Амбровий акорд

Modern products such as perfume do not normally use actual amber, because fossilized amber produces very little scent.

The amber accord

The scent of amber was originally derived from emulating the scent of ambergris and/or the plant resin labdanum. Since sperm whales are endangered, the scent of amber is now largely derived from labdanum. Benzoin is usually part of the recipe, and vanilla and cloves are sometimes used to enhance the aroma.

Fossil amber

Fossil amber is fossilized tree resin. Because it originates as a soft, sticky tree resin, amber sometimes contains animal and plant material as inclusions. Amber can range from a whitish color through a pale lemon yellow, to brown and almost black. Amber is used in jewelry and as a healing agent in folk medicine. There are over 150 types of amber, and five classes of amber are defined on the basis of their chemical constituents. Heating amber under the right conditions yields oil of amber, which was once combined carefully with nitric acid to make an artificial musk with a peculiar musky odor. Baltic amber is amber from the Baltic region, home of its largest known deposits. More than 90% of the world's amber comes from Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. Because Baltic amber contains 3-8% succinic acid, it is also termed succinite. Although all Dominican amber is fluorescent, the rarest Dominican amber is blue amber.

Ambergris

Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odour. It acquires a sweet, earthy scent as it ages. Perfume makers have highly valued ambergris as a fixative that allows the scent to last much longer, although synthetic ambroxide has mostly replaced it. Ambergris and amber may have become confused because both were found washed up on beaches.

Ambroxide

Ambroxide is a naturally occurring terpenoid and one of the key constituents responsible for the odor of ambergris. Breakdown of the relatively scentless ambrein through oxidation produces ambroxide and ambrinol, the main odour components of ambergris. Ambroxide has a scent with woody, musky and slightly salty nuances. Ambroxide is now produced synthetically and used extensively in the perfume industry. Ambroxide has the formula C₁₆H₂₈O and the CAS number 6790-58-5, and a second number, 3738-00-9, applies to unspecified stereochemistry. Small amounts of ambroxide, under 0.01 ppm, are used as a flavoring in food.

Labdanum

Labdanum is a sticky brown resin obtained from the shrubs Cistus ladanifer, the gum rockrose of the western Mediterranean, and Cistus creticus, the pink rockrose of the eastern Mediterranean. Labdanum is the main ingredient used when making the scent of amber in perfumery, as well as chypre fragrances. Labdanum is much valued in perfumery because of its resemblance to ambergris.

Benzoin

Benzoin is a balsamic resin obtained from the bark of several species of trees in the genus Styrax. Benzoin resin is a common ingredient in incense-making and perfumery because of its sweet vanilla-like aroma and fixative properties.

Amber as a fragrance family

In the 2010 version of that wheel the family is named Amber, and it was previously called Oriental.

Amber in PREMIEREPEAU perfumes

Four PREMIEREPEAU perfumes list amber among their materials. Doppel Dancers, composed by Claire Liégent, lists amber and woody amber. Albâtre Sépia, composed by Florian Gallo, lists amber alongside ambroxan. Gravitas Capitale, composed by Grégoire Balleydier, lists amber and ambroxan. Rose Monotone, composed by Claire Liégent, also lists amber and ambroxan.