Following its first complex creation, Biver now writes the next chapter in this story with a return to watchmaking basics.
The Biver Automatique is a three-hand, automatic watch meant for daily wear. It combines influences from the past with a distinctly 21st-century look and it establishes a foundation on which future watches and complications can be built. It is a watch that looks simple at first glance and reveals its complexity over time – it rewards the patient and surprises the curious.
The solid 18k white and rose gold dials are each housed in a case made of the corresponding colour metal and each features an array of hand-applied finishes. These give them depth and dimensionality, suggesting a two-tone finish and showing off each material’s inherent possibilities. This is further emphasised by the applied 18k gold markers and matching hands (both with anthracite finishes for better legibility), the applied and black-polished ‘Biver’ signature at 12 o’clock, and the applied 18k gold railroad track around the perimeter. As the light shifts and changes, these dials reveal their complexity and richness, looking slightly different each passing moment.
All of this is housed in a platinum or rose gold case measuring a classic 39mm across and just 10mm thick. The brightly polished bezel and brushed lugs echo the straight and circular finishes found on the dials, extending the long brushing lines and giving each watch a cohesive feeling throughout, whether it’s worn on a leather strap or the signature five-link Biver bracelet.
“A watch showing just the hours, minutes, and seconds is the most essential form of our art. Distilling complexity down to its purest, simplest incarnation can be its own kind of masterpiece, found in its absolute perfection and discipline. If you want to play the piano, you must first master scales and classical music before you can learn to play jazz.”
Jean-Claude Biver, Co-Founder
Hard stone dials are central to Biver’s ethos of connecting each watch to eternity. With that in mind, the brand will produce a limited quantity of Automatique timepieces each year with stone dials. This will be called the Atelier Series and each unique watch represents the very essence of Biver watchmaking. Each stone will only be available for a limited time and in small quantities, allowing the brand to tell different stories through different stones over time.
To inaugurate the Atelier Series, Biver is introducing two stone dial Automatique models: The platinum case paired with rich black sanded obsidian and the 18k rose gold case paired with Pietersite, a dark blue stone with swirls of white and orange. Each offers a different take on the Automatique, blending technical mastery with a bit of visual poetry.
At the heart of the Biver Automatique is the brand new Calibre JCB-003. Developed in close collaboration with partners at Dubois Depraz, it was designed from the ground up to be a foundation not just for this watch but for future watches as well. This meant creating the most technically sound movement possible, with all the necessary architecture to make it adaptable as Biver grows and explores other complications.
The movement combines a simple three-hand time display, including a central seconds hand, with an automatic winding system that utilizes a 22k gold micro-rotor and allows for hand-winding via the crown as well. This offers collectors the opportunity to have that tactical relationship with their watch, especially if the 65-hour power reserve has been exhausted and it is being put on from “empty.” A zero-reset mechanism also snaps the seconds hand back to 12 o’clock when the crown is pulled to the time-setting position, allowing the wearer to precisely set the time down to the second.
Case Material: Platinum (Pt 950) or 18k Rose Gold Diameter: 39mm Thickness: 10mm Lug-to-Lug: 47.55mm Lug Width: 19mm Sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating Display caseback with sapphire crystal Water Resistance: 80 meters/260 feet (8 ATM)
Display Dial: Solid 18k white or rose gold dial (to match the case) Hands: 18k white or rose gold, satin-finished and hand-beveled with four interior angles Markers: 18k white or rose gold applied hour markers with anthracite finish; applied 18k gold railway track Atelier Collection Dials: Sanded Obsidian (platinum) and Pietersite (18k rose gold)
Movement Calibre JCB-003 Diameter : 30.6mm Thickness : 4.0mm Frequency : 3.5 Hz (25,200 v.p.h.) Winding : Automatic via bi-directional 22k gold micro-rotor; can also be hand-wound via the crown. Power Reserve : 65 hours Jewels : 36 Decoration : Circular graining on gold plates; guilloché, black polishing, and straight-graining on gold bridges; circular graining and black polishing on gear train; black polishing and satin finishing on steel components Strap & Bracelet Leather strap, with platinum or rose gold pin buckle Five-row Biver bracelet, in either platinum or rose gold
