Latest news with #Jean-ClaudeBiver
Forbes
11-04-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Biver Releases Two New Automatique Watches
The new Automatique watches come in yellow gold It's difficult for a new watch brand to make a splash and enter the top echelons of horology, but Biver is not just any independent watch brand. It was founded by the legendary watch executive Jean-Claude Biver — who brought his magic touch to Omega, Blancpain, TAG Heuer, and Hublot — and his son, Pierre Biver. The brand made an instant splash with the launch of its audacious first timepiece: the Carillon Tourbillon. The gem-set carillon tourbillon watch made a striking statement with superb gemsetting and attention to detail that only someone with decades of watch knowledge could achieve. It garnered instant praise for the elegant design, crystal-clear sound, and exceptional finishings, even if the price tag of $550,000 raised eyebrows as a launch piece. Jean-Claude Biver In September 2024, Biver released a model with a relatively more affordable price under $100,000. The Automatique is a time-only three-hand watch, but don't mistake its restrained elegance with being basic. 'Simplicity is the hardest form of design,' says Yoni Ben-Yehuda, Head of Watches at Material Good, the exclusive US retailer for Biver watches. It's a difficult task, 'to create something that is both incredibly simple and also new and nuanced and complicated in its design.' The Automatique was introduced in two series. The first has a rose gold or platinum case with complementary-colored dials, and the second, the Atelier Series, offers limited-edition watches with fantastic stone dials. The contrasting finishes gives the watch a vintage feel. Today, Biver unveils two new watches in the Automatique collection, returning to one of the most classic looks in horology: yellow gold. The first has a yellow gold case with a matching solid 18K yellow gold dial. It combines two contrasting finishes — polished and brushed gold — on the case and lugs, which adds visual interest and prevents the watch from being too ostentatious, always a worry with a full-gold timepiece. The dial also plays with finishes, with a textured minute track and alternating vertical brushing and circular graining on the inner rings. The contrasting anthracite-coated gold applied hour markers add a vintage feel to the dial. It retails for CHF 75,000. The use of carbon fiber on the dial is unusual and striking. The second model is part of the Atelier Series, but uses carbon fiber instead of a stone dial. The use of carbon fiber is unique in watchmaking, since it's integrated into the dial instead of as a case material, as is common on many sports watches. CEO James Marks says, 'Our new carbon and gold dial offers a contemporary alternative to natural stone, and the Atelier Series Carbon Edition is a fascinating gateway to relating our creations to disciplines like art, automotive, and maybe even travel in the future.' Ben-Yehuda is impressed with the way in which the carbon fiber lends a sporty edge to the classic dress watch. 'It's a really exciting exercise in design to try to marry the two ideas of the dress watch and the sports watch, because brands usually end up succeeding in one vertical or the other,' he says. 'It's very difficult to be able to create a piece that speaks to both of those clothing design languages and styles. And I think with this timepiece using the carbon and the dial and the very kind of classically beautiful 39 millimeter Biver automatic case, they are entering kind of uncharted territory and being able to marry the two ideas of a dress watch and a more sporty execution of that.' It's less expensive than some of the stone dials in the Atelier Series, priced at CHF 89,000. Calibre JCB.003-C has exceptional finishings. The 39mm watches are powered by the proprietary Calibre JCB.003-C, created by Dubois Dépraz with Biver. The manufacture built this movement from the ground up, creating a slim caliber measuring 4mm in height that has the potential to be the base calibre for future complications. The watch displays the hours, minutes, and seconds on three central hands, and is powered by a bi-directional micro-rotor that offers 65 hours of power reserve. It's water resistant to 80m. The caliber boasts the superb finishings that Biver is known for, including guilloché, Clous de Paris, anglage, and mirror polishing. It's the level few independent brands, such as Greubel Forsey, can achieve. In person, the attention to detail and the high level of finishings is striking, even for a jaded watch journalist. Some components are so highly polished they almost appear to be covered in a holographic coating, thanks to the way in which they reflect the light. The watches are available for purchase in the US at Material Good, and a limited number are being sold on the Biver website.
New York Times
05-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Hublot's Big Bang Watch at 20
It has been worn by A-list musicians, sports stars and artists, timed a World Cup soccer final and appeared on the Olympic podium. Love it or loathe it, there is no denying the impact that Hublot's Big Bang has had on watchmaking and popular culture since its introduction 20 years ago. Released in 2005, the original Big Bang design was big and brash. It had an oversize 44-millimeter case; a chronograph, or stopwatch, function; and a bezel held in place with six exposed screws. Also prominent was its experimental material mix of steel or red gold, titanium, ceramic, carbon fiber, Kevlar and rubber. That year, it won the design prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, the watch industry's annual awards event. It also set Hublot, founded in 1980 and generally considered an insider sort of brand up to that point, on the way to becoming something of a household name. 'The Big Bang was a miracle,' said Jean-Claude Biver, the industry veteran who was the company's chief executive at the time. 'When we started in 2004, nobody knew Hublot. Ten, 15 years later, everybody knew the name. It made Hublot.' The watch's name helped. 'I came up with the name because I was convinced this type of watch, with its materials, dimensions, colors and modular construction would create a revolution in the watchmaking tradition,' said Mr. Biver, 75. The Big Bang was expensive, too. 'The first steel and rubber models were 8,900 Swiss francs,' he said. 'It was not cheap at all. It was courageous to come out at that price.' Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
