Reviews of Ambre Précieux (1988)
by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier

To my mind, one of the most interesting ambers on the market. Ambergris, together with Peru and Tolu balsams, give a genuine and classic rendition of amber fragrance in the base note, while amber, vanilla, and nutmeg provide a generous and fulsome heart note; the top is a brilliant stroke of olfactory imagination, pairing lavender and myrtle to produce a spicy, smooth, and slightly floral-herbal introduction to the piece. I always thought Jean Laporte was a genius, with Santal Noble, Parfum d'Habit, and Eau des Îles to his credit, and this is just confirmation of his skill. In my book, this beats most of the other leading ambers for sophistication and sheer beauty.

A classy, well-balanced amber with woody notes of lavender and myrtle. This perfume is so well-behaved on me that it blends beautifully into a warm, sweet, skin scent. It is avoids becoming overly sweet, yet it never veers too far into masculine territory with leather or herbal notes. It is wonderful for a straight amber scent—as close to being "plain" while still being complex, skillfully crafted and smooth, but quiet.

This review is under revision.

Elegant, golden, creamy. This is how I can best describe this precious elixir from MPG! One of my favorite offerings by this fragrance house. With my chemistry, it is what I always hoped Guerlain's Shalimar could be! Lovely.

A strikingly unusual fragrance. The opening features lavender — not the creamy floral lavender of so many fragrances, but the herbal aromatic lavender of so few fragrances — the lavender I love. This great lavender is combined with a floral for body, amber and vanilla for sweet, wood for a base, and spice for...spice. These create such an excellent accord that is very difficult to categorize or describe. I think what I like about it is that it is aromatic but not green, full but not rich, sweet but not sweet, and sophisticated but not in the least stuffy. In the middle notes, the fragrance loses most of its aromatics and takes on some spices — particularly nutmeg, to my nose. The amber and the vanilla stay prominent, but they never seem to make the scent too sweet. The drydown retains the amber to a lesser potency and provides a satisfying and sensibly sweet close-to-the-skin experience. As Marlen says, the amber in Amber Précieux is excellent for those who often find amber cloying or too sweet. I now have a new favorite amber fragrance — Ambre Précieux has replaced Ambre Sultan for top honors in the amber category. Ambre Précieux offers compelling and original olfactory wonders, but it also is so wonderfully wearable.

Ambre Précieux is probably the most balanced amber scent I know. Sweet spices, soft woods, and a judicious touch of vanilla make a scent that’s sweet and sensuous, but not syrupy. This is richer, deeper, and sexier than Ambre Extreme or Montale’s Blue Amber, but less sharp and aggressive than Ambre Sultan. It also lacks the latter scent’s peculiar, jarring top notes. Ambre Précieux is warm, luxurious and satisfying, at once individual but inoffensive, and it’s easy to see why it’s so many reviewers’ favorite amber fragrance.

This is a beautifully constructed fragrance and this is coming from someone who isn't the biggest fan of "soli-amber" (is that pun on soliflore legal to say?) scents. It's very complex but not "busy"; the vanilla and woods work so well with the amber accord. It is neither too bland (L'Artisan's Ambre and Ambre Extreme) nor is it stifling/cloying (which is the effect the crowded herbal pyramid of SL Ambre Sultan gives me)

I tested Ambre Sultan (Serge Lutens), Ambre Extreme (L'Artisan), and Ambre Precieux together. Ambre Sultan is abominable, but Ambre Extreme and Ambre Precieux are both very fine, and very similar. They have comparable longevity (very good). Precieux is a little sweeter, but not as nuanced.

To me, Amber can be cloyingly sweet if used in copiously large amounts. Ambre Precieux, however, is a near perfect unisex (read: not all sweet) fragrance based around Amber. It starts off spicy (some spices + lavendar), and then gradually transforms to a sweet base of amber, vanilla and ambergris. This does for ambre what Original Vetiver, Guerlain Vetiver, and Racine do for Vetiver - make an inviting fragrance around a note which for some reason or the other, the majority of the population may not be enamored with. Long lasting, very unisex, and ultimately satisfying, Ambre Precieux is one of the best amber fragrances around.

Good but done better by L'artisan's Ambre Extreme. Not quite as thick as that one, but nice. If you own either Ambre Sultan or Ambre Extreme, there's no reason to get this one.

I've been wondering how exactly I would describe the scent of ambre to someone who had never smelled it. Before I had tasted it, a friend of mine once described truffle to me as: "imagine the world's best chef took a stinky gym sock and somehow made it taste great." I guess the reality with ambre is that I would have to say: "imagine a sperm whale puked and somehow, months later someone found it and it smelled salty, dense, tar-like, and sweet but yet dry, and so they put it in a parfum with other stuff." Ambre is unique. In this scent, I think it is slightly sweet, verging on too sweet for me, but not quite there. I get lots of vanilla mixed with the ambre once this is dried. I also get maybe some nutmeg or a touch of cinnamon - light spices. It's pretty straightforward and yet rich and creamy. It's one of my favorite MPG's to date. Very nice and lasts a long time.

This is a dream in a bottle. No mere amber fragrance, this juice offers up a powdery and incensey drydown with a surprisingly un-sweet, yet resinous amber note. Perfect for those who can't stand the cloying factor of most amber scent.

I'm sure there are bad ambers out there, but I haven't run into one yet that's offensive. Comparing MPG's amber to Ambra del Nepal, my scale tilts toward the i Profume di Firenze juice. Nepal reads a little smoother and quicker to give a powder impression. Ambre Précieux comes across as elegantly forceful. I'd want to smell Ambre Précieux on my lawyer and Ambra del Nepal on my lover.

What a spectacular amber this is - I would recommend it to anyone who even moderately likes amber as a note. The composition of notes here, with an emphasis on balsams as well as amber, yields a deep golden-smelling fragrance with a satiny texture so smooth that I almost think this is better as a women's fragrance. It's very sweet - in spite of the myrtle-lavendar topnotes -with its heart of amber and vanilla sparked by nutmeg. This is easily a staple scent for me, especially in the cooler months when its qualities shine through with the most clarity.

Ambre Precieux is not just another Ambre blend. Laporte managed to create an Ambre based fragrance that was spicy, but not spicy enough to take the center stage off the Ambre. Ambre alone can be cloying, but Ambre with too much conflict can be off putting and difficult to wear for many (Ambre Sultan), but Ambre Precieux maintains enough conflict to keep it interesting throughout the entire drydown, and is also sweet enough to be warm and comforting. This is a great Ambre fragrance, and should serve as an example for anyone looking for ‘ambre’.

Incredible. I actually keep getting up to stick my nose in the bottle even though I'm wearing it and have had it for months. A touch feminine and very soft, but woodsy as well. Think of MPG's Santal Noble as the ambery wood and this as the woodsy amber

'Now entertain conjecture of a time/Of creeping murmur and the poring dark ...' Dark, rich, sumptuous murmurs indeed. It sets the tone for scents of precious amber.

Like opening the door of a Victorian dressing room, an opulent amber sweetend with vanilla intoxicates the nose. Yes, intoxicates is indeed the word, tigrushka!

This one is just perfect! Amber scents can't get any better than this. Intoxicating and irresistible.

Obviously very high quality coming from the innovative house of MPG. AP is the only bottle I possess (so far) from this master of tradition. A dream in amber and wood, it will take your breath away.