Most scents have their origins in the grand European tradition: Hungarian monarchs, Venetian counts, flower and plant essences captured in alcohol. The best excel in bravado and complexity (Guerlain’s Shalimar, Frédéric Malle’s Carnal Flower), others are preceded by venerable reputations (Chanel No.5), while some are as light and charming as a summer’s day (Miller Harris’s Fleurs de Bois, a favourite of mine). There are lots to choose from, but while each varies in character, they all belong to the same dynasty.

There is, however, another genus of perfumery, one whose roots stretch all the way to the Orient, to desert temples and the scented robes of long-dead kings. It is a tradition that remains close to the etymological meaning of the Latin term per fumus, meaning “through smoke” (as in incense). And it is a tradition that is slowly wafting westward.

In London, the perfumier Ormonde Jayne already weaves a distinctly Eastern flavour into many of her scents, but it has taken the inimitable Tom Ford to put wind in the sails of this trend. Ford has incorporated Arabian influences into his Private Blend range, most notably in a fragrance called Oud Wood.

Not to be confused with the squid-faced aliens in Doctor Who, oud is the basis for much Arabic perfumery. Essentially a lump of expensive diseased wood (the best oil extract can cost up to £2,000 per 12ml), it is aged, like fine wine, and valued according to fungal infection and colour (the darker, the better).

Unlike most ingredients in Western perfumery, it has extraordinary staying power: it will linger on the skin for days, and on fabrics for even longer. The oil has a bitter smell, and when burnt can be overpowering. However, it is rarely worn alone, but as a base for other essences, such as rose or jasmine.

This, then, is the unlikely subject of a Ford-related fashion moment. However, the world’s leading oud specialist is not the hairy-chested fashion god himself, but a gentleman called Sheikh Mohammed al-Qurashi. And it was to his London shop (94 Brompton Road, SW3, 020-7589 1315), opposite Harrods, that I went to learn more.

In the back boudoir, the oud wood was brought to me, as precious as a tray of diamonds at Tiffany’s. It is odourless, almost weightless and contorted into organic shapes, rather like driftwood. When burnt it is transformed, giving off an evocative scent.

Lining the shelves of the shop are hundreds of bottles. Each one contains a different blend, some as elegant as a duchess’s dinner party, others as oleaginous as a Riviera playboy. Prices vary wildly, and are based on the cost of the ingredients. It’s a veritable olfactory playground – and the doorway to an intriguingly different culture of perfumery.

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