Bottle Design:
Åsa Jungnelius, Kosta Boda

See Prices

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Dark Saphir Agonist 2013

7.7 / 10 180 Ratings

A popular perfume by Agonist for women and men, released in 2013. The scent is floral-spicy. The production was apparently discontinued.
Compare

More

We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Floral

Spicy

Woody

Oriental

Fruity

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Black pepper

Coriander

Cumin

Ginger

Holy basil Peach

Peach

Raspberry

Bergamot

Violet leaf

Heart Notes

Rose

Carnation

Cinnamon

Geranium

Heliotrope Jasmine

Jasmine

Carrot

Iris

Orchid

Base Notes

Frankincense Oud

Oud

Cistus

Copaiba balsam

Gaiac wood

Nagarmotha

Patchouli

Tonka bean Vanilla

Vanilla

Perfumer

Fabrice Pellegrin

Ratings

Scent

7.7180 Ratings

Longevity

7.9142 Ratings

Sillage

7.2139 Ratings

Bottle

8.1133 Ratings

Value for money

6.417 Ratings

Submitted by Franfan20, last update on 12/01/2024.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Once upon a Day

Chergui Eau de Parfum

Ardent Eau de Parfum

Portrait of a Lady Eau de Parfum

Armani Privé - Rose d'Arabie

Black Aoud

Reviews

8 in-depth fragrance descriptions

04/16/2015

8Scent 10Longevity 7.5Sillage

DaveGahan101
535 Reviews

Translated · Show original

DaveGahan101

Top Review 18

X.............................................X (Placeholder for Speechlessness)

My dear Aunt Lilly...I don't know if I should be grateful to you or send a lightning bolt to Vienna;-) But I think I'll choose the former:-)! Flowchart for Lilly: She raves about a fragrance, sends a package, Dave MUST buy the fragrance...that's how it often goes..and will eventually mean my financial demise:-)! Yes..and just like that, it is again this time. Dark Saphir has so far been admired by me from a distance for its stunningly beautiful bottle..exactly my style..but unfortunately, I could never test it. However, the content is at least as beautiful as the exterior. I would even go so far as to say it is one of the five most beautiful fragrances ever. It's not completely surprising when you look at who the perfumer is and what she has done. When I saw the fragrance pyramid, I immediately thought of Amouage and Tiziana Terenzi...you also need 16:9 to see all the notes at all.
I wouldn't even come close to doing Dark Saphir justice if I called it a rose-oud, even though it fleetingly smells like that at first..but it is so much more...and that so much more is not primarily depicted by the fragrance pyramid, but by what it triggers in my belly and heart. It simply makes me happy..it makes me shine..and feel so good. Yes, of course, that often has something to do with "rose" for me..I've been praying to Lumiere Noire PH and Gris Montaigne for two years now..but there has to be something more. In this case, it is the fruity-citrusy...with the dark-warm-spicy in contrast...not entirely unlike the Jubilation interplay...where blackberry-here raspberry..but light-years away from Tuscan Leather or Maoam gummy candies. No note pushes itself forward..everything is nestled in something balsamic...oud as a wonderful contrast..one of the soft and mild kind..but still dark enough. None of the 27 notes dominates anything here...none is used in a blatant way..nothing quickly fades due to penetrance. The edges and corners are rounded in this fragrance..transitional..flowing..a scent like from a manufactory. An Eurasian fragrance that does not emphasize one side..as if it wants to please everyone..and it seems to succeed. Perfect people, perfect fragrances quickly tend towards boredom...but inner beauty is always attractive and appealing...and for me, Dark Saphir is simply beautiful.

Conclusion: X........................X, a natural beauty inside and out, for rose lovers, Valentine's Day is all year round, super longevity of 8-9 hours with great sillage. A gemstone, a jewel in any collection!

01/14/2017

9Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

Jazzbob
128 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Jazzbob

Top Review 11

For a special occasion...

… most of us probably have at least one fragrance in our repertoire that is not used on a daily basis, but is worn only rarely, despite - or precisely because of its beauty. Dark Saphir is, in a way, one of those gems in my collection.

Since I find resinous, woody, smoky orientals the most exciting, though also somewhat controversial, and I was in the mood to get to know rose fragrances better, I ended up with a sample of Dark Saphir. From the very first test, I was overwhelmed, which has hardly ever happened to me before. And this, even though long lists of fragrance components, like in this case, usually deter me, as they raise fears of being overloaded and unbalanced.

It becomes all the more clear how little these enumerations help in the description. A dark rose, which simultaneously has something brightening, is clearly at the center here - like a radiant Bordeaux red (in contrast to the deep blue sapphire). But around it, other notes are woven so densely that it is difficult to pick out individual ones. The fragrance development is also not linear; rather, I perceive a shimmering effect: sometimes I notice more herb-fruity berries, sometimes oriental-spicy notes, at times Dark Saphir seems smokier to me - I think I recognize frankincense and cistus - and at times it puts on its dark balsamic-resinous cloak, with oud never becoming too overpowering.

I find these wonderful contrasts and the intense olfactory effect absolutely unisex and very attractive. (A woman who wears Dark Saphir instead of a light, sweetened mainstream fragrance would be instantly more interesting to me.) However, I would not wear this rather heavy fragrance at work, and I would also feel it would be too precious for that. But when I do wear it, a few spritzes are enough, and it envelops me for many hours.

The truly noble bottle made of heavy glass with its minimalist design and the high-quality, equally beautiful packaging round off the overall impression, which is why I consider the current price of €125 for 50 ml to be absolutely justified.

03/04/2020

8Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

Taurus
1166 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Taurus

Top Review 18

The Blue Rose

Actually, sapphires are blue, to be precise, sky blue to dark blue-black. But other colors can also occur. If they are actually red, then they are rubies.

And I have to think of rubies when I see the color red or sniff roses. So more or less in a figurative sense.

In Dark Sapphire, the rose undoubtedly dominates. But there’s a lot happening around it when you take a look at the inflated pyramid. Of course, you can't identify everything, but you get the impression that with almost every breath, you discover a new facet of the "dark sapphire."

Sometimes it seems more like raspberries, then more like patchouli, then more like the spicy-oriental components or rather the floral-resinous notes. At first, the rose doesn’t quite know whether it should show more of the sweet side or the dark-bitter side, but by the middle of the journey, it has found its calm and truly appears ripe and mature.

Surrounding it, you recognize the heavy woody notes as a framework along with the classic soft oud as a base on which the rose rests.

Not surprisingly, I am reminded of "Black Tie" by Washington Tremlett, a dark rose fragrance for men that led the perfume top ten about 9 years ago. "Black Tie" no longer plays a role in the fragrance segment today, but those who still know it are aware of its allure.

Thus, Dark Sapphire is not a fragrance twin, but a welcome alternative for anyone looking for something similar. It is a noble perfume with rose at its core and dark matter surrounding it, which is certainly also wearable for men.

01/25/2014

9Scent 10Longevity 7.5Sillage

FLUidENTITY
246 Reviews

Translated · Show original

FLUidENTITY

Top Review 18

Late Winter Flui

So, attention, Flui finds the scent completely different from what the diagrams below *scroll again, look, nod* depict.

At first, I was totally taken with and then away from this overly stylish bottle, which fits perfectly into my apartment and hopefully will soon be actively doing so. So.

The other Agonists, I can only deal with to a limited extent. For me, it's that I hardly grasp Isis at all and The Infidels has not completely convinced me despite several chances that Flui has given the scent, so Flui is still skeptical. Black Amber is too much of the dull smokiness, the haze.

But Dark Saphir reflects the feel-good Flui, the well-being Flui. DS is round and soft, and that is right at the top of Flui's prey schema list. The implementation is, at first sniff, not really my favorite prey schema, but as it presents itself here, it is indeed my thing.

Below it says 4% fruity. Well, for me, the entire opening is fruity. Raspberry, (Flui is quite fundamentally a raspberry fan) and peach reach out and indeed by meters (Sillage :) and strike mercilessly. However, the fruitiness is just the melody over the foundation. The foundation colors the fruitiness dark. These are not bright, fruity fruit accents, but mature, rich, muted fruit accents. And the accent here is on accent, they stand out like two permanent flashes. Caraway already provides the foundation here, which is quite spicy, broad, and dark. Yes, and the iris-carrot is also part of the game right from the start. I perceive a lipstick accord, not at all subtle, clearly noticeable. It also fades only slowly, and that is a really beautiful staging. The floral aspect is designed in the same way. No bright little flowers, but darker floral extreme nuances that shimmer from the foundation, unfolding from it.
In summary: Dark Saphir is muted fruity, dim floral with a dark background. The three components run quite quickly and simultaneously.
The only point of criticism: All of this is not 100 percent bundled (how I love this word for scents :) and seems a bit diffuse. Okay, I gladly admit that, but all these components have the smallest common denominator: They are somewhat rough, dark, and dirty. Not sterile and not polished, not crystal clear delineated with clear structures.

I can already understand the dark sapphire when smelling it, because: The dark shine of the sapphire is simply the fruitiness and the dark earthy base is the solid sapphire stone. The incense joins in here and envelops the scent while the fruitiness, during its truly wonderful longevity, increasingly retreats into the robust shape of the sapphire.

For me personally, DS will be a nice complement to Cuir Blanc. Both are gentle, delightful, soft round scents, with different designs.

09/02/2015

9Scent 7.5Longevity 5Sillage

Terra
646 Reviews

Translated · Show original

Terra

Top Review

In the end, we will come to an agreement after all...

I like Agonist. They offer the fragrances at a lower price in simpler bottles and are one of the few labels for which I would be willing to pay the extra cost for the truly beautiful designer bottles, which I usually find overloaded and kitschy. But that is only affordable after Porsche, yacht, vacation home, and co. are no longer a problem, so probably never ;). Moreover, the scents I know smell unique and also valuable.

But with Dark Saphir, I initially thought, "oh no, not another rose-oud." Not only is it always the same combination, but I actually find it rarely good. Intense rose notes have always seemed quite dark and heavy to me, just like oud. You would also season a sweet dough with a pinch of salt! So why make something dark and heavy even darker and heavier? Admittedly: gloom can also be really brilliant! But usually, saffron is involved, which makes everything medicinal, and for me, the oven is off. I then recognize much less how beautiful the oud or the rose is; it simply comes across as piercingly medicinal. Therefore, only a few very oriental fragrances have convinced me in this direction, where a beautiful oud dominates or a rose is made to shine, not appear even darker.

Dark Saphir initially confirms all my fears. A deep dark rose shoots towards my sensory cells along with a thankfully only slightly medicinal and somewhat earthy oud note. Raspberries, blackberries - an indistinct berry note with a slight sweetness promises a bit of soothing, harmonizes wonderfully, but does not create any restraint - it continues dark and unfriendly.

But then... all of a sudden, Dark Saphir becomes really cuddly and nice. The rose-oud duet takes a bit of a back seat, and everything becomes wonderfully resinous-vanilla, sweet-warm with a hint of light from a bright incense. This is not totally opulent or spectacular, but incredibly beautiful. For me, heliotrope clearly comes into play in the base, and the scent brightens more and more, becoming very soft and comforting me warmly over head and heart, smelling truly incredibly beautiful.

Dark Saphir is one of the most harmonious, rather western-dark rose-oud fragrances. Nothing here feels cheap or synthetic; it has a great base, and there are no hairspray associations. Unfortunately, projection and longevity are only average for this fragrance category, which could also be due to a relatively high use of natural ingredients. Although I find the base incredibly beautiful, it does not make the rocky path to it so appealing that I want the fragrance at the moment. If I didn't have to walk this rocky path first, the dark sapphire would just barely reach 100%.

More reviews