Your Jewelry Just Got An Upgrade: By Kilian Launches Visible Scents

The first time I encountered By Kilian’s luxury perfumes, I was apparently so taken with my sample vials that a black-and-white photograph is still hanging on my wall today.
Flash forward a few years, and I’m finding out what it’s like to wrap these scents around my wrists.
“Making perfume into something visible has been my obsession these past few years,” says Kilian Hennessy, founder of the niche fragrance brand (and grandson of the Hennessy who founded LVMH). His capsule collection, which launched yesterday, is split into two parts: The Jewels of L’oeuvre Noire for women and The Leathers of L’oeuvre Noire for men. A few of the designs contain hidden ceramic discs—porous, so that the wearer can reapply perfume as needed. The leathers and silk cords use miniscule capsules that gradually break, releasing a veil of their invisible contents. Regardless of material, everything is designed to carry its fragrance for up to a year.

Kilian Hennessy (Image courtesy By Kilian Inc.)

“It considerably changes your relationship to scent,” says Hennessy of the experience, “You don’t have the aggression of spraying alcohol on your skin. It’s a much softer, more delicate and beautiful way to wear your favorite fragrance.”
The micro-encapsulation technology may be modern, but the rest of the collection is a deliberate nod to the past. He cites gantiers parfumeurs as part of his initial inspiration, the French perfume experts who, centuries ago, infused men’s gloves with fragrance. Perhaps it was this nostalgia that inspired him to choose his materials and designs based on his first perfume collection: L’oeuvre Noire.
Visually, the line pays homage to Homer’s Iliad. The release mentions Achilles and Hector, while Hennessy points out the shield motif on one of his pendants, which he describes as a combination of Greek and Etruscan influences. I think the geometric designs read particularly well in gold plating (18-carat on the necklaces and 24-carat on the bracelets), but you can also opt to purchase them in silver-hued rhodium—because “no one has the time anymore to polish silver!”

The Jewels of L’oeuvre Noire in gold (Image courtesy By Kilian Inc.)

The Leathers of L’oeuvre Noire in black (Image courtesy By Kilian Inc.)

The fun part is picking a scent to go with your bauble of choice. By Kilian offers five gorgeous men’s fragrances for their bracelets, which lean heavier on wood accords than those featured in the women’s collection. The tassel necklace comes in six of the brand’s most feminine compositions. And as far as everything else goes, customers can have their ceramic pendants scented to order with any of the company’s 29 fragrances.
Like the majority of By Kilian’s perfumes, each piece ends up being equally cool on both men and women. Case in point: my pick from the launch is the $275 wraparound leather bracelet, while Hennessy favors the $465 Onyx Tassel Necklace.
“It shows perfectly how intricate perfume and jewelry can become,” he remarks, “I’m hoping to convey what Kilian stands for: perfume as art.”
Somehow, I doubt that anyone could fail to receive that message.