Log in

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

Byzance 1987 Eau de Toilette

Version from 1987
8.0 / 10 171 Ratings
A popular perfume by Rochas for women, released in 1987. The scent is floral-spicy. The longevity is above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.
Pronunciation Compare
Similar fragrances
We may earn a commission when you buy from links on our site, including the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.

Main accords

Floral
Spicy
Oriental
Powdery
Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
AldehydesAldehydes CarnationCarnation BasilBasil Citrus fruitsCitrus fruits Green notesGreen notes LemonLemon Mandarin orangeMandarin orange SpicesSpices CardamomCardamom
Heart Notes Heart Notes
Lily of the valleyLily of the valley RoseRose JasmineJasmine Orris rootOrris root TuberoseTuberose Ylang-ylangYlang-ylang AniseedAniseed
Base Notes Base Notes
HeliotropeHeliotrope VanillaVanilla AmberAmber CedarCedar MuskMusk SandalwoodSandalwood

Perfumers

Ratings
Scent
8.0171 Ratings
Longevity
8.3133 Ratings
Sillage
7.6117 Ratings
Bottle
8.6139 Ratings
Value for money
7.326 Ratings
Submitted by DonVanVliet · last update on 01/18/2026.
Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Byzance (1987) (Parfum) by Rochas
Byzance (1987) Parfum
Casbah (Eau de Toilette) by Avon
Casbah Eau de Toilette
Byzance (1987) (Eau de Parfum) by Rochas
Byzance (1987) Eau de Parfum
Byzance (2016) (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas
Byzance (2016) Eau de Toilette
Jardin Secret by Nicolaï
Jardin Secret
Nuit d'Orchidée by Yves Rocher
Nuit d'Orchidée

Reviews

18 in-depth fragrance descriptions
Krmarich

229 Reviews
Krmarich
Krmarich
Top Review 7  
Sailing to Byzantium
I have an unusual history of Byzance. I found it on closeout in 1992 and gave the bottle to my mother. She couldnt wear it and passed it to a friend. I never had the chance to sample it.

I found a mini today online. The bottle is like those "evil eye" charms so popular in modern Istanbul. Cobalt blue is used all over the Mediterranean basin. It was common to see it on Roman warships. The origin comes from ancient Egypt and the Eye of Horus. Its strange how time changes the meaning of things. Indeed, Byzance is now legendary as its bottle. Its exotic, yet oddly familiar and ever endearing.

I generally find classic tuberose my least favorite note in fragrance. Jardins des Bagatelle is the only way I enjoy it until now. Byzance bursts open with a very vocal aldehyde and tuberose that for the first few minutes, can overwhelm.

Then a voluptuous rose and jasmine note take hold and pulls you in and wont let go. After a few hours, it meanders into a warm, sacred place that your heart will hold dear.

Its really a floriental, yet the catagorization is irrelevant today. Its a little bit of everything, hence its Byzantine character. The complexity ix beyond words.

Rochas was one of the most respected perfume only houses of the 20th century. Indeed Macassar, Mystere, Lumiere, Byzance, Alchemie and Tocade commanded major attention before it all disappeared in 1999. I miss this house the most...
0 Comments
Missk

1350 Reviews
Missk
Missk
Very helpful Review 5  
An exotic and unfortunately discontinued masterpiece
Byzance is almost the perfect olfactory equivalent to Byzantium, a poem by William Butler Yeats.

It captures the essence of a long lost city, ancient and artistic. Byzance opens with heady florals, exotic spices, zesty lemon and powdery aldehydes. This opening is very strong, very 80's and very me.

Towards the heart, particularly with the entrance of the white florals, Byzance reminds me somewhat of Passion by Annick Goutal. Byzance is however, more powdery and more lemony.

As the heart settles, the florals, most notably the jasmine, become cleaner and slightly soapy. Due to this fragrance's ever-changing nature, I'd say that Byzance is quite complex.

This fragrance is very feminine, without a doubt. However, with that being said, this fragrance is womanly in an old-fashioned, bouquet of flowers, cooking spice and church incense sort of way. Byzance is essentially the scent of a woman from the ancient times - perhaps even the fragrance of Cleopatra herself, if I let myself dream so.

It is a pity that this fragrance is becoming increasingly harder to find these days. I will be truly disappointed if Rochas decide to pull this fragrance from the market.
0 Comments
GothicHeart

133 Reviews
GothicHeart
GothicHeart
Helpful Review 5  
An Ode to Perfection...
Oh my Sister, oh my Bride,
thou art a garden barriered...
A mystic wave, a fountain sealed...
Thy bosom, there it lies,
a turkish rose heaven...
Fruited and heavy with the most
delightful, scented wonders...
Aye, with heliotrope and musk...
With cardamom and basil...
With every sort of jasmine sighs...
With cedar and with tuberose...
And all the sweetest balsam trees...
Oh fountain of my gardens,
thou art a singing spring
flowing thy lilting path
from the Cappadocian mountains...
Colours of sea, colours of sky
with golden sun embellished...
Constantinople bows with awe
before thy divine beauty...
0 Comments
ScentedSalon

96 Reviews
ScentedSalon
ScentedSalon
Helpful Review 4  
Western Byzantium
Byzance is just what you would expect from a scent of this era: a multitude of notes, big bold flavor and the green darkness so common to classic fragrances.

I cannot pull apart its many notes. Let's just say it opens big with dark greens and citruses and develops into an aldehydic lilly of the valley and woody base. It stays linear throughout. Reminds me of so many other perfumes.

I bought it for the name and bottle and will keep it when I am in a vintage mood. It is not the Eastern Byzantium of the Turks but the Western one of the Europeans.
0 Comments
MrsGuerlain

647 Reviews
MrsGuerlain
MrsGuerlain
3  
The Big Blue
Rochas is a house that I find hugely interesting. Their perfumes are all quite unique and most of them loud and voluminous - just the way I like it, growing up as a teenager in the decade of LouLou and Poison. I like Byzance, Femme and Absolu, all three gorgeous fragrances from Rochas. This is one of the truly great late 80s’ scent. It catches the feeling of the decade so well.
The composition of this scent is richly and skillfully described by others here so I will only comment on the wonderful creamy softness that this scent has. There are few other scents that have the same combination of loudness and softness. I like to wear it in cold days.
The ad is something else. It even has the china blue colour that was so popular in the decade. I remember having a beret and and scarf in the same colour - of course with big matching plastic earrings and hair clip. It all went so well with my white/black checkered sweater.
The bottle is absolutely gorgeous.
I humbly say: thank you, Mamounas and Morillas!
162/365
0 Comments
More reviews

Statements

14 short views on the fragrance
1
Full bodied floral with a sting of spice. Borders on powdery at dry down. Would be great layered with Zagorsk by CdG.
0 Comments
39
43
In Byzantium
A soapy aldehyde breeze blew
Delicate powdery flowers adorned the castle
Oriental caravan on a licorice snail brings warm spice
Translated · Show originalShow translation
43 Comments
19
14
In the palace of Byzantium, the lush floral mosaics are polished with cream soap. The emperor is being incense-burned on his cedar resin throne.
Translated · Show originalShow translation
14 Comments
18
11
The aldehydes gave it radiance, a certain soapiness added to it, it had something polished, perfect. Extraordinary!
Translated · Show originalShow translation
11 Comments
12
12
Heliotrope-vanilla warm, floral green-spicy unsweetened skin caresser by N. Mamounas, the creator of the great Eau de Rochas. Awesome!
Translated · Show originalShow translation
12 Comments
12
4
Aldehyde-heavy women's fragrance that has probably been written about everything: floral, powdery, bright, complex: briefly a cult in the 80s!
Translated · Show originalShow translation
4 Comments
9
A beautiful journey into the fragrant past: opulent and multifaceted, elegant and sensual! A special scent gem of its time.
Translated · Show originalShow translation
0 Comments
8
2
A potpourri of scent notes. Everything from fresh-green to floral-powdery-spicy-woody is included. I missed it in the 80s.
Translated · Show originalShow translation
2 Comments
8
Not everything was better in the past, but it was definitely different and had impact. Soapy flowers, green-spicy, a bit old-fashioned.
Translated · Show originalShow translation
0 Comments
7
2
Floral-spicy powerhouse scent that represents its time with aldehydes, soapy-woody notes, and musk cream. Quite unusual these days.
Translated · Show originalShow translation
2 Comments
More statements

Charts

This is how the community classifies the fragrance.
Pie Chart Radar Chart

Images

44 fragrance photos of the community
More images

Popular by Rochas

Moustache (Eau de Parfum) by Rochas Rochas Man (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas Femme (1989) (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas Eau de Rochas Homme (1993) (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas Absolu by Rochas Alchimie (Eau de Parfum) by Rochas L'Homme Rochas by Rochas Eau de Rochas (1970) (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas Mystère (Eau de Parfum) by Rochas Macassar (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas Moustache Original 1949 by Rochas Tocade (1994) (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas Lui Rochas by Rochas Eau de Rochas Homme (2015) by Rochas Madame Rochas (1960) (Parfum) by Rochas Globe (Eau de Toilette) by Rochas Madame Rochas (1989) (Eau de Parfum) by Rochas Eau Sensuelle by Rochas Eau de Rochas Fraîche by Rochas Femme (1945) (Parfum de Toilette) by Rochas