ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Due to the complex nature of the formula and its long aging process, we produce it in limited batches at a time. They are compounded by the perfumer himself, in his Paris laboratory. 

In 2023, perfumer Alexandre Helwani travelled to Jerusalem to investigate the perfumes of the Bible, setting off a two-year quest to uncover a formula that had laid hidden and unmade for three thousand years.

Helwani believed that gematria held a key to deciphering the encrypted formula in the text. He turned to Marc-Alain Ouaknin, a theologian renowned for his expertise in Hebrew hermeneutics who confirmed his initial hunch. Together, they worked out the equation to break open the code of the poem, which revealed precise indications to compound its fragrance: “It felt unreal. Gematria was used to reveal hidden meanings in the Bible. As I applied this equation to each plant of the Song of Songs, I was always sent to very precise comments such as ‘use the red variety’ or ‘divide this material by ten.”

Once he had worked out the formula, Helwani set out to source some of the rare materials mentioned in the poem, including the mythical balsam of Gilead and a unique extract of Socotra frankincense. “Most scholars believe that the balsam was the resin of Commiphora gileadensis, which hasn’t been harvested in millennia. I asked a friend of mine, a raw materials’ distiller, to produce some for me, and thankfully he did. As for the frankincense, I got in touch with a chemist who had studied the essential oil of Boswellia socotrana. His was the only sample of this essential oil ever produced in history and he agreed to send it to me.”

Besides natural essences, Helwani worked on recreating botanical accords corresponding to the poem’s plants. “If you read the Song, it mentions wine flowers. I contacted an historian to know which wine cépages were grown in that place and time and then asked chemist friends to do GCMS analyses of their flowers, in order to reconstruct the accord as there are no wine flower essential oils available. The same went with mandrake and pomegranate. It was important that the perfume be botanical, as in using only molecules present in nature.”

One ingredient stood out from the others, the ‘rose of Sharon’. “It never was a rose; all scholars agree on that. Its nature is disputed but upon applying the equation to the word, havatzelet, I was sent towards a plant no one had thought of. It ticked all the boxes, was grown in Sharon at the time of the Song’s writing, corresponded to historical and botanical analyses. It was the havatzelet and it made the perfume whole.”

And then, there was the curse. “There is an inscription on the frontispiece of a synagogue in Ein Gedi that curses whoever reveals the secret of this place. It’s Ouaknin’s belief that the secret in question is the perfume hidden in the text. My belief is that this secret is precisely the nature of havatzelet, and I’m superstitious enough not to reveal what it is.”

The formula deciphered, Helwani travelled to New-York to preserve and protect it. “It was a weird meeting. I told them all about the project and one of the partners refused to even look at the formula, as he was more superstitious than I was. The complete formula is now in a safe and we set out strict conditions for its transmission after my death, so that the formula can live on without being offered to untrained eyes.”

The 15ml fragrance is available for pre-order. Second production will begin once 300 bottles have been ordered.
If the minimum quantity is not reached, you will receive a full refund. Expected shipment date: Late March/ April, 2026.
With the precious support of Coverpla, France.

Anna Boothe is also working on a limited-edition glass bottle for PaRDeS, inspired by the sculptural language of the artwork shown here. From the outset, it felt clear that PaRDeS required a vessel as singular as its rediscovered formula — a piece that could echo both its symbolism and its story. The image illustrated is an earlier work by the artist, serving as a reference for the spirit of the upcoming design.

With degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and the Tyler School of Art, Boothe has worked with glass since 1980. Her sculptures are held in major museums including the Corning Museum of Glass, the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, and the Tacoma Museum of Art.

Her recent solo exhibition, Icons for Sagacity (Penn State, 2025), spanned nearly four decades of creation. In recent years her work has also been presented at institutions such as the Albuquerque Museum of Art, the Fuller Craft Museum, and across several venues in Venice and the Veneto region. A forthcoming collaborative installation, Flow: Time, Glass, and the River, will open at Urban Glass (NYC) in 2026.

Boothe was recently invited to join the Michelangelo Foundation’s Homo Faber platform, becoming one of the first U.S. artists featured. She has received distinctions including Best in Glass and the Award in Excellence, and her works are represented by eighteen galleries in the United States. A former President of the Glass Art Society and Director of Glass at the National Liberty Museum, she has also taught at RISD, RIT, VCU, Pilchuck, and the Corning Museum of Glass, and has exhibited or lectured internationally.

If you are interested in acquiring this limited edition, please contact us to be added to the waiting list.