First

Inspiration
In 1976 Van Cleef & Arpels took its first step into perfumery, and First became one of the very first perfumes ever created by a jeweller. The Maison set out to adorn the silhouette with the finest materials nature has to offer, just as it had done with gemstones for seventy years. The bottle tells the same story: a refined silhouette evoking a precious pendant and its airy jump ring, a nod to High Jewelry that would later inspire the Valenciennes earrings, known today as Snowflake. Almost half a century later, First remains an icon, a perfume that embodies the timeless glamour of the Maison.

Perfumer
Jean-Claude Ellena

Fragrance Family
Floral aldehydic

The Olfactive Composition
Jasmine, rose, tuberose, carnation, iris, citrus notes, aldehydes, oakmoss, amber, sandalwood

The Signature of First
First is as radiant as it is elegant: a generous bouquet of jasmine, rose, tuberose, carnation and iris, lifted by citrus notes and aldehydes. Those aldehydes are the key to its character. They act like light falling on a cut stone: they make the flowers sparkle, almost powdery and silvery, and give the bouquet the distinctive shine of the great classic perfumes. Beneath it lies a woody-ambery base of oakmoss, amber and sandalwood, lending the flowers warmth and depth and letting the scent glow softly on the skin for hours. The result is a luminous floral composition with the allure of a jewel: refined, bright and timeless.

What our ParfuMaria team thinks of this fragrance
For us, First is a lesson in elegance. As soon as you spray it you sense the bright, slightly soapy sheen of the aldehydes, like the ring of a crystal glass. Then the bouquet opens, and what moves us every time is its balance: jasmine and tuberose bring creaminess, rose and carnation a touch of spice, and iris lays a soft powderiness over it all, without any single flower overpowering the others. After an hour the scent settles into a warm, mossy base of amber and sandalwood that stays close to the skin well into the evening. We find First at its most beautiful on occasions that matter: a dinner, a concert, a festive afternoon, yet just as lovely as a quiet, polished signature on an ordinary working day. It is a fragrance for lovers of the great French classics, for those who appreciate vintage glamour and for anyone seeking a perfume that does not shout but shines. That Jean-Claude Ellena composed it as early as 1976, and that it still feels so fresh and contemporary, says everything about its class.