Sterling: Jewellery Transformed into Fragrance

Patiala, Thameen

Jewels drip down from the neck and nestle in the hollows of the throat; diamonds sparkle against the skin; flushed rubies stand out at the collarbones. The Patiala necklace: 2,930 diamonds set in platinum to create an ornamental and lavish piece of jewellery, commissioned in 1928 by Sir Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala.

Although the necklace was lost in the 1940s, with only pieces and fragments rediscovered since, its tribute to craftsmanship, refinement and luxury lives on ethereally in Patiala, the new fragrance from British niche perfumery Thameen London.

Thameen pride themselves on combining Eastern opulence with Western refinement. Their essence is captured in their name, which means ‘precious’ and evokes the fine jewellery and exquisite natural materials which inspire their fragrances.

The base of a Thameen fragrance is scented oil – an ancient perfuming device traditional to Eastern culture, prized for its rarity, the rich sensuousness of its texture and the intensity of the aroma it delivers. In keeping with the luxury status of perfume in Eastern tradition as the delicate and highly cultivated art of combining rare, precious ingredients, Thameen creates original contemporary fragrances using meticulously sourced, carefully selected elements. Each ingredient is paid its due attention with Thameen’s simple perfume structure which combines its elements to produce a concentrated and perfectly balanced blend of aromas that simultaneously remains subtle and refined.

With Patiala, Thameen have sought to create a timeless fragrance inspired by a timeless emblem of exquisite beauty and elegance in jewellery-making. Patiala adorns the throat not with jewels but with the dazzling brightness of freshly-cut citrus mingled with the sharp sweetness of aldehyde. The cold angularity of diamonds is transformed by the smooth warmth of moss, amber and heady musk. Meanwhile the rubies that adorn the Patiala necklace become, under the craft of Thameen, an echo of wild roses warmed by traces of orange flower.

We wear fragrance at our throats like a necklace and at our wrists like a bracelet. Thameen’s Patiala is designed to bejewel the skin with scent, to embellish the neck with a lavish yet sophisticated olfactory glow.

Images courtesy of Thameen