ylva, so glad you enjoyed that. It’s such an interesting history there. Her descriptions leave little room to avoid wanting to try them all! Antilope is one of my favorite perfumes of all time, nice that you had the opportunity to sample it :)
September 29th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
I started wearing “secrets of Venus Zibeline at the age of 16. I am now 61 and would never change if I did not have to. I have one small bottle left, and I am afraid to wear it. I hope to God someone can convince the marvelous brothers to please try agaain. I PROMISE I will buy a bunch!! Many people have ccommented over the years that they loved the fragrance but couldn’t find the perfume. I’ll sell it door to door just for a chance to wear it.
September 29th, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Thanks for all of your kind comments. It was exciting to put all of the information together. Grant — special thanks to you for the timeline of the sale(s) of the business!! - Jill
September 29th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Great article! Thank you, Jill. and thanks, Scentzilla for publishing it!
September 30th, 2006 at 5:12 am
Jill, dahlink! Forgive me for missing your name right up there, big as day at the beginning of the article! I’m a skimmer, for sure, and dove right into the article, lost in the Weil-ness of it all. Hope we have the pleasure of you sharing more of your perfume history knowledge in the future.
Oh, yeah, now I see the intro para and the byline, lol. I started with the picture and read on from there. Pretty pictures — grab me every time!
October 1st, 2006 at 8:26 pm
Terrie, I am afraid that an exact replication of SdV Zibeline would be unlikely nowadays, due to the probable use of real ambergris in its composition. (And of course, the family is no longer making the gorgeous perfumes that bear their name.) Not impossible, of course, but *extremely* unlikely. So do treasure the bottle you have :)
Fiveoaks, I was so glad to finally be able to publish it. Jill did a masterful job.
October 2nd, 2006 at 4:13 am
WOW - Gold! Thanks so much for this - long overdue; I have searched the net in vain many times for info on this house, - and emails to Interperfumes all go unanswered - I have minis of SdeV Zibeline, and the ‘normal’ Zibleline; you are right they are nothing alike…
October 2nd, 2006 at 8:09 am
Thanks for the very informative read. Regarding the confusing nomenclature of Weil scents associated with the name Secret de Vénus, as I said in my post on my blog, it seems even more complicated as I found one mention where it says that Zibeline was the alcohol-based version of Secret de Vénus for the American market at least and that it would (thus?) be reformulated to distinguish it from the previous.
The “a reviewer” talking about oysters is me and I see you decided to edit the second part of my description which included a reference to, apparently, an unmentionable part of the human body. I also think that there must be some ambergris which would explain the fishy-smelling undercurrent. I still would like to know what is the accord I smell in Zibeline that is found in several Russian leather perfumes; it’s fascinating to find confirmation from your article that indeed there was an intended reference to the Russian steppes and forests in Zibeline.
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:09 pm
slave2love, yeah, it’s kind of a pity with Interparfums that they don’t know quite what they’re sitting on with those rights. Sigh. Not that they’re really being all that different from other big companies by not responding to customer letters, sadly. I do think Zibeline and SdV Zibeline have a clear connection, but as Jill says, those SdV versions are impossibly richer and deeper, and very animalic comparatively. But that’s such a matter of personal interpretation, and it’s interesting to me to hear and read otherwise from folks.
Mimi, like you say, I’m really sure there’s ambergris in there, as well. Glad you dug Jill’s article :) The history is complicated, but so interesting!
November 26th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
I have a “Zibeline de Weil,” 1-oz perfume, still sealed (string and wax), never opened, still in the teal colored satin-lined box. The bottle is made by Baccarat.
What do you think it’s worth?
November 27th, 2006 at 11:40 am
Mike, it varies, but Weils have slowly been on the rise in price lately… but it is hard to pin down an exact figure. If ebay is any good gauge for what folks are willing to pay, I’d say it’s roughly worth at the very least a couple hundred, but likely closer to possibly three hundred? Could be more, could be less… Also, the reg. Zibeline goes for slightly less than the Secret de Venus Zibeline, but since it’s sealed still, I’m more inclined to round the figure upwards. I’d suspect it’d be tagged with a higher price in a traditional boutique/shop that sells vintage bottles and perfumes. There are some guides through the bottle collecting side of things (as opposed to the perfume juice collectors) out there that might give you a reasonable idea of worth, as well.
November 28th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
My very glamorous Mother wore this unforgettable fragrance (1960s). The fragrance communicates undiluted opulence, wealth, and the substance of spirit as well as the earth! Secret de Venus announced her arrival and left behind a lingering reminder that someone extraordinary was there. Oh, where, oh where, is the real Secret de Venus…”the Holy Grail” to be found?
January 4th, 2007 at 11:04 am
I ordered for my mother eau de cologne Antilope by Weil. I knew nothing about this company until I read this great article. Today. And I started to doubt if the scent I ordered is original. My mother got it today and was quite disappointed… Please, help me- should I doubt or not…
January 4th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
Milena, the bottles shown here are originals. The eau de cologne versions of the various Weil fragrances bear little resemblence to what the vintage versions smell like. The colognes are the most prolificially seen, but they are definitely not vintage. As far as Antilope goes, however, there is an eau de parfum version being sold as “Antilope pour elle” that is reasonably close for a modern, non-vintage reformulation. Outside of that, if you want to get ahold of the really good, old stuff, look for the hourglass-shaped bottles like those pictured here, which are most often labeled as “huile de bain,” if they are oils.
March 16th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Great history on the House of Weil. I absolutely LOVE the Antilope that I used to purchase many years ago in department stores. However, it has not been available in these stores for quite some time. The Antilope that I’ve purchased online from various sites always seems to smell old and stale and is very dark in color. I remember it being almost colorless. I also was fond of Secret de Venus and Zibeline. Anyone have thoughts on this?
March 18th, 2007 at 8:56 am
It’s a terrible shame the original Zibeline Secret de Venus oil cannot be duplicated!
My godmother, who is now in her eighties, used this scent for as long as she could remember. I remember being able to locate about five 1/4 ounce bottles for her a couple of years ago, but have not had any luck since!
If anyone knows where I can purchase more, please let me know. I’m all about making her happy!!
Thanks,
Beth
March 21st, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Tessa, there IS a very distinct difference in some ways between “regular” Antilope parfum and the Secret de Venus Antilope. The regular Antilope liquid was/is much more transparent, with a more pronounced lily of the valley note, whereas the SdV Antilope was quite brown in color with a much more animalic character and darker smell. Perhaps you stumbled onto the SdV version? They are both wonderful, but since storage is always an issue with vintage fragrances, I wouldn’t wonder if many of the existing bottles have gone “off.” Also, with vintage fragrances in general, I find the stronger concentrations like parfum/extrait and occasionally edp survive very well… it’s rather heartbreaking. So if you can locate the parfum rather than any of the eaus, I’d try to concentrate on buying those.
Beth, god, I know! I hope technology will someday make an artificial and affordable reproduction of it possible! I don’t know where else to find Zibeline SdV anymore aside from eBay and lucky finds at estate sales. It’s… painful isn’t it? Your best bet would be to carefully watch eBay nowadays, but you will pay through the nose for even a wee bottle of it, sadly! :(
March 22nd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
My mother is related to the Weils. I loved the history. How can I get in touch with Jill Martin Clements for more family details. Thank you
March 30th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
thank god someone did this site!! well done. Jill’s information is so beautifully written and for all of us who love these scents or are obsessed by them lol as Jill turned me on to them , it is invaluable!!!!!!
March 31st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Is there any way that I can purchase Zebaline Secret de Venus by Weil directly from Weil?
I have been searching for a very long time to buy this very parfum oil. My mother wore it all the time and when she passed, I found a bottle half empty. I only wear it on very special occasions and every time I do, several people come up and ask me what that lovely fragrance is that I am wearing.
Please, I would appreciate any help you can direct me to in getting this parfum. I’m almost out.
Sincerely,
Cathyie
March 31st, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Mike, I will pass along the email address you used to leave a comment with to her, if that is okay with you? I don’t know that she would be willing to give out any contact info readily, however.
Linda, yes, it’s really a goldmine of information there, and I am so grateful she wrote this lovely essay up. She really outdid herself there!
Cathyie, in short… no. It’s long discontinued, and the family itself no longer holds rights to the Weil perfumery house or the formulas. Moreover, because of changes in ingredient scarcity and changes in law, the exact fragrance will likely never be available again. It’s a bummer, but it’s just how these things go. Your best bet would be to stalk eBay, estate sales, and resale shops and buy up every bottle you can afford. There’s really little other way of obtaining it, unfortunately!
April 1st, 2007 at 11:44 am
Thank you so much for the history and lovely photos of the House Of Weil, as I am a great lover of the “Secret Of Venus Perfume Oil”. I am looking to find it if I can. I hope I do.
April 4th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Susan, good luck! I am sure you’ll find it sooner or later with a bit of patience.
June 4th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
I’ve been looking for Zibeline B&B Oil for years now..I took it for granted that I would always be able to get it. How wrong was I! I used to order it from Shannon Duty Free catalog and it was under 20USD and I actually bathed in it!! AS well as wearing it as my signature perfume! People would always compliment me on the scent and it’s hard for me to explain how it made me feel…pure magic and spiritually alive. I perceived a very ancient mystery. I’ve now wondered had I kept a sample (which, alas, I did not), could a perfumer RECREATE the fragrance?? Some companies say they can, if you give them a sample. If so, surely someone can make a donation of a drop or two??? Viva la Zibeline!!!! Love & Light. Please e-mail me on this subject…if there’s any possibility.
June 7th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Wow, under 20 dollars US seems amazing now! I can see why you find magic in it, and yeah, it does smell like some ancient mystery, it’s very beguiling. DSH (Dawn Spencer Horowitz) has received a sample of it from the author of this post, but it thus far seems unlikely that an exact recreation will be possible. Due to expense and both legal and natural restrictions on the use of certain ingredients, a revival of the SDV Zibeline seems highly unlikely. If anyone is better prepared to recreate a fragrance of DSH, I don’t know of one, frankly, and if she cannot do so, no one is. You best bet, most unfortunately, is to splurge on the old bottles of it that are in good condition. So sorry!
June 13th, 2007 at 8:37 am
I loved Zibeline, I think perfumes are not as good as in the 40s and 50s. when they contained ambergris which ’set’ them so they lasted.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:37 am
I loved Zibeline, I think perfumes are not as good as in the 40s and 50s. when they contained ambergris which ’set’ them so they lasted.
June 14th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Hi Peggy - there’s many great modern perfumes, but the style has changed so dramatically over to the discreet-ish side over the years, and there’s so many new releases offered annually as compared to in the past that it’s hard to weed through all the mediocrity sometimes. But Zibeline certainly stands as one of the all time classics, no doubt about that!
June 23rd, 2007 at 11:36 am
Do you know the address for Creations Aromatique in Paris?
thanks
July 1st, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Sorry, no… I would suggest perhaps seeking an industry contact list. Or contacting the New York location for the Paris one: (718)932-1200, 6112 32nd Ave, Woodside, NY 11377.
November 12th, 2007 at 1:01 am
please, please, please does anybody know where i can purchase the original full bottle of antilope perfume, in the original bottle shape. This would make my mothers whole christmas if i could find this for her. kind regards mel x
November 28th, 2007 at 6:00 am
I have really enjoyed reading about my own family, my father Claude, my uncle Jean-Pierre and my brother Dan. Many of the anecdotes mentioned have been long forgotten. Thanks very much. Nick
November 28th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Likewise to Mel, if anyone knows where to find original Antilope parfum, please let me know so that I can get it for my Mom for Christmas. My Dad used to fly for Pan American and bring it back for my Mom, and she would love to have it again. Thanks! Sherrie
January 5th, 2008 at 9:53 am
I am the grandson Jill mentioned meeting(Dan) and am intrigued by the email from Mike Gold who says that his mother is related. I would be happy, and interested,to chat with him to find out more about our connection.Thanks.Dan.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I have been trying to find a bottle of chunga for over 30 years. I recieved it while I was in college in 1971. I wonder if the date above about Chunga is correct. I found a 2oz bottle on ebay that is in Arabia for nearly $500, including shipping, but that is way too expensive for me. Does anyone know of another perfume that might be close to the fragrance of Chunga that I could afford?
April 16th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I found this site! My mom used to wear Secret de Venus Zibeline, and when I left for college in the late 70s, I took her 1 oz bottle with me. It was OLD then, and I remember I absolutely fell in love with it. It was heavy and animalic and, to me, had an anise note in the dry down. When I lived in France after college (in the 80s), I purchased the Zibeline spray (I think edt?)and loved it too, though found it quite different.
What intrigues me is that Weil isn’t “known” like Chanel or Guerlain…barely a mention in Luca Turin’s guide…yet the prices for the vintage juice is soaring. Why do you think Weil fragrances aren’t as recognized?
April 24th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I too am a lover of the Zibelene version. I have half a bottle left from the 1970s and only wear it on special occasions. My Aunt Jewell wore it in the 50s and I loved to be near her just to get a whiff! I just ordered a bottle of the Antilope from Paris (a vintage bottle with a blue lid similar to the one in the picture) and now understand why it does not smell the same as Zibelene; thank you for your article explaining the difference. Bring back this wonderful fragrance; I want to smell the mysterious scent and bask in its loveliness.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I have used cassandra, zibelene(my favorite) and have in my
possession two of the original bottles of secret of venus bath oil.
I would not sell these for any amount of money. There is no perfume on
the market today that can compare to these scents. They are wonderful and the smell is noticed by men and women and they always ask me
what I am wearing.
if anyone ever hears of someone who is using the same formula once
again please let me know.
I have searched all over for these bottles but alas to no avail.
The smell of each of these is so special and so romantic and you feel
like all is good in the world and within yourself…and to celebrate in being
a woman…
Please bring back Secrets de Venus the women of the world need it!