The story of Lalique
René Lalique opened his first jewellery workshop in Paris in the mid 1880s. His Art Nouveau pieces, full of dragonflies and flower-women, caused a stir at the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Perfume entered his life through the bottle. From 1907 he designed bottles for François Coty and turned more and more to glass. He went on to dress the perfumes of many houses, including Molinard's Habanita in 1924. His son Marc moved the firm into crystal after the war. In 1992 his granddaughter Marie-Claude Lalique launched Lalique Parfums with a first women's scent in a bottle she designed herself. In the late 2000s the company was bought by Silvio Denz's Swiss group Art & Fragrance, since renamed Lalique Group. Encre Noire, released in 2006, is still the brand's best-known fragrance. It is also a classic among vetiver lovers.
An olfactory signature
Encre Noire uses very few notes, and that is its strength. Cypress opens on a dark, resinous green. The heart pairs two vetivers. Bourbon vetiver brings smoke and earth while the Haitian one adds a greener clarity. Cashmeran and musk give the base a felted texture, like ink dried on heavy paper. It is a black, damp vetiver with no citrus to lighten it.
Which Lalique perfume to choose?
Our database features Lalique through Encre Noire, a 2006 men's eau de toilette. Pick it if you like dark vetivers and woods without sugar. It works in autumn, in winter and on rainy days, at the office or at night. Two sprays are enough because its presence is clear without being loud. The price is gentle for a scent with this staying power. For comparison, smell Terre d'Hermès, which is more orange and more mineral. Diptyque Tam Dao offers a creamier wood.