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Cartier’s New Fragrance Pays Homage To One of Its Icons

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Photo: Cartier

The house of Cartier has just launched a fragrance dubbed La Panthère Noir Absolu, exclusive to the Middle East. Housed in an eye-catching glass flacon carved from the inside into a panther’s face, the new scent is a muskier, reworked rendition of La Panthère (2014), dreamed up by Mathilde Laurent, Cartier’s in-house perfumer. The inspiration behind the Oud-infused fragrance is, of course, the houses’ signature animal: the panther.

The panther has a longstanding history with the luxury house. For over a century, it has appeared on Cartier’s brooches, bracelets, and rings. The brazen Marchesa Luisa Casati, who paraded the streets of Paris with wild cats (notably her pet cheetahs) on diamond-studded leashes, is oft-rumored to have inspired Cartier’s panther jewelry. Said to be the ultimate symbol of femininity and grace in 19th century Egypt, the wildcat made its first appearance in 1914 on a watch designed to mimic its spotted fur by way of diamonds and onyx— the same year that Charles Barbier gifted Louis Cartier with an illustration of a chic woman with a black panther sprawled at her feet (some say the woman in the exhibition card was Casati.) But perhaps it wasn’t until Jeanne Toussaint, Creative Director of the house of Cartier from 1933 until 1970, took over the design studio that the panther sprung into dazzling life.

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Photo: Charles Barbier/Archives Cartier

Toussaint, who was christened la panthère by Cartier, embodied all of the elements that the big cat represented: fierce determination, unwavering agility, elegance and independence. Her Paris home was decorated in lush leopard skins, and it’s very possible that the Belgian-born designer was the first woman to wear a panther print coat in Paris. It wasn’t long before the wildcat became the emblem of Cartier.

The panther was depicted in full for the very first time on Toussaint’s vanity case in 1917 (a gift from Louis Cartier.) The onyx-flecked feline prowling between cypress trees led the way for several panther-themed rings, bracelets, brooches and necklaces to follow.

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Jeanne Toussaint Photo: Baron Adolph de Meyer/Archives Cartier

Jeanne Toussaint went on to trademark Cartier Parfums in 1938, before the Second World War put a hold on the project. In 2014, in honor of Toussaint, Mathilde Laurent, the in-house perfumer of Cartier, dreamed up La Panthère, a widely acclaimed blend of gardenia and chypre. Now, Cartier is rolling out a reimagined version of the fragrance made specifically for the Middle East. In Noir Absolu, Laurent mixes feline floral accords with rare, natural Oud resin notes. The result? A scent that is both predatory and elegant, kind of like the panther.

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