Sequel #2: Sable /Zibeline
by David Appel Furs
Sequel #2: Sable/ Zibeline
Zibeline Parfum de Weil was one of the three original perfumes created in 1928 by Fourrures Weil in Paris to enhance the experience of wearing luxury furs. Zibeline is French for sable. Furs tended to develop a musky/ musty scent over time and a wealthy client had asked the furriers if there was a perfume one could use to mask this tendency without causing damage to the fur itself. This seemed like a great idea to Claude Weil and it just so happened his daughter, Jacqueline Fraysse, was a perfumer! So, together, combining their expertise, they set out to develop just such perfumes and this led to the formation of a new company Parums Weil. Their creations for scenting furs safely were an imediate success with the European luxury clientele of the period. There were three perfumes – each simply named after the fur you were intended to wear it with: Ermine/ Hermine, Sable/ Zibeline and Chinchilla/ Chinchilla Royale. The concept and the product was an immediate success.
What did this trio of fur perfumes smell like? An advertisement of the time described them thus: Hermine- a sweet tropical floral scent, Chinchilla Royal- a jasmine/rose blend and Zibeline- a grand floral chypre with deep vetiver/oak notes. In this sequel I will I will mainly be discussing Zibeline/ Sable.
In addition to my interest in vintage fashion and perfumes I am a history buff. I am very interested in how history influenced the fashions of its time. The tight knit Weil family were furriers by trade for several generations. They became perfumers by destiny. Since 1920 the furrier brothers, Alfred, Jacques and Marcel Weil experienced great success as fur designers in Paris at Les Fourrures Weil. This was during the electrifying emancipating atmosphere of the Jazz Age in 1920s Paris! In 1927 when a client requested a perfume to sweeten fur without damaging it Parfums Weil was born. The Weil family was Jewish and in 1940 fled the war, closing up their Paris shop. They moved to Bordeaux for a short time. Marcel Weil died of pneumonia in 1933. The father, the surviving brothers and Jacqueline came to the US where they bought out their US distributors in New York and used the space to open their first perfumery/ shop. It was located on Fifth Avenue in the heart of Manhattan. They could not have had a better location. They actually manufactured two of their most successful scents, Cassandra and Zibeline right there on sight. Cassandre was a solo creation of Jacqueline – an anise like fragrance with a hint of fruit and florals released in 1936. Jacqueline had a knack for creating new and unusual perfumes that appealed to women and kept creating one successful scent after another.
Jacqueline Fraysse was one of the rare early 20th century female perfumers of note. She must have been an interesting person. She worked in a male dominated field at a time when most women stayed home, or if they were adventurous, needy or otherwise inclined, they became “entertainers” of one kind or another – actresses, dancers, nightclub performers, etc. They might, in many circumstances have worked in shops or worked in other people’s homes. She was, it seems, lucky to have a family who recognized and encouraged her creative talents and provided an atmosphere and conditions in which she could pursue them. She came of age in 1920s Paris in the Jazz Age and then moved to New York. Yet all the while she lived and worked under the protection and watchful eyes of her furrier/ perfumer father and brothers. Based upon the quality of the perfumes she created and judging from their success in the marketplace she flourished even throughout the difficult years of the depression and war that followed. Her father and brothers were good businessmen and successful at marketing the family enterprise. I admire the fact that they included her contribution giving her credit for her talents and participation. In so many families the women do not get recognition for their contribution to the family business and are relegated to the invisible background so this is admirable and worthy of mention.
Perfumes Weil had grown successful in Paris to the point of opening a sizable factory and export business as well as their fashionable and financially successful fur and perfume salons. When the Nazi’s occupied France they took over Perfumes Weil and gave it to a wealthy Nazi Baron and his Nazi socialite girlfriend to operate. The evil Nazis went so far as to take out enormous vicious ads saying that the perfumes they were making were the originals and buyers should beware of cheap imitations being produced by imposters in other non-official locations notably New York where the real Weils were now residing and making the real thing. It was messy to say the least. Needless to say the Baron and his mistress were not well suited to running a perfume making operation and it was not successful in their hands. Luckily, when the war was over the Weils were able to return to France and regain control of their original company. They had an amazing knack for survival.
Through all of this turmoil of this historical period – from the Jazz age through the depression and the events of WWII – the appeal of the Zibeline/ Sable fragrance also survived and continued to expand. Of the three original Weil fur perfumes released in 1928 Zibeline/ Sable was ultimately the most popular. Women were wearing it for all occasions not only when wearing their furs.
Let’s take a look at the animal and his luxurious fur that inspired it – The Russian Sable.
This little guy is a Golden Sable. Sable comes in a variety of natural colors included dark brown with black tips, greyish brown, gold, and taupe. The different colors come from different areas.
The sable ( Martes zibeline) is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders from eastern Kazakhstan, China, North Korea and Hokkaido, Japan.
The name “sable” originates from Slavic languages and entered Western European languages through the medieval fur trade. Sables are small, omnivorous mammals that inhabit dense forests in regions like Russia, Mongolia, and China. They are known for their luxurious fur, which ranges from light to dark brown and is softer and silkier than that of American Martens. Sables resemble pine martens in size and appearance but have more elongated heads, longer ears, and shorter tails. They are skilled climbers and primarily hunt by sound and scent. Mating occurs between June and August, and litters typically have two or three offspring. Sable fur has been highly valued in the fur trade since the early Middle Ages, and its popularity has driven hunting and conservation efforts. Today, sable fur is often used to decorate clothing items, and the species has no special conservation status according to the IUCN Red List.
The name appears to be of Slavic origin and entered most Western European languages via the early medievil fur trade. Thus the Russian sobol and Polish sobal became the Dutch sable, the French zibeline, Spanish cibelina, cebellina. The Portuguese zibeline and Medieval Latin zibellina derive from the Italian form zibelino.
The term has become a generic description for some black-furred animal breeds, such as sable cats or rabbits, and for the color black in heraldry.
Males measure 38–56 centimetres (15–22 in) in body length, with a tail measuring 9–12 centimetres (3.5–4.7 in), and weigh 880–1,800 grams (1.94–3.97 lb). Females have a body length of 35–51 centimetres (14–20 in), with a tail length of 7.2–11.5 centimetres (2.8–4.5 in). The winter pelage is longer and more luxurious than the summer coat. Different subspecies display geographic variations of fur color , which ranges from light to dark brown, with individual coloring being lighter ventrally and darker on the back and legs. Japanese sables in particular are marked with black on their legs and feet. Individuals also display a light patch of fur on their throat which may be gray, white, or pale yellow. The fur is softer and silkier than that of American martens.
Sables inhabit dense forests dominated by spruce, pine, larch, Siberian cedar, and birch in both lowland and mountainous terrain. They defend home territories that may be anything from 4 to 30 square kilometers (1.5 to 11.6 sq mi) in size, depending on local terrain and food availability. However, when resources are scarce they may move considerable distances in search of food, with travel rates of 6 to 12 kilometers (3.7 to 7.5 mi) per day having been recorded.
Sables live in burrows near riverbanks and in the thickest parts of woods. These burrows are commonly made more secure by being dug among tree roots. They are good climbers of cliffs and trees. They are primarily crepuscular, hunting during the hours of twilight, but become more active in the day during the mating season. Their dens are well hidden, and lined by grass and shed fur, but may be temporary, especially during the winter, when the animal travels more widely in search of prey.
Sables are omnivores and their diet varies seasonally. In the summer, they eat large numbers of mountain hare and other small mammals. In winter, when they are confined to their retreats by frost and snow, they feed on wild berries, rodents, hares, and even small musk deer. They also hunt small weasels, ermine, and birds. Sometimes, sables follow the tracks of wolves and bears and feed on the remains of their kills. They eat gastropods such as slugs, which they rub on the ground in order to remove the mucus. Sables also occasionally eat fish, which they catch with their front paws.
They hunt primarily by sound and scent, and they have an acute sense of hearing. Sables mark their territory with scent produced in glands on the abdomen. Predators of sable include a number of larger carnivores, such as wolves, foxes, wolverines, tigers, lynxes, eagles and large owls.
Mating generally occurs between June and August 15, though the date varies geographically. When courting, sables run, jump and “rumble” similarly to cats. Males dig meter long shallow grooves in the snow, frequently accompanied by urination. Males fight each other violently for females. Females enter estrus in spring. Mating can last as long as eight hours. After insemination the blastocyst does not implant into the uterine wall of the female. Instead, implantation occurs eight months later although gestation lasts 245 to 298 days, embryonic development requires only 25–30 days. Sables birth in tree hollows, where they build nests composed of moss, leaves, and dried grass. Litters number one to seven young, although litters of two or three are most common. Males assist females by defending their territories and providing food.
Sables are born with eyes closed and skin covered in a very thin layer of hair. Newborn cubs weigh between 25 and 35 grams (0.88 and 1.23 oz) and average 10 to 12 centimeters (3.9 to 4.7 in) in length.[ They open their eyes between 30 and 36 days, and leave the nest shortly afterwards. At seven weeks, the young are weaned and given regurgitated food. They reach sexual maturity at the age of two years. They have been reported to live for up to twenty two years on fur farms, and up to eighteen years in the wild.
Sables can interbreed with pine Martens. This has been observed in the wild, where the two species overlap in the Ural Mountains, and is sometimes deliberately encouraged on fur farms. The resulting hybrid, referred to as a kidus, is slightly smaller than a pure sable, with coarser fur, but otherwise similar markings, and a long bushy tail. Kiduses are typically sterile although there has been one recorded instance of a female kidus successfully breeding with a male pine marten.
The Russian variety yields the most luxurious highest priced fur. Wild sable pelts are superior to those raised on farms.
In Russia, the sable’s distribution is largely the result of mass re-introductions involving 19,000 animals between 1940 and 1965. Their range extends northward to the tree line, and extends south to 55–60° latitude in western Siberia, and 42° in the mountainous areas of eastern Asia. Their western distribution encompasses the Ural Mountains where they are sympatric with the European pine marten They are also found on Sakhalin.
In Mongolia, sables occur in the Altai Mountains and in the surrounding forests of Lake Hovsgol, the latter being contiguous with the Trans-Baikal boreal forest region from which the most valuable sable pelts come. In China, sables occur in a limited area of the Xinjiang Uygar Autonomous Region. In northeastern China, sables are now limited to the Greater Khingan Range. In eastern Heilongjiang, the persistence of sables is suspected in the Lesser Khingan Range. Sables also occur in Hokkaido and on the Korean peninsula.
Because of the variable appearance of the sable in different geographic localities, there has been some debate over the exact number of subspecies that can be clearly identified. Mammal Species of the World recognises seventeen different subspecies, but other recent scholarly sources have identified anything from seven to thirty.
Sable fur has been a highly valued item in the fur trade since the early Middle Ages and is generally considered to have the most beautiful and richly tinted pelt among martens. Sable fur is unique because it retains its smoothness in every direction it is stroked. The fur of other animals feels rough stroked against the grain. A wealthy 17th-century Russian diplomat once described the sable as “A beast that the Ancient Greeks and Romans called the Golden Fleece. Russian sables would typically be skinned over the mouth with no incision being made on the body. The feet would be retained, so as to keep as much fur as possible. Byzantine priests would wear sable for their rituals.
In England sable fur was held in great esteem. Henry I was presented with a wreath of black sable by the Bishop of Lincoln, for no less than £100, a considerable sum at the time. Sable fur was a favourite of Henry VIII, who once received five sets of sable fur worth £400 from Emperor Charles V. Henry later decreed that sable fur was to be worn only by nobles exceeding the rank of viscount. The Russian conquest of Siberia was largely spurred by the availability of sables. Ivan Grozny once demanded an annual tribute of 30,000 sable pelts from the newly conquered Kazan Tatars though they never sent more than a thousand, as Russia at the time was unable to enforce the tribute due to wars with Sweden and Poland. The best skins were obtained in Irkutsk and Kamchatka.
When Genghis Khan married his first wife, Borte Ujin, his mother Hoelun received a coat of sable furs from the girl’s parents. This was reportedly a very noble gift, serving not only an aesthetic need but also a practical one. Shortly after, when the young Shigi Qutuqu was found wandering a destroyed Tatar camp, he was recognised to be of noble descent because of his sable-lined silk jerkin.
According to Atkinson’s Travels in Asiatic Russia, Barguzin on Lake Baikal was famed for its sables. The fur of this population is a deep jet black with white tipped hair. Eighty to ninety dollars were sometimes demanded by hunters for a single skin. In 1916, the first Marie reserve in the Russian Empire was created—known as the Barguzin National Reserve —precisely to preserve and increase the numbers of Barguzin sable. Sable fur would continue to be the most favoured fur in Russia, until the discovery of sea otters in the Kamchatka peninsula, whose fur was considered even more valuable. Sable furs were coveted by the nobility of the Russian Empire with very few skins ever being found outside the country during that period. Some, however, would be privately obtained by Jewish traders and brought annually to the Leipzig fair. Sometimes, sable hunting was a job given to convicts exiled to Siberia.
Imperial Russian fur companies produced 25,000 skins annually, with nearly ninety percent of the produce being exported to France and Germany. The civic robes of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London, which were worn on State occasions, were trimmed with sable. As with minks and martens, sables were commonly caught in steel traps. Intensified hunting in Russia in the 19th and early 20th century caused a severe-enough decline in numbers that a five-year ban on hunting was instituted in 1935, followed by a winter-limited licensed hunt. These restrictions together with the development of sable farms have allowed the species to recolonize much of its former range and attain healthy numbers.
The Soviet Union allowed Old Believer communities to continue their traditional way of life on the condition that they hand over all sable skins they produced. The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to an increase of hunting and poaching in the 1990s, in part because wild caught Russian furs are considered the most luxurious and demand the highest prices on the international market. Currently, the species has no special conservation status according to the ICUN Red List though the isolated Japanese subspecies M. zibellina brachyurus is listed as “data-deficient”.
Because of its great expense, sable fur is typically integrated into various clothes fashions: to decorate collars, sleeves, hems and hats see, for example, the shtreimel.
The so-called kolinsky sable haired brushes used for watercolor or oil painting are not manufactured from sable hair, but from that of the Siberian weasel.
If you want a sable garment today there are several ways to go. You can buy a new fur garment or have one custom made. If it is long and custom designed it will be beautiful and very expensive, possibly costing as much as a house! Here are a few examples. Prices are usually only available via special request because sable is like gold and the prices can fluctuate with the market. If a garment is specially made for a client the price would also be determined by how many pelts are used and what size a garment is made as well as how detailed the design is . Some possibilities to consider would include: A knee length casual but elegant city coat. A luxurious long brocade evening coat trimmed in Russian sable with a large collar that doubles as a hood. A contemporary light brown sable maxi coat that will make a modern woman feel like a queen! A modern but classic black cashmere coat with Golden Sable Collar and Cuffs. If a full coat is too expensive one can still enjoy the luxury of sable with a sable trimmed design. 3/4 length coats and jackets with a casual ambience are also available.
The Soviet Union honored the sable with a postage stamp in 1967!
If you are going to wear sable/ zimbeline fur in current times and you want to wear the special perfume designed to wear with it in 1928 by Weil you can still do so because bottles of vintage Zimbeline perfume are still regularly showing up Ebay and Etsy. Weil kept producing it for decades.
The original bottle at the beginning of this post is the oldest and probably the most expensive, but there were other bottles as well. Here are pictures of some different bottle designs you might find. Zibeline was also released as a bath oil which could be used in the bath or as “part of a lady’s toilette” by dabbing a small amount of the precious oil onto one’s skin at a strategic point such as the wrist or cleavage
I always look at what is available in vintage pre-owned furs as an option when I am considering adding a new fur to my personal collection. You can often find one that you will really like for a fraction of the cost of a new piece. So, let’s take a look at some pre-loved options currently on the market.
Here is a really nice full length Dark Brown Russian Sable, Royal Crown Quality, full length coat priced at $6,500. It is gorgeous! Dark, clean. shiny, lush and in excellent condition! It is being sold by Barb The Fur Lady on Etsy and has been recently appraised for $79,000 which is the retail replacement value the buyer can put on her home owners insurance policy.
The coat is a beauty! And a terrific bargain if it is your size and a style you are looking for. It is listed as a a size M – L (10 – 12) I wish it was my size!
From the same seller I also found a lovely Russian Sable Flat fur stole , priced at $2,500 and appraised for insurance purposes at $19,000. It is in immaculate condition and ready to attend a gala event! One wonderful thing about a stole like this is that it will fit just about anyone so you don’t need to worry about the size being too large or too small. It would make a wonderful gift for a special someone and you would not need to worry about whether it was going to fit them or not!
Barb The Fur Lady on Etsy also has several other sable/ zimbeline stoles available in her shop at this time. I suggest you visit her and search for sable to view them. And while you are there look at her other fur items. If you love furs you will undoubtedly find something stunning.
I have acquired several vintage furs for my own collection from Barb
Buyers should be aware when shopping for a pre-owned or vintage fur that is costs a seller a goodly extra amount to have a fur cleaned and appraised. This is something you might have to pay for yourself after buying a per-loved fur item if a seller has not done it. It should be done by a professional furrier. I will provide the name of the furrier I use at the end of this post should you need such services. Ideally a fur garment will fit you and be ready to wear when you acquire it, but this is not always the case. Sometimes repairs, alterations and cleaning are needed. I have bought several vintage furs myself that needed restoration work and alterations done. They were pretty styles and the fur was basically in good shape when I acquired them, but after my furrier cleaned and glazed them they looked spectacular and fit me like they had been custom made.
I was able to get vintage furs in styles I loved that looked as beautiful as new ones after being reconditioned and they cost me a fraction of the price of a new one! I use Swiss furrier Rene’ Vogel for all my fur related needs. He does identification of mystery furs, alterations, cleaning, remodeling and appraisals. I highly recommend his work.
You can reach professional Swiss Furrier Rene Vogel via email Rene’ Vogel <rdcvogel@msn.com> or by phone at (425)322-9638 to schedule appointments for all your fur related needs.
I want to make it clear to my readers that I chose to write about Rene’ Vogel to share information I have learned from him about furs and to provide them access to him as a reliable professional furrier should they wish to find one. Rene’ is not paying me to write about him.
I want to thank Barbara Koich AKA, Barb ” The Fur Lady” on Etsy, for letting me write about her furs and sharing her photos and information on the beautiful fur items listed in her Etsy Shop. She carries high quality hand picked vintage furs of all kinds and can be trusted for the exceptional quality of her pieces and her excellent customer service. I regularly shop there for furs myself because I know they will be high quality. Check out her shop!
Rare and beautiful historic clothing and accessories, jewelry, vintage furs, leather goods and vintage fragrances are for sale in my online shops. If you see something on this blog that you are interested in buying, but do not find it for sale in my shops message me on Etsy or Ebay and I will get back to you about availability. I check messages daily and can always prepare a special listing for you if you do not find it already listed in the shops. Some perfumes, vintage furs and fur trimmed items are currently listed for sale and others will be listed as they are ready to sell. Items are always in process of being readied for listing so all inventory is not already listed and photographed. Feel free to message me on Ebay or Etsy if you are seeking something in particular as I may have it or be able to find it for you. There are contact seller buttons on all listings in the stores which allow you to write me messages.
