Diving into the Biver Design process - A Passion for Patek.

Jean Claude Biver, a name whispered by enthusiasts, collectors and industry legends in the halls of Baselworld as he walked-on-by leading the LVMH Watches and Jewelry Division. On his wrist? His Patek Philippe 1579P, “the only way to remain truly neutral - it’s above everything” he famously said.

Before leading the LVMH Watch Division, Biver revivred Blancpain, introduced the first celebrity ambassadors at Omega, and pioneered the fusion of traditional watchmaking with unconventional materials at Hublot. His innovative marketing strategies, including high-profile partnerships and limited editions, redefined luxury watch marketing. Biver's passion for watches, coupled with his business acumen, continues to inspire and shape the world of horology today.

His passion for watches goes far beyond his marketing genius, depicted in Hodinkee’s Talking Watches, his collecting journey allowed him to focus on his arch rivals, and ultimately one true love : Patek Philippe. 

In JCB’s business and collecting journey, we can notice 3 resounding principles: Quality, Rarity and Eccentricity – essential elements in achieving BIVER®'s timeless value: Eternity.

Quality

When collecting, all bloggers, dealers, auction houses and collectors will tell you to focus on quality – but what does this mean ?

For JC Biver, two watches exemplify the notion of Quality best, his ref. 1518R and 2499J. Both important references in their own right, rare variants within the reference – but most importantly, according to him, they are top quality watches in unrestored condition – both truly best in class.

Rarity

Two watches that perfectly depict the notion of rarity are the 1579P and the 96 Heure Universelle – when compared to the 1518 and 2499, these watches may seem a little more worn, with slight imperfections, but with 3 known 1579 and 2 known 96HU these pieces exemplify rarity to a point that no 1518 or 2499 could ever.

Eccentricity

Finally, two watches to showcase the mad genius’ eccentricity are the Rainbow Daytona and the Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain. Now the Rainbow remains quite self-explanatory, but the Rexhep CC may surprise newer readers, but one must remember the hype, drive and general press revolving around this watch when it was launched. Basically none. Akrivia pieces were not selling particularly well and the young man fresh out of watchmaking school was just kicking off.

Biver's eccentricity in collecting, mirroring his day-to-day life, serves as a reminder that watchmaking, for many, should be enjoyable—a passion and a hobby above all else.

Eternity

In terms of design, collectability, aesthetic – all the aforementioned watches are truly eternal. And will in essence, eternalize their creators. This is Jean Claude’s desire through BIVER® Watches.

So how does Jean Claude Biver’s passion, knowledge and eccentricity reflect into the timepieces him and his son Pierre are creating ?

When designing the new three-hander, both minds fused and had a lot of input in the choices made. With different tastes, both Bivers are guided by a love for tradition shaken by an eccentric modernity. Jean Claude’s eye was trained by his experience at Audemars Piguet, selling against his competitor Patek Philippe, and his journey through brands like Blancpain, Omega, Breguet, Hublot and the LVMH Group. Pierre’s collecting journey was dualy influenced by his father’s pieces but also his time working at Phillips were he familiarized himself with modern independents, 5 digit Zenith Daytona’s and complicated Royal Oaks.

This mix of aesthetic, taste and generation is what makes BIVER® Watches truly unique and in a class of their own. In my opinion, BIVER® Watches intersect traditional watchmaking with the eccentricity and modernity both Bivers bring to the table.

Let’s dive a little into the characteristic design elements of the BIVER® Watch and how these tie into JCB’s past.

The first stand out design feature on the BIVER® Watch are the lugs, with hints of 2523, 1579 or even 5970, the shape of the lug is a modernized interpretation of this. Technically speaking, the lugs are attached similarly to that of a 3448, a recessed solder covered by the protrusion of the lug.

At a first glance, simply by looking at the lugs of the watch, we can already see the influence of Biver’s collecting journey on his design choices.

If we look at the dial of the watch, the pointy dauphine hands contrast with modern rounder iterations used today, resembling those of a 2499, 3488 or 3940. The blued (almost black) hands and indices could be confused for modernity but instead directly refer to the hands and numerals on a 5070G – a favorite of Pierre’s.

The sector dial with it’s tri-tone finishing blends both vintage and modern, with vintage design and modern technique. The crown to case ratio also was influenced by a favourite of Jean Claude’s – the ref. 2523. Speaking of the crown, the winding of the crown was compared to JCB’s pocket watches to compare the feel of the winding, crown size and ergonomics.

Now, when the Carillon was released, the integrated bracelet was something I wasn’t particularly a fan of, it made the watch larger to my eye and didn’t show the finishing of the case fully. With the three-hand time only, the straight end link shows this much better and allows the case to breathe. Reminiscent of Gay Freres and beads of rice bracelets, the bracelet feels much more solid and refined than the vintage ones, but keeps the attention to detail with the hand finishing of each link.

Finally, a detail which really isn’t talked about in press releases, reviews etc is the wearability of a watch.

The three hander by BIVER® has three things that make it extremely wearable, first of all it’s size at 39mm, it will fit most wrists quite comfortably. Second is the bracelet, the straight end-links allow for the natural curvature of your wrist to adapt to the bracelet properly, unlike integrated end links that can protrude and not bend enough (ie 41mm Royal Oaks on most wrists).

Finally, an element that both JCB and Pierre worked on with different references is the shape of the case.

Jean Claude had looked at this at Blancpain with the Villeret case, making the case convex to fit the wrist as comfortably as possible. This was also addressed at Hublot where case shape and ergonomics were addressed.

Pierre’s reference on the other hand was early Richard Mille, something he acquainted himself with during his time at Philipps, one of the most comfortable case shapes ever made undoubtedly. This idea of convexity to improve wearability has also been incorporated into the cases of BIVER® Watches, an expensive detail in production due to the welding of the lugs and the CNC’ing of the case – but it makes all the difference.