Adèle.

Adèle arrived in 2018 as part of Gritti's White Collection, named after Gustav Klimt's 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. The painting, adorned in gold leaf, bought for $135 million in 2006, remains the most expensive ever sold at auction. Luca Gritti translated that gilded opulence into scent. The brief was clear: capture the feeling of wearing something that costs exactly what it's worth. Not ostentatious. Opulent. There's a difference. Osmanthus brings the apricot softness; jasmine the full bloom; rose the green stem beneath it all. The result is a fragrance that feels like it belongs in a gilded frame.

What makes Adèle interesting isn't any single note, it's the interplay between sweetness and weight. Osmanthus has a fruity, almost apricot quality that keeps the opening from tipping into cloying territory. The heart centers on tuberose, which carries its own creamy, slightly animalic signature, and Narcissus, which adds a darker, hypnotic nuance. Together they create a white floral that doesn't behave like typical evening florals. The base uses ambergris for warmth and depth, ambergris acts like a fixative for the florals above, stretching the initial impression further into the drydown. Cedarwood then enters to provide structure, keeping the composition from dissolving into sweetness entirely.

The first hour belongs to the osmanthus. Apricot sweetness floods the opening, held up by jasmine in full bloom and a rose that hasn't lost its green stem yet. This is sweet, but it's sweet with intention, there's a richness here that feels less like sugar and more like golden honey. By the second hour the tuberose takes over, pulling the composition toward its heart. The Narcissus adds depth, a slightly narcotic quality that makes the florals feel heavier, more present. The skin underneath seems warmer. The drydown settles into cedar and ambergris, a dry woodiness meets salty warmth that keeps the florals alive while adding a quiet sophistication. The final impression is warm, intimate, and lasts through the evening.

Adèle occupies a specific space in the niche fragrance world: fragrances named after famous artworks. The Klimt connection gives it a built-in narrative, wearers who know the painting understand immediately what the fragrance aspires to. This places it alongside other art-inspired releases, though Adèle's White Collection home gives it a lighter, more accessible character than the darker Black Collection.