We are delighted and honored to bring to the market the only prototype of the Biver minute repeater tourbillon.
Biver - the brand – was officially launched during Watches & Wonders watch fair in Geneva in Spring 2023 and is the brainchild of industry veteran Jean Claude Biver and his son Pierre.
Biver, the father, needs little introduction. An industry titan who helmed some of the greatest Swiss brands such as Audemars Piguet, Omega, Blancpain and Hublot, Biver changed the industry with his innovative approach and out-of-the-box thinking. Biver, the son, is a 22 year old passionate watch collector. The creative and cerebral ping pong between the two resulted in this incredible minute repeating tourbillon that is a tribute to traditional watchmaking, howevever created in a manner that firmly has both its feet in today’s times.
The father and son team worked with some of the industry’s greatest names to create the present timepiece, whether it be in movement construction, finishing, dials, case etc.
The result is nothing short of spectacular - a 42mm watch which is a gem of horological design and technical prowess, that is both visually innovative and comfortably reassuring.
Cased in titanium, the watch features the king of complications: a minute repeater. But not any kind of repeater, a carillon, one that has three hammers meaning the quarter hours are chimed via three hammers hitting three gongs on three different notes.
The movement is painstakingly hand finished - even the smallest parts, including those that cannot be seen, have been decorated by hand according to the highest standards of artistry; they have been polished, satin-finished, grained, and flame-blued.
The dial is made of silvered obsidian, a hard stone dial known to confer dynamism, optimism and is very stimulating.
The tourbillon escapement is visible through an opening on the lower part of the dial. The dial itself is domed and was very difficult to cut because of its infinitesimal thinness: the stone affixed to a gold plate is 1.15 mm high; counting the applied indexes, the total height is just 1.6 mm. The wafer-thin stone itself does not exceed 0.6mm. The difficulty resided in obtaining this domed appearance without breakage during the polishing phase.
The present prototype is Jean-Claude Biver’s personal watch and is not only the very first delivered watch to bear the Biver brand on the dial but also a unique piece.
Jean-Claude Biver wanted the watch to go to a true collector who could appreciate the watch. Not wanting to be the one to choose the lucky owner, he decided to honor Phillips with the auctioning of this magnificent creation.
The present watch will also be unique in its configuration as it will be the only Biver watch in titanium with a silver obsidian dial. Never again will this configuration be used for anyone else, other than the owner of this piece. He or she also has the option of commissioning his/her next Biver pieces in titanium/obsidian - as such these watches will remain unique.
