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Few fragrance houses remain as deeply rooted in their origins as Amouage. Fewer still are born of royalty and continue to evoke that same regal spirit. Amouage is both, a brand shaped by its provenance and propelled by its uncompromising vision.
Founded by the Sultan Qaboos Bin Said in 1983 as a gift to the world’s most discerning few, hence their enduring slogan, The Gift of Kings, Amouage has grown into a global fragrance phenomenon. And yet, despite its reach, the brand has never strayed far from home. Its soul is still bound to the land of Oman: its ancient mountains, its sacred trees, its windswept coasts. Every bottle holds the essence of place, drawn from the rare and raw gifts nature has bestowed upon the region.
In recent years, under the artistic direction of Chief Creative Officer Renaud Salmon, Amouage has embraced a new depth; one marked by introspection, emotional resonance, and a philosophy that finds inspiration in stillness. Salmon seeks not only to craft scent but to distill the ineffable, translating emotion, moment, and meaning into olfactory form.
This ethos is embodied in Decision and Existence, the two final fragrances in the revered Odyssey Collection. Inspired by Jebel Shams, the highest peak in Oman, these scents mark the end of one story, and the stirring promise of others yet to come.
Standing at the foot of Jebel Shams, Salmon noticed the gnarled silhouettes of juniper trees—ancient, defiant, shaped by time and trial. When struck by lightning, their sap turns to steam, splitting the bark, fossilizing the form. Some trees perish. A few endure—transformed, scarred, alive.
This moment became the genesis of Decision, imagined as an olfactory bolt of clarity. Crafted with perfumer Quentin Bisch, the scent merges Bergamot, Juniper Berries, Frankincense, and Myrrh, evoking a flash of transformation. Bright, flinty, and cool, it captures the precise instant of becoming, when darkness gives way to direction.At the summit, Salmon was enveloped by clouds. The earth fell away; sky above, mist below, and a stillness so pure it defied explanation.
“It was an experience I can’t even begin to put into words. I knew I was connected to the earth, and yet I also felt as though I was floating. The disorientation was profound, and curiously serene and liberating.”
Descending the mountain, one truth remained: this moment had to be rendered into fragrance. The result is Existence, a scent without edge or border. If Decision is revelation, Existence is transcendence.
At its heart lies a poignant Lily of the Valley, delicate yet expansive, suspended within a breath of tender Frankincense. The composition evokes the sublime ambiguity of Friedrich’s Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, a painting that also informed Salmon’s vision. Existence is a fragrance out of time, fleeting yet infinite, fragile yet vast.
Together, these scents bring the Odyssey Collection to its evocative close. Since 2020, the series has traced both the physical geography of Oman and the metaphysical journeys of the soul—beginning with Meander, Ashore, Crimson Rocks, and Enclave, and continuing through Boundless, Material, Lineage, Search, Guidance, and Purpose.
Now, with Decision and Existence, this chapter concludes, yet it does so with a whisper of new beginnings. Because if there is one thing Amouage has always known, it is how to tell a story. One steeped in heritage, lifted by imagination, and carried forward by scent.
