Noir by Parfums Weil c1937

Noir by Parfums Weil: launched in 1937. Created by Jacqueline Fraysse.

Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is classified as a light woody oriental perfume with a dominant tuberose notes.

• Top notes: aldehydes, mandarin, peach and bergamot
• Middle notes: jasmine, rose, tuberose, iris, orange blossom, camphor
• Base notes: ambergris, incense, musk, styrax, sandalwood, vanilla, leather, orris, vetiver, oakmoss

Noir was available in parfum, eau de cologne, Secret de Venus bath oil and toilet water.

Bottles:

The perfume came in various bottles of the years. The parfum (extrait) originally came in a black cube shaped bottle with a black disk shaped stopper. This was housed in a black, blue and white presentation box, the inside was lined with tufted blue silk.

During WWII and after, it was presented in a clear crystal cylindrical bottle with sloping shoulders and topped with a disk shaped stopper. These were housed in black boxes decorated with a multicolored pattern made up of the Weil name in fanciful scrolling script. This bottle came in two sizes: one ounce stands 2.95" tall and the half ounce bottle stands 2.28" tall.

A deluxe parfum bottle was ovoid, clear crystal bottle with a frosted stopper. It was housed in a presentation box with the same pattern as the perfume bottles described above. This mini bottle stands about 1.06" tall.

Stage, 1937:

"WEIL — "Noir" is the name of the new perfume, planned to wear with black clothes and in a black bottle, about $28."

Vogue, 1938:

"Black worn in new ways; for example, black unrelieved except by one single, dramatic jewel. Black velvet bows, knots of black ribbon, in evening coiffures. Black accessories. Even black perfume — Weil's "Noir" — not, obviously, raven-hued in itself, but created expressly to bring out the fathomless lure of black.  (And to be worn, the makers say, with black only.) It's shown, right, in its handsome striped black-and-blue  box, tufted with tiny jet beads." 

DC & I, 1938:

 "PARFUMS WEIL Weil's Noir bath oil in the black crystal hour glass bottle, is keyed in feeling to the deep, haunting perfume "Noir" introduced by Weil last winter."

Perfumery and Essential Oil Record - Volume 29, 1938:

"The perfume " Noir " has proved so successful that Messrs. Weil, the furriers, have launched two similar products, an eau de cologne and a toilet water, both marketed under the same name."

Perfumery and Essential Oil Record, Volume 29, 1938:

"Noir" will be the summer line from Weil; a black glass flacon and a black container will justify the name." 

Country Life, 1938:

"All this and more can be said of the perfumes of Weil of Paris, among whose distinguished odours are Zibeline, Cassandra, Chinchilla, and Noir, which have won for themselves an enviable position in France and America."

Chemist and Druggist, 1938:

"Parfums Weil Paris, Ltd., have introduced a concentrated bath oil, three drops of which is sufficient to perfume a bath. Their latest perfume is Noir, which is issued in seven sizes."

 The New Yorker, 1945:

"Weil: Grigri, the most recent arrival here, is mainly, we think, for the lady who likes a very heavy scent loaded with sandalwood and sultriness. The great old favorite, Noir, is back, having lost none of its definite appeal."

Fate of the Fragrance:

Discontinued in 1969.